Smart ways to recycle at home
Sarah Dearman, Chief Innovation Officer at The Recycling Partnership, shares ways you can properly recycle at home and how innovation may soon change recycling for the better.
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00:00 Thank you so much for joining us, Sarah.
00:02 - Yes, thanks for having me.
00:04 I'm excited to talk about this important topic.
00:07 - Yes, Sarah, recycling is a global issue,
00:10 but it really starts in your home.
00:12 What type of recycling is working well?
00:15 - When we think about recycling,
00:16 we really think about a few things that are important.
00:19 First of all, are people able to recycle?
00:22 So do you have easy access at home?
00:25 If you don't, then call your building manager
00:28 or your elected official and tell them
00:30 that it's important to you.
00:32 And then, are you buying things that are actually recyclable?
00:36 Companies are working hard to make things recyclable,
00:39 but we still have a ways to go.
00:41 So you can always look at the package
00:43 to see if it's recyclable.
00:44 And anytime you can choose something that is recyclable
00:48 or has recycled content over something else,
00:51 then you're really helping to change.
00:52 - You've heard of the term wish cycling.
00:55 Can you break that down for us?
00:57 And can recycling become more simplified in the home?
01:01 - Yes, it's really important that you know
01:06 what you can recycle,
01:07 because if you put something in recycling
01:09 that isn't actually recyclable,
01:11 it's taking a longer trip to the landfill,
01:13 which has more environmental impact.
01:15 And that's exactly what we don't want to do.
01:17 So if you know what can be recycled where you're located,
01:22 that's the best way that you can help.
01:24 - Sarah, and your Chief Innovation Officer
01:26 at the Recycling Partnership,
01:27 what's ahead to improve recycling?
01:30 - This is part of a program we have called Recycle Check.
01:34 And soon you'll actually see QR codes
01:37 starting to go on packages where you can scan it.
01:41 And it'll actually tell you if that package is recyclable
01:44 where you're located.
01:45 So that's going to be really helpful.
01:47 I would say for the future of recycling,
01:49 a couple of things that we're really focusing on,
01:52 making sure everyone has easy access to recycle,
01:55 making sure everyone knows what can be recycled easily,
02:00 and then working with companies
02:02 so that we can make everything
02:03 that people bring into their homes recyclable.
02:06 How much easier will that be?
02:08 We'll be able to reduce the confusion
02:09 of pretty much everything you bring home
02:11 goes into recycling.
02:13 - Thanks, Sarah.
02:15 And one last question for you,
02:16 if you had to bring it down to one thing,
02:19 what's the most important thing you can do at home
02:21 to help recycle and reduce waste?
02:25 - Be a recycling champion.
02:27 So find out what can be recycled where you live,
02:31 and then tell your friends, your family, your neighbors.
02:35 Recycling has a really positive impact
02:37 by reducing the amount of material going to the landfill,
02:40 as well as reducing the natural resources
02:43 that are used to make new materials.
02:45 So help us inform everyone about how easy it is to recycle
02:50 once you know what can actually go into the bin.
02:53 - Great.
02:54 Sarah Dairman, Chief Innovation Officer
02:56 of the Recycling Partnership.
02:57 Thank you so much.
02:58 - Yes, thank you.