Only one in six households disposes of batteries correctly. Minnesota is number two in the nation with a recycling rate of nearly 45%. The “chasing arrows” on a Styrofoam container does not make it recyclable. Thirteen million glass jars and bottles are used in the United States each day with only 25% being recycled. There are containers for Salvation Army donations of clothing, curtains, rugs, shoes, purses, and belts at the Recycling Center in Preston. Nearly one-half the trash found in the garbage at gas stations is bottles and cans that people clean out of their vehicles while fueling.
In 1976, an average American drank one and one-half gallons of bottled water in a year. Today that number has grown to 30 gallons. Plastic bags deposited in the red container at the Recycling Center are not recycled, but sent to landfill. Forty percent of the pure water you use in your home is flushed down the toilet. A “tin can” is really 99% steel. The fee for proper disposal of a TV, computer monitor, microwave, stove, refrigerator, dehumidifier, or freezer is $10.00 at the Fillmore County Resource Recovery Center.
The average American produces nearly five pounds of garbage each day. A greeting card that sings to you has a button battery that needs to be recycled. Twenty-eight aluminum cans weigh one pound. More than 10% of your purchases in a store is for packaging. The 25 billion Styrofoam cups used in the United States each year, laid end to end, would encircle the earth many, many times. Soiled diapers are NOT recyclable….landfill them. Thirty-five percent of America’s solid waste is one form or another of paper.
In 1960, the composting and recycling rate in the United States was 8%. Today it is over 35%. Paint is the most common item brought to Household Hazardous Waste Day. Household Hazardous Waste Days are celebrated the first Tuesday of May and the first Tuesday of October. There are six locations throughout the county where rural recycling containers can be found. When given the opportunity to recycle, most people will. By weight, more paper is recycled in the United States than all glass, plastic, and aluminum cans combined. The aluminum industry pays $800,000,000 for recycled aluminum cans each year.
There are still a few mercury thermometers lurking about in Fillmore County, but that number is steadily getting smaller. The side of a modern day aluminum can is the thickness of a human hair. The amount of mercury in a CFL is about the size of the ball on the end of your ball point pen, but it is big enough to cause a lot of trouble. Fifty billion plastic bottles are sold each year.
A lot of garden hoses have been dropped off at the recycling center recently. These are not recyclable and are considered landfill. Once again, thank you for making the extra effort to become better recyclers.