plastic bottles and tubs-the same?

I get asked some version of this question ALL THE TIME and I really liked Umbras's answer. You can link directly to it or read below. (It's featured with other questions, so I just pasted the one I was interested in here)

Also, here's a more in-depth explanation (also linked from Umbra's article)

Q. Dear Umbra,
I can understand that a recycling station might accept only plastics type 1 and 2. What I can’t understand is the common situation that they’ll accept only types 1 and 2, and only if the plastic is in the shape of a narrow-necked bottle. If it’s made of the same stuff, and in the recycling process will be ground up and melted down (or so I assume), why does the shape of the plastic item matter? Thanks!
Jonathan T.Norwich, Vt.

A. Dearest Jonathan,Recycling rules do often seem arbitrary, don’t they? We’ll take mayonnaise jars, but only if there’s a dab of mustard on the lid and a pickle on the side ... it can be mind-boggling at times. In this case, however, there actually is a logical reason.

That reason being that narrow-necked bottles (such as soda, shampoo, and dish soap often come in) are manufactured differently than wide-necked items like yogurt containers. The narrow-necked ones are blow-molded, while the others are injection-molded. Even if the types of plastic are the same, the rigamarole they go through during manufacture leaves them with different melting points, which means they must be handled differently in the recycling process. So it is sometimes difficult to find a buyer who wants or can handle both. For a much more detailed look at this topic, and a refresher on why you’re glad you don’t oversee a recycling program, see this plastics explainer from the good folks at the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority.

Plastic recycling continues to be a confusing topic for many readers. My best advice is to first buy as little plastic as possible, then do what Jonathan here has done: pay close attention to your town’s recycling guidelines and recycle what you can. Should you have time for a little light reading, I also recommend the eye-opening Plastic Recycling Facts at Earth911, and the Ecology Center’s Seven Misconceptions About Plastic Recycling. You might never look at a tub of butter the same way again.

Meltily,
Umbra

bottled water

If you are still drinking bottled water, please take 1 minute to view this graphic and consider using a reusable water bottle. Thank you!

-special thanks to @demonbane for bringing my attention to the graphic.

tea light cups

It's so weird, I was recently thinking about 1) how I really need to update my blog and 2) what a waste all those little tealight cups are. Then, along comes Robby and he sends me this. It's a cute little tealight-cup-as-picture-holder idea. Anyone have any other reuse options for tealight cups? Add them in the comments!

Those billboards might not be

as wasteful as you think. (An article about Clear Channel Communications recycling most of their billboards.)

Don't waste food

Here is an excellent and long list of tips that will help you to not waste food. Enjoy!

Halloween goodness

As I was researching a few things, I stumbled upon this site. I was looking through the site, searching for reuse projects, but there's so much Halloween goodness, I'll just let you check it out for yourself.

reusing glass jars

Lately, I find we have a lot of glass jars in our house. (Could be that mislabeled Prego incident at WinCo when I bought 10 jars for 86 cents a piece!) But, here's some great ways to reuse those jars:

A list of ten ways to reuse glass jars

An awesome glass jar craft from Gingerbread Snowflakes

Now, when I'm geocaching, I'll have an excuse to pick up lots of wonderfully colorful fall leaves!

halloween lanterns

I bet you could reuse cereal boxes for these awesome lanterns for Halloween.

plastic gyre and its consequences

You've probably already seen this horrific slideshow. But, if you haven't, you probably should.

More information can be found about the plastic gyre:
Wikipedia
This article
and this article

Green Drinks presents: A Costume Party!

Hope to see you all at our next Green Drinks. It's going to be a very special event! If you've always wanted to come to one and never made it, this is the one to start with!

Details here