Schoolhouse Rock was an animated Saturday morning children’s television series that aired on ABC from 1973 to 1979. Despite it having been taken off the air many years ago, schools today can use it to educate students about various grammar, math, history, and government topics. We bring this up because of one episode in particular: I’m Just a Bill. In this episode, a rolled-up piece of paper tells his story about starting as an idea and going through the proper channels of government to become a law. Being in the recycling business, this got us thinking about the rolled-up piece of paper itself, and if students ever wonder, how was the paper created for the bill to be written on? Did the bill contain any recycled paper? Furthermore, what does the lifecycle of recycled paper look like?

Incinerators and landfills have long been the traditional solutions for waste management. After all, they are simple, scalable, and immediate ways to deal with non-recyclable materials. That said, many people don’t realize just how much both options impose environmental problems on neighboring communities and our planet earth.

In Part 1 of our recycling symbols series, we discussed how the Mobius Loop, that familiar triangle of arrows, is universally used on packaging to indicate if it can be recycled. To review, we outlined the 7 types of plastic, and how each type is not necessarily recyclable through municipal recycling programs. We also talked about recycling symbols appearing on glass and cardboard packaging to remind consumers to recycle the product once the contents were used.

Most purchasers of consumer goods are familiar with seeing recycling symbols on packaging. Plastics, cans, glass, paper, and cardboard boxes can all have recycling symbols displayed. These symbols have two purposes: 1) to direct consumers to recycle the item after use, and 2) to indicate if the packaging is manufactured with recycled materials. However, there is not a completely standardized recycling symbol system. At Texas Recycling in Dallas, Texas, we’re here not only to help our commercial and industrial recycling customers improve their bottom line by recycling corporately and efficiently but also provide education to support recycling efforts community wide.

Many of us make every attempt to place items we believe to be recyclables into our North Texas recycling bins—at home, in the office, and while out and about. However, we may not always be recycling correctly. We put items in recycling bins that do not belong there, contaminating the entire bin. Unfortunately, all those recyclables full of potential are now just plain old trash destined for landfill. Learn how to recycle right! Read on to learn our best tips to get recyclables in our Dallas recycling communities not retitled as rubbish.