On plastics, you’ll see a little number in the middle of it. What that number means is a topic for a future post. It’s not what you’d think, and it’s kind of complicated. The good news is there’s only one key thing to remember: “Just because something is recyclable SOMEWHERE, doesn’t mean it’s recyclable where […]
Entries Tagged as 'Manufacturing'
That little recyling symbol: what does it really mean?
March 9th, 2014 · No Comments · Manufacturing, Plastics Recycling, Recycling
Tags:non-recyclables·plastic·plastic pellets·plastics·plastics recycling·recycling·rigid plastics
The seamy underbelly of Halloween decor
October 12th, 2013 · No Comments · Consumer Issues, Decoration Industry, Disposability, Excess of Possessions, Manufacturing
In the summer of 1975 I got a job in a factory that made cardboard Halloween skeletons. My job was to rivet the legs and arms onto the skeletal torso. As the parts came down a conveyor belt, I would grab them furtively and rivet. Then an arm and then a leg and then an […]
Tags:cheaply made goods·decorations·environmental toxins·Halloween·Halloween skeletons·holiday decorations·non-recyclables·party products·polystyrene·saving stuff·seasonal decorations·Styrofoam·too much stuff·toxic waste
Bad News for Rigid Plastics: China sings the Elvis song.
August 1st, 2013 · No Comments · Disposability, Manufacturing, Recycling, Trash Disposal
She wrote upon it: Return to sender. Address unknown. No such number. No such zone. China’s mad. Yes, China — the one who buys most of the world’s discarded plastics so that we can buy fright-loads of manufactured plastic doodads back from them — has had it. Reason? They’ve been getting boat-loads of plastic with […]
Tags:cheaply made goods·China·China buys plastics·garbage problem·landfill·plastics·recycling·rigid plastics·waste disposal
Avoiding pesky labor laws by sending work abroad
June 24th, 2013 · No Comments · Consumer Issues, Excess of Possessions, Manufacturing, Philosophy, Polystyrene
What was I saying last time? Oh yes — we send our Styrofoam to China and they make it into cheaper plastic products. So what’s wrong with that? If China can recycle polystyrene into a more inert kind of plastic that isn’t going to be breaking up into little particles and flying all over the place, […]