{"id":728,"date":"2014-03-12T11:51:56","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T18:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roomforapony.net\/?p=728"},"modified":"2014-03-12T11:56:36","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T18:56:36","slug":"is-your-plastic-rejected-by-curbside-trash-collectors-dont-worry-its-not-about-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/?p=728","title":{"rendered":"Is your plastic rejected by curbside trash collectors? Don’t worry, it’s not about you."},"content":{"rendered":"

As we learned in my\u00a0last post<\/a>, if the recycling plant can\u2019t sell it, they don\u2019t want it. Why would they? So if they\u2019re saying \u201cNO, we don\u2019t take x, y, and z,\u201d it\u2019s not because they\u2019re being uncooperative. It\u2019s because there\u2019s no stable market for it. Key word: stable<\/b>. They can\u2019t take a plastic for a few months and then change their minds — think about how that<\/i> would confuse the public! So if there\u2019s an off-and-on market, curbside collection isn\u2019t interested.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to our question: \u201cWhat can I do with my kid\u2019s BigWheel that I ran over with my SUV?\u201d Welp, you\u2019re probably going to have to put that in the plain old Garbage.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But wait!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Just to make sure, call Portland Metro\u2019s Recycling Information Hotline: 503-234-3000.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(I\u2019ve got two phone numbers memorized — theirs and my mother\u2019s.)<\/p>\n

They have one of the only human-staffed phones left on the planet! (as well as a website<\/a>\u00a0), where you can find out where to take non-curbside recyclables in the Portland Metro area. Brilliant people. No item too obscure. You call up and say, \u201chey I have a plastic jello brain-mold I\u2019m no longer using,\u201d and they\u2019ll give you several local places you can take that thing to and dispose of it guilt-free!<\/em><\/p>\n

(I guess this doesn\u2019t help people who don\u2019t live in Portland, Oregon. I hope you have — or will have some day soon — something similar in your town.)<\/p>\n

Plastics are a bear. The ifs, ands or buts are bewildering.<\/p>\n

Next: Sometimes it\u2019s the SHAPE of it that\u2019s the problem; and other important trivia that\u2019ll help you understand.<\/p>\n

\"Graduate-Plastics\"<\/a>Meanwhile, here\u2019s that scene from The Graduate — in 1967. Don\u2019t feel bad. Ben was confused about plastics too. And that was before anyone even though of recycling it.<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PSxihhBzCjk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we learned in my\u00a0last post, if the recycling plant can\u2019t sell it, they don\u2019t want it. Why would they? So if they\u2019re saying \u201cNO, we don\u2019t take x, y, and z,\u201d it\u2019s not because they\u2019re being uncooperative. It\u2019s because there\u2019s no stable market for it. Key word: stable. They can\u2019t take a plastic for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[184,39,23],"tags":[187,30,92,98,185,149],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=728"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":733,"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions\/733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roomforapony.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}