It's America Recycles Day

Sure, there’s a day for everything. But today? If it’s Nov. 15, it’s America Recycles Day.

Here in Capitola, folks are pretty good about recycling. Most have those blue “single-stream” bins, which allow them to put all their recycling trash into one place, without separating it. Then Green Waste Recovery workers come by every week to empty the bins into trucks, take the recyclables to Castroville and start sorting.

Here are just some of the items we can recycle, from the Green Waste website:

• Magazines, catalogs, books, photographs
• Paper bags, shrink wrap, drying-cleaning bags
• Aluminum foil, take-out containers, gift wrap (not metallic)
• Cereal boxes, egg cartons (cardboard)
• Aerosol cans (empty)
• Hangers, keys, nuts and bolts
• Buckets (remove metal handles), coolers, razors (disposable), hoses

America Recycles Day is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to the promotion of recycling in the United States. It started in 1997, and in 2004, none-other-than President George W. Bush issued a proclamation declaring Nov. 15 as America Recycles Day.

So that’s the story—and here are some fun facts from the America Recycles site to share on Tuesday:

• Recycling one aluminum can will power a 46-inch LED TV for 3 hours

• You don’t need to remove the cap from your PET bottle before you recycle it. The plastic cap is recyclable, too. 

• Only 8 percent (by weight) of all mobile phones no longer in use in 2009 were collected for recycling.

• A glass container can go from a recycling bin to a store shelf in as few as 30 days.