Are You Recycling Everything You Can?

[Submitted by the Hampton Recycling Committee, which meets at 10:15 a.m. Thursday in .]

In the fall of 2009 Hampton began its mandatory recycling program. At that time Hampton’s recycling rate was approximately 17 percent. We ended 2010 recycling approximately 30 percent. At the end of 2011 we still found ourselves at 30 percent.

WE NEED TO DO MUCH BETTER!

THE MORE WE RECYCLE, THE MORE MONEY WE SAVE!

In both 2010 and 2011 we recycled approximately 2700 tons of materials. That amounts to a savings each year of approximately $238,000 in trash disposal costs.

The town earns money for recyclables with Casella (the company we now use for recycling) and we will earn even more when the new facility we will be using in Concord will be up and running. By reducing trash tonnage through recycling we earn money rather than spend money!

WHY AREN’T HAMPTON RESIDENTS RECYCLING MORE? Part of the reason is that people generally are not aware of all of the things in our households that are recyclable. Recycling is a mindset change. Begin by thinking, recycling happens in every room in your home.

Hampton Recycles:

• All rinsed glass bottles and jars
• All rinsed aluminum or metal cans or containers and loose jar metal lids, empty aerosol cans
• All plastic containers (without caps) with a triangle with No.‘s 1 through 7 on them.
• Did you know that most detergent containers and black frozen dinner containers have triangles and are recyclable? You will be surprised when you begin looking closely at your plastic containers!
• All clean paper and cardboard. This includes all junk mail, envelopes, boxes even small ones like tissue and toothpaste, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, paperback books, office paper, newspaper, egg cartons, blueprints, magazines, phone books, corrugated boxes flattened, opened mail and greeting cards, and file folders.
• RE paper: the rule is, IF YOU CAN RIP IT, YOU CAN RECYCLE IT.
• No paper with food or bodily fluids on it please.
• No plastic bags in the recycling cart—empty loose recyclables into cart.

If you would like more information about what can and cannot be recycled, follow this link to the single stream recycling guide, which is located along with other recycling information on the Hampton Public Works Department's website.