How to Recycle Cardboard

Video Transcript

"Don't you just love cardboard. You go out and you buy something or you get a present. What is it always wrapped in, cardboard. Well after you get the gift I'm here to tell you what you should be doing with that cardboard after you are done with it and after you get all the excitement of getting whatever it was brought to you in that cardboard. And that is recycle it. It's real simple to recycle cardboard, first of all you can recycle it in your home, or your community recycling program. But there's a few little tricks and I'm going to teach you some of the nuances of cardboard recycling. And first of all, don't just throw it in there loose, because what will happen is that cardboard is picked up by the recycler, it will be transported and all that energy is going to transport nothing but a bunch of dead air, so please flatten the cardboard as best you can. If the cardboard is too big to fit in your recycling container well here's a little tip, tear it in pieces, that's what I do. So that it will fit. And then it will flatten at the same time. Also when you recycle cardboard you have to be real careful that contaminants, things like shrink wrap for example if, with beverages a lot of times they have that plastic shrink wrap around the cardboard. Make sure you take that off before you put the cardboard in the recycle bin. Another common contaminant is things like packing strips or Styrofoam packing pieces. Those are all contaminants that should not go in with the cardboard. That should go into the trash and the cardboard only goes in to the recycle bin. The other trick when you are buying anything with cardboard in it is to check on the package to make sure it is made from post consumer recycled paper. That means paper that has been taken from recycled paper materials rather then harvested from trees in the forest. If you like to learn more ways that you can recycle cardboard and other types of paper, be sure to check the website of the California environmental protection agency and they'll find many ways there to help you live a little more gently on the earth."