Anyone else annoyed at those little recycling triangles?

12 years ago

We try to recycle everything - but why do they make it so hard to read the little number in the triangle? Last night I had a large plastic container of baby spinach and the triangle was so tiny I had to hold it up to the light to try and decipher the symbol.

We can only put #1 and 2 in our buckets but trying to tell the difference between 1 and 7 can be tricky. Sometimes we've even had to use a magnifying glass. Maybe they'd have more compliance if the numbers were more readable.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

alisande
12 years ago
I have a solution, but it wouldn't work for everyone. Since our recycling isn't picked up, and we have to drop it off ourselves, I now drive a little farther to a drop-off site that offers single-stream recycling. Not only do I no longer have to sort the different plastics, but I can dump plastics, glass, and metal all in the same bin. Saves me a lot of hassle. Newspapers are placed in another bin, in paper grocery bags. ;-)

Actually, the new drop-off site saves me time and gas money, too. Even though it's farther from my home, it's only two miles from the shopping district I visit at least once a month. The nearest local drop-off site (sort everything!) is five miles from home. This week my son loaded up my SUV with recycling from his house (in neat trash bags), I added mine, and then I went off to dump the recycling, have lunch with a friend, and do my shopping.
bee0hio
12 years ago
I think the same about "Best by dates"... some are so tiny; some are hidden, some the ink is very light, some are integrated into other numbers. Then of course some cans/ bottles /jars don't even have a "date" on them,,, which you only find out after spending 10 minutes looking, looking, looking!

As to your plastics... I guess I wouldn't belabor looking,,, if it's not easily readable I would just toss it in the recyclables & let them figure it out. I do agree that they should make it easily readable.
Related Discussions
Does this annoy anyone else?
Q
Comments (16)
I don't feel guilty at all for blocking the ads. A few years ago when this site underwent new management, the ads were horrendous. Flashing things everywhere, huge, screen sized pop ups every time you changed pages, moving banners and so on that made it just about impossible to use. This new management clearly didn't care about the people who were trying to use the site, just about making money off the ads, which is to say off of us, since you can't sell ads for sites without any traffic. GW really changed after that as most of the old-timers left and traffic has never been as busy since.
...See More
A little annoyed with Miele
Q
Comments (35)
Big box seller was up front with me on what they could and could not do, and the Miele dishwasher does have unique installation requirements not common in the US including a narrower install width, an electrical outlet requirement (as opposed to a hard wire), and an odd-sized discharge hose that does not play well with most through-the-counter siphon breaks, often solved by a high loop approach. In another thread I noted it was an all day job for a mechanical engineer to install a Miele dishwasher by the time you remove the old unit (cut old hard plumbing out) and disconnect wiring, read the directions, buy the electrical outlet parts and new wiring at local home improvement store, install electrical outlet (was not easy and contracted an electrician for 30 minutes to get it in right and of course where the outlet had to be required new wiring and splitter box in the basement wiring), install the top trim, adjust the side jams, tie in the drain, and level it, and cut and install the plumbing adjustments in the basement with a couple of compression fittings. So, if you are not technically inclined or unwilling to throw a day away doing the job yourself, you have to be receptive to the fees that come with doing jobs like this and an understanding that local licensing requirements require multiple guys to be involved doing an install that impacts cabinetry, plumbing, and electrical. By the way, most plumbers are more than willing to cut a hole in a cabinet, and they have excellent tools in the box of equipment for doing this quickly and efficiently. $200-$250 to get the job done can be a bargain, I had $20 of electrical parts, $20 of plumbing fittings, and about $40 for an electrical contractor to pull it off, and I did the leg work up front to have all the parts on hand so it could be done in 30 minutes when I was paying the professional for his services. It's unfortunate that it is so costly, but you are basically paying to insure your house does not flood or burn down due to the installation. Laundryvet
...See More
Does it annoy anyone else?
Q
Comments (33)
I agree about being annoyed with Hollywood getting background on Christmas movies wrong. One thing I've always appreciated about Home Alone (the first one) was that it was filmed in Chicago in winter (February, not December, but close enough). As for other movies/TV... it annoys me somewhat that two TV shows set in the New Jersey Pine Barrens (X-Files and Sopranos) were not filmed in locations that remotely resembled the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Maybe X-Files gets a pass, but Sopranos should have done better, the whole damn show was filmed in New Jersey! (But because they wanted snow, they went to upstate New York for that episode... ugh). This post was edited by famartin on Sun, Jan 4, 15 at 20:31
...See More
Don't throw those triangles or HSTs away........
Q
Comments (37)
I made so many mistakes while making the March Pinwheel blocks. I had a lot of nice fabrics tied up in the mis-cut and mis-sewn blocks. I wanted to salvage it. I picked some blocks apart, recut others, and am making HST and QST blocks to add to my “bits and pieces” stash. I have to hang my head in shame. Some women get entire tops together in a weekend. I accomplished four 4” QSTs! I had to frog stitch two of these to get the points to at least try to match up.
...See More
socks
12 years ago
I agree, Maire.
marie_ndcal
12 years ago
Sad to say, this state does very little recycling so everything goes into the dumpster. They have tried but the larger companies make it so hard and so expensive that the local businesses just don't do it. It cost too much to take the stuff out of state. We do have one place in Minot, but they charge too much to handle electronic stuff, and many time the box bins are stuffed and overflowing all over the ground. Never know when they are open. Operated by the job corps so help is sometimes very good and other times no good at all.
moonie_57 (8 NC)
12 years ago
You're right maire. DH is always bringing stuff to me to read the number. Sometimes I have to walk outside in sunlight to see it. And sometimes the "best by" date is stamped on top of the number.
mary3444
12 years ago
We live in such a rural town there is no recycling. Just like the old days everything goes in the same trash bag.
joyfulguy
12 years ago
One way or another, I usually read them - but some are really small.

I've complained to some of the agencies carrying plastic stuff that there's no recyclable triangle at all of some of the plastic stuff that they sell.

Some are interested ... some seem little concerned.

ole joyful
cynic
12 years ago
I agree with the frustration on it but I have no-sort now so I let them sort it.

Joyful, it could be the reason there's no triangle on it is because it might not be recyclable in which case your complaints would be unjustified or at least directed to the wrong place. Not all plastic can be recycled. Unless they've changed things in the past few years.
mary3444
12 years ago
We do not have recycling in our town so there is no problem here
breenthumb
12 years ago
We have just recently gone to recycling all plastics. When introducing the change they said "yes, even that broken laundry basket." Really a nice change.
Jasdip
12 years ago
I just checked a few triangles, as I read that we shouldn't use plastics with the 3 or 7 on them, as they contain BPA.
I checked my Rubbermaid containers, and I couldn't for the life of me read some of them.

Anyone else annoyed at those little recycling triangles?

Comments (11)

alisande

bee0hio

Related Discussions

socks

marie_ndcal

moonie_57 (8 NC)

mary3444

joyfulguy

cynic

mary3444

breenthumb

Jasdip

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US