Waste is an ongoing environmental issue our world has to deal with. One way to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in our landfills, is to take the time to recycle properly. Some items can be harder to recycle than others, which is why we need to be informed on how to properly dispose of recyclable items. It’s not enough to know what can be recycled, it’s also important to know why and how it should be recycled.
 
Clean Containers with Food Residue
According to Mark Oldfield, the communications director of CalRecycle, the first step to cleaning containers for recycling is to scrap food residue clean with a spoon or spatula. To get containers in better shape for recycling the next step is to clean them out with soapy water. All you need is a small amount of water and soap, then secure the container with its lid and shake vigorously until all food residue is removed. To help conserve water, it's recommended to use old dishwater to clean out containers for recycling. Cleaner containers are worth more than dirty containers because less time and energy is spent cleaning prior to recycling.
 
Recycling Greasy Items (Eg. The Infamous Pizza Box)
The argument against recycling greasy items is that they can contaminate other recyclable items. But according to Oldfield, it's possible to recycle greasy pizza boxes, depending on the capacity of the recycling facility. There are some cities that have the technology to clean products more thoroughly, even tough-to-remove grease. It's also important to note that recycling programs can often handle processing small amounts of contamination. But be sure to check with your curbside recycling program to see if items, such as pizza boxes, are accepted.
 
Electronics and Battery Recycling

Finding ways to recycle electronics and batteries can be trickier because not many neighborhood recycling programs accept electronics and batteries for curbside pick-up. Luckily there are businesses, such as Isidore Electronics Recycling, that can take care of your unwanted electronics.

Kabira Stokes, the founder of Isidore, stresses the importance of properly disposing of electronics. Her first suggestion is to sell or donate electronics that can still be reused. But if disposal is the next step for your old laptop or smart phone, be sure to find the nearest electronics recycling program. It's important that e-waste programs have an R2 certificate

to ensure that they meet industry standards and that they're "doing right by the environment." 

Isidore Electronics Recycling recycles items such as iPhones and laptops for free, while larger items such as a printers cost $5 to recycle. Although they do not accept batteries for recycling, there are some libraries and businesses, such as Jiffy Lube, that have battery recycling programs. If there are no electronic recycling programs near you, be sure to research hazardous waste disposals in your area.
 

It's important that electronics do not end up in the landfill because they cause harm to humans and the environment. If electronics end up in landfills, they can leak harmful toxins into the ground water. Many electronics contain flame retardant, arsenic, and many other toxic substances that affect wildlife, ecosystems, and the water we need to survive.

Recycling Education
One reason that our landfills are filling up at an unsustainable rate could be the lack of recycling education. Each recycling program will accept different items, so it's important to know what can be recycled in your given jurisdiction. For example, the TerraCycle program will accept items such as chip bags, energy bar wrappers, baby food pouches, toothbrushes, and cigarettes. But these are items that many other recycling programs would not accept.
 
Lauren Ahkiam, a senior research & policy analyst for the Waste & Recycling Project at the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, has found that recycling programs that are city-collected or exclusively franchised have an easier time educating businesses and citizens on what's recyclable. But regardless of what kind of recycling program your neighborhood provides, it's important to stay informed on the items that can be recycled and how other items can be disposed of properly.