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The day I realized I was sorting trash all wrong
About three weeks back at Moonlight Beach I was doing my usual thing, sorting plastics from metals into separate bags. Then this older volunteer named Ed came over and held up a crumpled soda can still covered in sand. He said, "You're wasting your time separating these, the recycling plant re-sorts everything anyway." Turns out my neat system was actually slowing down the whole crew, since the truck takes mixed recyclables and the facility does the sorting. Now I just toss it all in one bin and we finish our stretch in half the time. Anyone else ever had a volunteer correct their method mid-cleanup?
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the_lisa1mo ago
Oh boy, I gotta push back on this one a little. Ed may know his stuff about the facility sorting, but telling everyone to toss it all together is not always the right call. A lot of beach cleanups have partners that actually separate materials for special recycling programs, like bottle caps or certain plastics that the main plant won't take. Plus, if you mix in sharp glass or half-full bottles with the cans, it can jam the machines or hurt workers at the sorting place. I get that it speeds things up for your crew, but it might only work because of where you are or who picks up your bags. Just check with your local coordinator before you ditch the sorting routine, because Ed might be right for one spot and totally wrong for another.
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