Dear Recycle Lady,
Today I removed a label from a large steel can. When the label came off there was a good amount of glue on both the label and the can. I cut off the part of the label with the glue on it so it wouldn’t be a contaminant in the paper bin, but what do I do about the glue on the can? Puzzled
Dear Puzzled,
Thanks for cutting off the part of the label with glue on it. Glue definitely is a contaminant in magazine/slick paper recycling. However, most labels do not have enough glue on them to worry about, and they all can be recycled with magazines. Labels on steel cans do not need to be removed – just the labels on aluminum cans. If you do remove the labels on the steel cans, be sure they are dry before recycling them with magazines. As for the glue on the can, just leave it there. The intense heat used to recycle steel will take care of it.
Dear Recycle Lady,
What about wine corks? Can they be recycled? Loves Wine
Dear Loves Wine,
Yes, natural wine corks can be recycled as they are made from the bark tissue of woody plants. According to treehugger.com, the Cork Oak Tree takes about 25 years before cork can be harvested. The next harvest from a tree takes 9 years. Korks4Kids, a not-for-profit program, raises funds for Children’s Charities by recycling natural cork though Recycle Lok USA, LLC. Cork can be recycled into many things such as corkboards, coasters, and cork flooring. CorkClub has a mail-in recycling of cork, as does TerraCycle and Yemm & Hart, both of which require a large quantity of corks per shipment. Restaurants in big cities often have deposit bins for recycling corks. Does anyone know of any local or nearby restaurants that do this? ReCork and the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance make anything from shoes and bags to flooring in order to “create carbon-negative material solutions.” Natural cork is not only recyclable, it is also compostable. Wine corks break down easily in a compost pile and add beneficial carbon to your garden soil. Crafters repurpose wine corks by cutting and glueing them into patterns and creating coasters, decorative cork boards, and beautiful tabletops, as well as other fun projects.
Dear Recycle Lady,
What is the rewilding of land? More New Words
Dear More New Words,
Rewilding land is returning developed land back to its natural state and returning native animals and plants back to the area. It is a way to help restore ecosystems and reestablish populations of wildlife. Restoring forest areas helps fight climate change as the trees absorb carbon dioxide, one of the causes of climate change. Ecologists have proposed rewilding of some government-held land and letting nature restore and repair it naturally. More than 70 countries, governments, and conservationists are currently rewilding land. Created in 2020, the Global Rewilding Alliance says rewilding the Earth will “stabilize the climate, halt mass extinction, and reduce the risks of new pandemics.” Gardeners and naturalists recommend rewilding part of our own properties by not mowing some area(s) of the lawn and letting it go back to nature. It makes for less mowing, and as more native plants get established, more pollinators, birds, and wildlife will return.
Interesting Info: Did you know that an unbroken ocean current circles the entire continent of Antarctica? The mighty Antarctic Circumpolar Current that loops all the way around Antarctica, uninterrupted by land is the only ocean current to circle an entire continent, connecting the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
Have questions about recycling, or interesting information about recycling? Send questions or requests Recyclelady7@gmail.com. Dear Recycle Lady is sponsored jointly by the Greenbrier Recycling Center and Greenworks Recycling.
