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Earth Day at the NSU Libraries

Pledge to Recycle!

Green recycling logo with planet Earth in center

Tips, websites, and information on recyclable items are listed below, and non-recyclable items are listed on this page.

Please join the effort to become better stewards of our Earth and pledge to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Recyclable Items

Plastics

Look for plastic bottles or containers with the numbers (#1-#7)  on water bottles, soda bottles, milk jugs, oven-ready meal trays, detergent bottles, loose-leaf binders, plastic pages, medicine bottles, drinking straws, ketchup bottles, sour cream/butter/hummus tubs, compact disc jackets, plastic tableware, and Tupperware.

Metal

Aluminum cans, scrap metal, tin cans, clean pie plates or tins, unsoiled foil, pots, pans.

Cardboard

Cereal boxes, snack boxes, dairy and juice containers, packing boxes, corrugated cardboard and paperboard.

Tip: Shop for items with less packaging!

Paper

Office paper, junk mail, paper bags, colored paper, magazines, newspapers, and phonebooks.

Tips:

  • Buy recyclable products
  • Use both sides of paper
  • Reduce junk mail by contacting mailing list and catalog companies to be removed from their mailing lists

Glass

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs), bottles (clear and colored), jars (with lids removed).

Tips:

  • Rinse or clean the bottles before putting them into the recycling bins to avoid contaminating other items, like paper.
  • Reuse glass jars as storage containers.

Food Waste

Food scraps, fish wastes, solid and liquid fats.

Tips:

  • Compost and use compost for gardening.
  • Avoid cooking or buying more food than can be consumed before spoiling.

Non-Recyclable Items

Plastics

Grocery bags, plastic bags, ALL STYROFOAM (to-go boxes, cups, plates, coolers, packing materials).

Tips:

  • Reuse Styrofoam materials for packing
  • Use grocery bags and plastic bags to line trash cans.

Metal

Aerosol spray cans, soiled or used aluminum foil, soiled tin cans.

Cardboard

Soiled pizza or frozen food boxes, waxed cardboard, waxed milk cartons, soiled cardboard (ex: grease, mold, or paint splattered).

Paper

Soiled paper, Wax or Plastic-coated paper, used paper towels, napkins, tissues and plates.

Glass

Mirrors, glassware (cups, glasses, plates).