Can I Recycle This?

March 1, 2021
In this upbeat, helpful guide, recycling expert Romer walks readers through the specifics of what to recycle, what happens to all those recycled items, and what kind of environmental impacts result. She hopes to correct common misconceptions regarding signs and symbols, supposed new reincarnations for discarded materials, and success rates. With illustrator Christie Young's engaging cartoons, charts, graphs, and flowcharts, Romer shows how little refuse actually ends up being attractive to commodities buyers, and how much ultimately ends up in landfills. She tempers the bad news with tips on how to be better recyclers, along with admonishments about remembering the other two R's: reduce and reuse. She rates over 60 items according to their recyclability, nixing toothbrushes, wine corks, yogurt cups, and coffee pods, to name a few. The next chapters take on a more serious tone, as Romer considers the human toll of shipping recyclables overseas and the impact of plastic pollution on wildlife. The final sections rebound by suggesting actions that will make a difference: use your own shopping bags, utensils, and take-out containers; buy vintage, petition big businesses, get involved politically. Her final bit of advice? Recycle this book. Readers will know just what to do.

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