The bathroom is full of products that can be recycled. Unfortunately, this area of the house can get overlooked when it comes to recycling in the household. Our friends at Unilever, who created the Love Beauty Planet line of shampoos and personal care products, is committed to making all their products recyclable and helping consumers live more sustainably. Supporting brands like theirs is a great way to protect our planet from the comfort of your own bathroom. Check out more tips like this on recycling in the bathroom:
- Once a year, check with your community to see what is recyclable. Recycling rules change and not all communities take the same recyclables. Checking to ensure you are recycling the correct material helps lower the possibility of contamination.
- You might be surprised but the bathroom has quite a few recyclable items, consider placing a box, bin or even dedicate a drawer to collecting items in that room.
- Remember the 3 R’s when recycling certain bottles- Remove pump (it’s not recyclable), Rinse and Recycle!
- Plastic wrap that covers packages of toilet paper and paper towels IS recyclable, but does not go with the rest of your typical recyclables. Along with your plastic bags, take this material back to the retailer for recycling.
- Speaking of bags, in most communities, recyclables should be loose in your cart or bin, not in bags.
- Common mistake- tissue, toilet paper and paper towels are not recyclable. Please do not put this material in your recycling bin.
- Caps on bottles are okay! Double-check how your community wants bottles prepared for recycling but in most cases it is perfectly okay to replace the cap, once you rinse the bottle.
- Labels on bottles and jars are okay too!
- Always consider reuse and reducing your waste first, especially in the bathroom. Consider toothbrushes with replaceable heads and reusable razors instead of disposable to cut down on waste.
- If you feel overwhelmed with what is and isn’t recyclable, always remember bottles (lotion, shampoo, body wash) and boxes (toothpaste, tissue and soap)! Recycling can be confusing, don’t feel like you have to recycle EVERYTHING and stick to the basics.
Learn more about recycling and Keep Texas Recycling’s initiatives at ktb.org/keeptexasrecycling.
