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Speaker 1: Guess what mango?

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Speaker 2: What's that? Will?

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Speaker 1: So are you familiar with tots magoats?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Please don't tell me you're going to start using

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Speaker 2: that phrase.

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Speaker 1: No, I'm not talking about the term though, though now

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Speaker 1: I'm tots magoat's going to start using it. But I'm

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Speaker 1: talking about this weird man goat mascot that they used

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Speaker 1: in the Niagara Falls area, and you know, it's to

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Speaker 1: help people start recycling more.

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Speaker 2: I can't say I've heard of that, and it sounds

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Speaker 2: like a horrible idea. Did you say, mangat?

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Speaker 1: I did, and it is super weird looking. You should

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Speaker 1: totally look up tots mgoats. But you know, supposedly since

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Speaker 1: introducing this really bizarre mascot a few years ago, recycling

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Speaker 1: is actually up fifty percent in this area and the

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Speaker 1: amount of trash going to landfills has dropped by twenty percent.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so I just pulled them up, and honestly, if

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Speaker 2: I thought this scary looking mascot with a tiny goat

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Speaker 2: heead was going to come after me, I'd start recycling too.

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Speaker 2: Maybe it's just a scare tactic they're using.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. But on the topic of how much

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Speaker 1: we recycle. We've had several questions we've been meaning to

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Speaker 1: get to and things like, you know, what's the state

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Speaker 1: of recycling in the US, and is it a good

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Speaker 1: business to be in? Is it even worth it to recycle?

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Speaker 1: And what are the weirdest things people can recycle? Now

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Speaker 1: it's Toat's Magot's time to find out. Please all right,

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Speaker 1: but let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to

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Speaker 1: Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm

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Speaker 1: joined by my good friend mangeshat Ticketter And on the

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Speaker 1: other side of the soundproof glass separating his number one

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Speaker 1: and number two plastics from the rest of the bunch,

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Speaker 1: that's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and good for Tristan for doing that. Most folks

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Speaker 2: don't even know the numbers inside the recycling system on

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Speaker 2: plastic containers and that they're actually a way to tell

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Speaker 2: which kinds can and can't be recycled. But Tristan has

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Speaker 2: the whole resin identification hode down and that's just the

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Speaker 2: kind of guy he is.

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Speaker 1: Well, and we love him for it, and especially today

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Speaker 1: because we're going to be taking a hard look at

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Speaker 1: the current state of recycling in the world and asking

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Speaker 1: a tough question, you know, is recycling worth it? Because

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Speaker 1: when you think about it, the practice is a pretty

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Speaker 1: unique blend of environmentalism and business, and it's one that

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Speaker 1: the majority of developed nations agree is a pretty sensible

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Speaker 1: thing to do. And I mean, of course, recycling makes environmental sense.

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Speaker 1: It reduces the trash we send to the landfills and

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Speaker 1: conserves natural resources that you know would otherwise go into

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Speaker 1: making new products. But it also makes economic sense. For example,

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Speaker 1: I was looking at a study by the EPA, this

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Speaker 1: report they released back in twenty sixteen, and it found

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Speaker 1: that within a single year, recycling and reuse activities in

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Speaker 1: the US account for seven hundred and fifty seven thousand

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Speaker 1: jobs and almost seven billion in tax revenue and over

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Speaker 1: thirty six billion in wages. So recycling clearly leads to

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Speaker 1: some very real and valuable benefits. But of course those

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Speaker 1: benefits always come with a.

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Speaker 2: Cost, right, So today we'll try to balance the books

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Speaker 2: and get a sense of whether recycling is actually paying

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Speaker 2: off both environmentally and economically. But before we get into that,

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Speaker 2: I want to take a minute to talk about how

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Speaker 2: recycling became a thing that people do in the first place.

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Speaker 1: You're always going back to the origins and things, but

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Speaker 1: with recycling, like, I didn't even know there was an

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Speaker 1: origin of recycling.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, wide scale recycling programs are a fairly

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Speaker 2: new phenomenon in history. They kind of arose during the

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Speaker 2: industrial and post industrial ages as manufacturing was kicking into overdrive.

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Speaker 2: So humans started using more and more natural resources to

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Speaker 2: produce more new things than ever before. And meanwhile, you know,

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Speaker 2: the thrifty people started looking for ways to just reuse

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Speaker 2: what was already out there instead. So, for example, in

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Speaker 2: the late eighteen hundreds, these European cities like London and Paris,

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Speaker 2: they were rife with what you'd call rag and bone men.

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Speaker 2: And these were pebblers who just wandered around and collected

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Speaker 2: and carted around sacks of reusable items, and then they'd

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Speaker 2: sell those back to general stores.

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Speaker 1: All right, so rag and bone, I'm guessing from the

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Speaker 1: name that these reusable items you're talking about were rags

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Speaker 1: and for some reason bones.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So these guys would scour the city for like

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Speaker 2: old rags, bones, bits of metal, any other discarded items

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Speaker 2: that could be scavenged and of course recycled.

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Speaker 1: I love how you just say this like it's no

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Speaker 1: big deal. I still need to know it. Actually, maybe

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Speaker 1: I don't why and how people were reusing bones and

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Speaker 1: why were so many random bones just all over the

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Speaker 1: streets of London.

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Speaker 2: Well, I don't have specifics on where the bones were

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Speaker 2: actually coming from, but I imagine there were mostly animal bones

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Speaker 2: left over from you know, meals that've been tossed in

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Speaker 2: the garbage. But you know, as for how the bones

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Speaker 2: were recycled, a lot of them were used to make

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Speaker 2: geladin for processed foods or glue, kind of the way

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Speaker 2: we still do today. And also I've forgotten this, but

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Speaker 2: prior to the rise of plastics in the twentieth century,

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Speaker 2: many of the buttons for clothing were made from polished bones,

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Speaker 2: so that was another use as well.

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Speaker 1: All right, So what exactly happened to these pioneers of recycling.

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Speaker 1: Was it, you know, plastics that kind of kill the

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Speaker 1: bone market? I guess.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Plastic and a few other advancements sort of put

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Speaker 2: an end to those kinds of local level recycling schemes

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Speaker 2: for a while. After the Industrial Revolution, fewer people were

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Speaker 2: making their own goods, so there was just less need

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Speaker 2: for reusable materials. Like the ones rag and bone men

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Speaker 2: were collecting, and instead all that stuff kind of became

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Speaker 2: garden variety garbage. But I should mention that that entrepreneurial

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Speaker 2: spirit still lives on today in today's scrap recyclers. So,

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Speaker 2: according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, scrappers processed

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Speaker 2: more than one hundred and thirty million tons of material

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Speaker 2: in twenty thirteen, and all that helped us save energy,

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Speaker 2: reduce screenhouse gas emissions, It helped preserve natural resources and

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Speaker 2: actually limited the amount of material that would otherwise go

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Speaker 2: to landfills.

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Speaker 1: Well, I know, the scrap industry is nothing like Sanford

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Speaker 1: and Sun these days, and I mean it has its

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Speaker 1: own institute now apparently, which I wasn't aware of. But

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Speaker 1: I still can't help thinking of that show whenever somebody

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Speaker 1: mentions scrap dealers, which is more often than you think, actually,

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Speaker 1: But you look at the numbers that you mentioned, and

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Speaker 1: it really highlights just how much of an impact industrialization

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Speaker 1: has had on the amount of trash that we produce.

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Speaker 1: So I was flipping through this book by Tom Zaki

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Speaker 1: called out Smart Waste, the Modern Idea of garbage and

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Speaker 1: how to think our way out of it, and according

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Speaker 1: to his research, the amount of waste that humans produce

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Speaker 1: has gone up by more than ten thousand percent over

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Speaker 1: the past century. That's ten thousand percent.

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Speaker 2: That's insane. But you know, if there is a silver

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Speaker 2: lining to that insanely large cloud of trash, it's that

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Speaker 2: the world's recycling rate has also risen by leaps and

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Speaker 2: bounds over that same period. So, for instance, by the

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Speaker 2: EPA's last count Americans now recycle nearly thirty five percent

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Speaker 2: of the trash we produce, which is up from just

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Speaker 2: six point two percent in the nineteen sixties. And you

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Speaker 2: know a few other countries like Taiwan, Austria, Germany, they

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Speaker 2: now boast recycling rates as high as sixty three percent.

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Speaker 1: Well, that is a promising uptick, but I still can't

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Speaker 1: help but feel a little disappointed with our current numbers.

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Speaker 1: I mean, not even a full thirty five percent of

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Speaker 1: our trash gets recycled. Americans produce about two hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty million tons of trash every single year, so recycling

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Speaker 1: just a third of that means we're still sending close

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Speaker 1: to one hundred and seventy million tons of waste, you know,

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Speaker 1: off to landfills and incinerators every single year. I mean,

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Speaker 1: there's got to be a better way to get our

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Speaker 1: numbers up.

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Speaker 2: Well, there are definitely a few things we could improve on,

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Speaker 2: and we should talk about them in a bit, But

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Speaker 2: first I want to throw out another silver lining that

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Speaker 2: we shouldn't overlook.

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Speaker 1: They're always looking on the positive side. Then, all right,

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Speaker 1: so what's this upside to a thirty four percent recycling rate.

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Speaker 2: Well, even at that current rate, our recycling efforts, coupled

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Speaker 2: with composting, prevent the release of a lot of carbon dioxide,

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Speaker 2: so about one hundred and eighty million metric tons of

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Speaker 2: it in twenty thirteen alone, And according to the EPA,

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Speaker 2: that's comparable to taking more than thirty nine million cars

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Speaker 2: off the road for a whole year. So yeah, so

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Speaker 2: even though we have like a long way to go,

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Speaker 2: we're really making some headway.

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Speaker 1: Well I'm glad you mention that, because it is important

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Speaker 1: to keep progress in perspective, and in fact, that might

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Speaker 1: be one way we can improve our recycling game here

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Speaker 1: in the States.

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Speaker 2: How's that?

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Speaker 1: Actually? I saw this survey conducted by IPSOS back in

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Speaker 1: twenty eleven that found that only half of American adults

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Speaker 1: recycled daily. About a third of the respondent said that

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Speaker 1: they recycle less frequently than that, and about thirteen percent

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Speaker 1: admitted that they never recycle at all. And some researchers

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Speaker 1: have since suggested that there's a psychological reason for our

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Speaker 1: spotty track records with recycling. I mean, namely, we have

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Speaker 1: trouble connecting our daily habits with their consequences, and so

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Speaker 1: if you think about it, it actually kind of makes

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Speaker 1: a lot of sense. You know, the reward for recycling

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Speaker 1: isn't immediate, and then the fallout from recycling also doesn't

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Speaker 1: feel real either, so we don't see the benefits or

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Speaker 1: the harms that we're contributing to. So there's less of

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Speaker 1: an appeal to make recycling a daily behavior, and it

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Speaker 1: just is kind of all lessened in our minds because

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Speaker 1: of this.

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Speaker 2: That's pretty interesting and it actually makes me think of

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Speaker 2: this study I read about in Scientific American. That's just

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Speaker 2: an other psychological hang up that people have with recycling.

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Speaker 2: So I don't know if you've heard this before, but

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Speaker 2: there have been a number of studies that show that

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Speaker 2: women typically have greener habits and are more environmentally minded

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Speaker 2: than men. So, for instance, women recycle more, they litteralless,

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Speaker 2: then they leave a smaller carbon footprint than their average

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Speaker 2: male counterparts.

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Speaker 1: So do we know why this might be?

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Speaker 2: Well, Weirdly, the research report on by Scientific Americans suggests

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Speaker 2: that men might shun this eco friendly behavior like recycling,

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Speaker 2: because it makes them feel less macho.

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Speaker 1: Really.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So two of the researchers describe the findings of

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Speaker 2: their study this way. So quote, we showed that there

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Speaker 2: is a psychological link between eco friendliness and perceptions of femininity.

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Speaker 2: And due to this green feminine stereotype, both men and

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Speaker 2: women judged eco friendly products, behaviors, and consumers as more

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Speaker 2: feminine than their non green counterparts.

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Speaker 1: That is such a strange thing. But actually, from what

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Speaker 1: you're saying, so even women thought going green was a

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Speaker 1: feminine thing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's weird, right. So one of the experiments had

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Speaker 2: the participants recall a time when they did something good

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Speaker 2: for the environment, and both the men and the women

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Speaker 2: said they perceived themselves to be more feminine in those

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Speaker 2: instances that they shared. Maybe it's just because they were

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Speaker 2: like caring nicely for mother Earth. I'm not sure what

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Speaker 2: it was.

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Speaker 1: Wow, So is there any way to counter this thinking

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Speaker 1: so that guys will be more inclined to you know,

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Speaker 1: pitch in with recycling or these other green efforts.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so, since this is like a psychological hurdle, the

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Speaker 2: best way to solve is for men to grow more

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Speaker 2: secure with their own masculinity. That's good advice, and I

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Speaker 2: guess marketing can help. Like, for instance, the researchers and

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Speaker 2: Scientific American described this experiment where men were found to

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Speaker 2: be more likely to donate to a green nonprofit if

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Speaker 2: it had a masculine logo, so like if it had

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Speaker 2: black and dark blue colors and like featured a howling wolf,

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Speaker 2: and also if the name was something more masculine like

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Speaker 2: Wilderness Rangers. Yeah, I had a bold fond apparently, so

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Speaker 2: and men contributed more to that than something with like

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Speaker 2: a traditional logo with light and green tan colors, if

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Speaker 2: it featured a tree, if it had like a frilly

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Speaker 2: font and a name like Friends with Nature.

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Speaker 1: So it's crazy if it makes me wish that mancho

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Speaker 1: man Randy Savage was still around so that we could.

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Speaker 2: Have Wilderness Rangers exactly. We need a bad boy of recycling.

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Speaker 2: The show is our way.

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Speaker 1: So it's clearly still all in our heads though.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so our psyches are our worst natural enemies when

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Speaker 2: it comes to recycling. Like, according to a survey from

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Speaker 2: the National Waste and Recycling Association, one in five Americans

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Speaker 2: say that they'll put something in a recycling bin even

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Speaker 2: if they aren't totally certain that it's recyclable. And this

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Speaker 2: is a phenomenon that's called wishful recycling, where people in doubt,

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Speaker 2: we'll just go for it and the off chance that

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Speaker 2: whatever they want to get rid of can hopefully be recycled.

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Speaker 2: And of course a lot of the time we're completely

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Speaker 2: wrong with those kinds of judgments.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and if I'm being honest, I mean I have

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Speaker 1: definitely been guilty of that as well. You've got a

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Speaker 1: product and you're just again you're hoping that it can

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Speaker 1: be recycled, so you just go ahead and toss it

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Speaker 1: in there. But you know, it does lead to all

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Speaker 1: these kinds of headaches for people who have to sort

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Speaker 1: and then process this random assortment of stuff that people

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Speaker 1: are just chucking in the recycling bins.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So some years ago, Lizzie and I house sat

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Speaker 2: for some friends in Portland and they gave us like

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Speaker 2: this twenty minute tour of just their recycling system and

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Speaker 2: the fifteen bins they had for various types of things.

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Speaker 2: It was dizzying. I know, it really felt like a

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Speaker 2: Portland episode. But and I mean that's coming from Delaware,

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Speaker 2: where we had recycling really early. But you had to

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Speaker 2: make such an effort to do it, Like I actually

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Speaker 2: remember on weekends, like I'd collect stuff around the house

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Speaker 2: with my dad, all the newspapers and cardboard, and turned

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Speaker 2: his hatchback and we'd drive off to recycling center a

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Speaker 2: few miles away. And that's because the city didn't pick

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Speaker 2: it up yet. But I'm a little off topic. I

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Speaker 2: definitely want to talk about the problems that come from

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Speaker 2: the so called single stream approach to recycling that we

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Speaker 2: go by in the US. But before we do that,

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Speaker 2: let's take a quick break.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, and we're breaking down

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Speaker 1: the pros and cons of recycling. I mean, a minute

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Speaker 1: ago you mentioned single stream recycling, which of course was

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Speaker 1: intended to make recycling more approachable for the average citizen,

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Speaker 1: but really in practice the system has proven to be

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Speaker 1: both bad for the environment and bad for business.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So basically, the idea behind single stream was to

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Speaker 2: put all of your different recyclables, whether that's glass or

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Speaker 2: paper or plastic all into one bin. And this was

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Speaker 2: an idea that first cropped up in California back in

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Speaker 2: nineteen ninety five and was later rolled out nationwide as

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Speaker 2: almost the best, most user friendly shot for getting people

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Speaker 2: on board with recycling. And really though this approach just

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Speaker 2: kind of kicked the can a little further down the

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Speaker 2: road because you know, all those materials still need to

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Speaker 2: be sort of so instead of placing that added responsibility

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Speaker 2: on individuals, we just invested in processing plants to do

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Speaker 2: all that sorting for us.

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Speaker 1: Right. And you know, in the opposite end of the spectrum,

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Speaker 1: you have somewhere like Germany and it adopted this system

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Speaker 1: in the early nineties that actually required households to use

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Speaker 1: a total of five different bins. They're all color coded

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Speaker 1: and they help indicate where you should dispose of different

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Speaker 1: kinds of waste and a little bit like the Portland

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Speaker 1: example you gave earlier. And you know, while it sounds complicated,

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Speaker 1: that approach has led to a recycling rate that's nearly

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Speaker 1: double what we see here in the States.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's incredible, But the drawbacks of this

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Speaker 2: single like single stream system go far beyond making us

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Speaker 2: look bad in front of the Germans. So one of

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Speaker 2: the biggest issues the system poses is cross contamination. So

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Speaker 2: that's when like little pieces of plastic get mixed in

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Speaker 2: with paper, or worse, when they're like food particles from

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Speaker 2: containers that weren't cleaned well enough. And all of this

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Speaker 2: slows down the sorting process, it comes up the machines.

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Speaker 2: It leads to this inordinate amount of would be recyclables

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Speaker 2: being thrown out instead of being recycled. Then, according to

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Speaker 2: City Lab, as much as twenty five percent of the

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Speaker 2: recyclable waste that passes through the single stream system winds

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Speaker 2: up in landfill, and if you ask Tom Zakey, that

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Speaker 2: number is closer to fifty percent. Either way. It really

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Speaker 2: calls it a question whether our already not soo stellar

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Speaker 2: thirty four percent national recycling rate is even accurate.

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Speaker 1: There's a good chance it's way lower. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: And I was reading that an even bigger problem for

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Speaker 1: materials recovery facilities or mirphs. I guess they're called MRF

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Speaker 1: so that that's what they call them in the industry,

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Speaker 1: That this all these unrecyclables that end up in the

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Speaker 1: plants thanks to the wishful recycling that you were talking

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Speaker 1: about earlier. According to Susan Robinson, she's the director of

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Speaker 1: public affairs for Waste Management, but we also get a

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Speaker 1: surprising number of garden hoses, Christmas lights and shower curtain.

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Speaker 2: And I can just imagine how much time is lost

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Speaker 2: by like trying to shut down the equipmen and fish

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Speaker 2: out all that junk.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and that loss and productivity has started to take

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Speaker 1: its toll on recycling's profitability. I mean, all cross the country,

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Speaker 1: recycling companies are reporting drastic decreases in profit and that's

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Speaker 1: partly because of the higher processing costs associated with contamination

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Speaker 1: and faulty user sorting practices. You know, for example, in

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Speaker 1: the District of Columbia, they replaced those thirty two gallon

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Speaker 1: bins with ones that were fifty percent larger. This was

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Speaker 1: back in twenty fourteen, and so these larger binds lead

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Speaker 1: to a higher rate of wishful recycling among the residents,

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Speaker 1: so much so that all that non recyclable material that

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Speaker 1: wound up in DC's mirphs, it drove up the city's

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Speaker 1: processing costs and it cut their profits from recyclable sales

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Speaker 1: by more than fifty percent back in twenty fifteen.

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Speaker 2: Wow, So clearly there's room for improvement in this single

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Speaker 2: stream system. And still, in the interest of balance, I

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Speaker 2: do want to point out a few parts of the

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Speaker 2: recycling industry that are still paying out despite our somewhat

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Speaker 2: you know, flawed way of doing things. So one example

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Speaker 2: is aluminum, which is actually the most recycled product in

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Speaker 2: the world, with close to seventy percent of aluminum cans

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Speaker 2: being recycled around the world. And there the reason for

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Speaker 2: that huge turnover rate is that aluminum nets recycling companies

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Speaker 2: the most money of any recyclable material out there. It's

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Speaker 2: about fifteen hundred dollars per ton in the US as

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Speaker 2: of twenty fifteen. And another area where business is booming

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Speaker 2: is corrugated cardboard, and that's thanks to online shopping. You know,

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Speaker 2: the recycling stream is just flush with cardboard boxes, which

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Speaker 2: you know, can be valuable so long as they aren't

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Speaker 2: contaminated by pizza grease or whatever other organic bits have

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Speaker 2: mistakenly made their way into the recycling bin.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I do want to be careful not to

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Speaker 1: harp too much on the business side of things, because

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Speaker 1: there's still other areas where recycling definitely benefits the economy,

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Speaker 1: like reducing the use and costs of landfills and reducing

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Speaker 1: the energy expense of harvesting more natural resources for all

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Speaker 1: the new products that we need to create.

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Speaker 2: Well, and another reason not to stress too much about

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Speaker 2: the money saving benefits of environmentalism is that it can

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Speaker 2: actually make people less likely to recycle.

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Speaker 1: Wait what, so, how does that work?

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Speaker 2: So this comes from a team of researchers at Cardiff

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Speaker 2: University in the UK, and they found that appealing to

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Speaker 2: somebody's self interest actually makes them less likely to behave

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Speaker 2: in a helpful manner. So, in this experiment, one group

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Speaker 2: of students was told about the environmental benefits of carpooling.

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Speaker 2: Another group was told about the potential to save money

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Speaker 2: by carpooling, and things get a little devious from there.

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Speaker 2: And here's how Wired explained the next part of the experiment.

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Speaker 2: So the students then filled out paper questionnaires about unrelated topics,

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Speaker 2: which they were told to dispose of at the session's end.

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Speaker 2: Unbeknownst to them, this was the experiment's real purpose and

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Speaker 2: a microcosm of environmental tensions. Would they use a recycling

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Speaker 2: basket inconveniently located under another table or a general waste

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Speaker 2: bin at arm's length. Among those students primed as psychologists say,

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Speaker 2: with the message of carpooling self transcending benefits, eighty nine

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Speaker 2: percent recycled. Of the group that learned about the cost saving,

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Speaker 2: just fifty percent recycled.

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Speaker 1: Wow, so the environmental impact turned out to be a

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Speaker 1: bigger draw than saving their own cash, which I guess

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Speaker 1: that's actually a little bit heartening.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And the study also highlights the biggest risk of

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Speaker 2: pushing recycling mainly as a way to save time or

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Speaker 2: make money instead of as a way to preserve the

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Speaker 2: beauty of the natural world, like people might forget that

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Speaker 2: nature is in its own right reason enough to care

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Speaker 2: about conservation efforts.

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Speaker 1: That's a really good point, you know. One of my

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Speaker 1: favorite examples of just how effective that naturalist mentality can

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Speaker 1: be is this tiny town. It's in southwestern Japan and

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Speaker 1: it's called Kamakatsu. So there's about seventeen hundred people who

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Speaker 1: live there, and since two thousand and three, the town

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Speaker 1: residents have been engaged in this long running quest that

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Speaker 1: becomes zero waste by twenty twenty. And so in order

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Speaker 1: to get there, citizens are responsible for separating their trash

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Speaker 1: into thirty four distinct categories and then getting it all

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Speaker 1: delivered to the nearest recycling center thirty fours.

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Speaker 2: Ever beens and no trash trucks. Like right, I thought

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Speaker 2: the Germans had it wrong.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, this is more Portland than Portland. It's

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Speaker 1: pretty impressive. But that's actually not all either. So to

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Speaker 1: sidestep the contamination problem that we have here in the States,

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Speaker 1: town residents are also required to thoroughly wash all thirty

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Speaker 1: four kinds of recyclables and then separate out all their

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Speaker 1: organic waste and compost that at home.

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Speaker 2: That's crazy, It sounds like such an imposition. But are

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Speaker 2: the residents really okay with putting in all that extra

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Speaker 2: effort or is everyone just miserable and exhausted by the

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Speaker 2: end of the week.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing. I mean, most people in comic

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Speaker 1: coots who say that despite the hard work, they appreciate

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Speaker 1: this push to be more thoughtful about how and what

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Speaker 1: they consume. And in an interview that was on the BBC,

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Speaker 1: there was one local woman who summed up the feeling

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Speaker 1: this way. She said, I have to do it every

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Speaker 1: day and it's certainly a bit of work. But it's

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Speaker 1: a good idea to send things back to the earth,

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Speaker 1: so I support it.

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Speaker 2: That's awesome, and in fact, what do you say we

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Speaker 2: keep these positive vibes going and take a look at

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Speaker 2: some other unique recycling programs as well as the weirdest

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Speaker 2: things they figured out how to reuse.

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Speaker 1: Sounds good to me. But first let's take a quick break. Okay, mango,

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Speaker 1: So it's quiz time now. Before we jump into the quiz,

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Speaker 1: we had a couple other questions that we wanted to

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Speaker 1: ask about recycling since that's our topic today, and we're

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Speaker 1: joined by one of the brilliant researchers here at How

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Speaker 1: Stuff Works, Christopher Haciotis Christopher, Welcome to Part Time Genius.

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Speaker 3: Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: All right, so we gave you the heads up we

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Speaker 1: were talking about recycling and we had a couple of questions.

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Speaker 1: Now now Tristan, we've informed our listeners, is an expert

439
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,240
Speaker 1: on all the numbers that you see on the plastics

440
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,560
Speaker 1: and what they mean and which ones you can recycle

441
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:37,919
Speaker 1: and which ones you can't. I know you're not surprised

442
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,480
Speaker 1: because Tristan's pretty much good at everything. But for those

443
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,359
Speaker 1: of us that don't know everything, about recycling and the

444
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:46,480
Speaker 1: numbers that are on the plastics. Can can you just

445
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,840
Speaker 1: give us like the cheat sheet to that what those

446
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,720
Speaker 1: one through seven numbers mean and why some can be

447
00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 1: recycled and others can't be sure.

448
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:59,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's this really labyrinthing convoluted system of coding known

449
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,040
Speaker 3: as the r I see, it's the Resin Identification coding

450
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,120
Speaker 3: system and it was put in place in nineteen eighty eight.

451
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,040
Speaker 3: So you've got these seven different types of plastic and

452
00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 3: basically what it comes down to is what the plastics

453
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,120
Speaker 3: are made out of and what you can do with them.

454
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:17,160
Speaker 3: Some will be recyclable immediately, Some are reusable but not recyclable.

455
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,679
Speaker 3: Some should not be reused or recycled.

456
00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:21,240
Speaker 2: And what you've.

457
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,520
Speaker 3: Got to do is flip your jug of water, you're

458
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,640
Speaker 3: a jug of milk, your plastic cup upside down, take

459
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,200
Speaker 3: a gander at what's underneath it, and then get on

460
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:35,199
Speaker 3: the internet. Because honestly, nobody knows this system.

461
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:37,040
Speaker 2: And Tristin does what he won't say anything about that.

462
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:39,960
Speaker 3: Tristan Okay, So I think what we need is everyone

463
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 3: needs a system to just give Tristan.

464
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:43,040
Speaker 1: A call right away.

465
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,919
Speaker 3: So, yeah, you've got these seven types of plastic number

466
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:50,640
Speaker 3: one polyethylene telephylate also known as PET number two high

467
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,440
Speaker 3: density polyethylene. So these are the kinds that are generally

468
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:58,560
Speaker 3: recyclable and most commonly accepted in your neighborhood or community

469
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,040
Speaker 3: recycling centers. And then there are a bunch of others

470
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:06,200
Speaker 3: that are technically recyclable but just basically just a hassle

471
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,040
Speaker 3: for the people to do it. So, you know those

472
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 3: plastic bags you get at the grocery store, right, everyone's

473
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 3: got opinions about them. Should I ge paper, should I

474
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,440
Speaker 3: get pastics? Should I bring my own? If you're getting

475
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,639
Speaker 3: the plastic bag, it's the same substance that makes up

476
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 3: milk jugs and toys and other kinds of bottles that

477
00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,439
Speaker 3: are recyclable, but it's so thin and it's so spread

478
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,679
Speaker 3: up that it's not worth it to recycle them. And

479
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,800
Speaker 3: those plastic bags can also jam up the gears and

480
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,359
Speaker 3: get caught in the machines that do the recycling. And

481
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 3: those numbers, you know, you generally see one through seven,

482
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 3: but they go up way beyond there. There's a plastic

483
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,560
Speaker 3: that's number nine. That's the kind of plastic your cell

484
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,080
Speaker 3: phones are made out of. Your TVs, but then the

485
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 3: numbers go all the way up into the hundreds. Yeah.

486
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 2: I feel like you need a field guide to plastics

487
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,480
Speaker 2: where people are like bird spotting, but for rare plastics

488
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 2: and the chondreds. So I used to see glass recycling

489
00:23:57,880 --> 00:23:59,880
Speaker 2: all over the place, and that used to be pickups

490
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,360
Speaker 2: neighborhoods and stuff, and now I don't really see that

491
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 2: as much. Do you know anything about that? I do.

492
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, So, recycling aluminum, you are spending about ninety six

493
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,679
Speaker 3: percent less energy than if you were just making it

494
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,440
Speaker 3: from raw materials. Glass is all the way at the

495
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,200
Speaker 3: other end of that spectrum, so you're only saving about

496
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 3: twenty six percent of the energy to recycle glass. Petroleum,

497
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 3: which makes up plastic, is a generally expensive item. It's

498
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 3: dropped in price recently, but it's cost more for companies

499
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 3: who make plastic to get the virgin materials out of

500
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 3: the ground, and it does reuse it. It's not necessarily

501
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,880
Speaker 3: the case for glass. Glass, as anyone who's I don't

502
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,640
Speaker 3: spend a lot of time with kids, cartoons is made

503
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 3: out of sand. I think it might have been an

504
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,440
Speaker 3: episode of He man or Man rubs his hands really

505
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 3: fast on the desert floor and creates some sort of

506
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,800
Speaker 3: I think but yeah, basically, so you can either take glass,

507
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,520
Speaker 3: go through the whole process recycle it, or you can

508
00:24:58,600 --> 00:24:59,639
Speaker 3: just go get some new sand.

509
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,440
Speaker 1: Well that's super helpful, Christopher. Now we can't let you

510
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: go though, before playing a super important quiz, Na Mango,

511
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 1: What what quiz are we playing today?

512
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 2: It's called recycled Sesame Street shows, and so according to

513
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,679
Speaker 2: Muppet Wiki, Sesame Street has to produce something like one

514
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,320
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty shows a season, and they often recycle

515
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,439
Speaker 2: their main storylines. So we're going to tell you a

516
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 2: recycled plot and you just have to tell us which

517
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 2: Sesame Street character starred in it.

518
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 1: They do one hundred and thirty shows a season.

519
00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:33,040
Speaker 2: I mean this is wikipedias. I assume Muppet Wig, Muppet, Muppet.

520
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,199
Speaker 1: Muppet Wiki. All right, that is a lot, Okay, I

521
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,160
Speaker 1: mean I guess that's every year that that That is a.

522
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:42,120
Speaker 3: Tonic speaker behind the screen. Con that's where he shines.

523
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 1: All right, We've got five questions for you, Christopher. Question

524
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 1: number one on episode three eight hundred and twelve and

525
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,679
Speaker 1: episode three nine hundred and thirty three. Wow, this friendly

526
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: vampire wanders around Sesame Street, enumerting all the mistakes on

527
00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 1: Sesame Street. Who are we talking about?

528
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 3: So that is none other than Count vomb Count I

529
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:02,399
Speaker 3: would assume.

530
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,679
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. And according to his origin story on

531
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 2: Sesame Street, he's not the only member of his family

532
00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 2: that loves numbers. His uncle Uno also loves to count.

533
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:14,440
Speaker 1: All right, all right? Question number two. On episodes five,

534
00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 1: eighteen and seven ninety two, this character conducts a philharmonic

535
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:22,440
Speaker 1: orchestra of similar grumps instead of musical instruments. The orchestra

536
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,480
Speaker 1: makes annoying sounds, like that of an airplane or a

537
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,159
Speaker 1: fire engine. Who are we talking about?

538
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 2: Oh? Wow?

539
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 3: Okay, so you said of similar grumps, which would point

540
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 3: me in the direction of Oscar the Grouse or Statler

541
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,879
Speaker 3: and Waldorf. But then there's Rolf, who's the musically talented one.

542
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:43,640
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna go I'm just gonna say Rolf because

543
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,720
Speaker 3: he's the piano playing dog and I dig him.

544
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,960
Speaker 2: Oh, You're were on the right track. It was Oscar

545
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:49,399
Speaker 2: the Grouse.

546
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,360
Speaker 1: Oh okay, wow, that was really a really impressive rundown

547
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 1: of all the possible answers. Okay, still have time to

548
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 1: recover here. Question number three episodes eight ninety four and

549
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:06,479
Speaker 1: one and fourteen, this character orders a radio, but instead

550
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,119
Speaker 1: he gets a box containing its parts, but even worse,

551
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,639
Speaker 1: it doesn't contain any baked goods. What character are we

552
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 1: talking about?

553
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:19,399
Speaker 3: Hmmm, so you've got the okay. My initial thought was

554
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 3: the sweetest chef, because he's the one who's going to

555
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:25,159
Speaker 3: be putting things together and making something and cooking, but

556
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 3: then baked goods. Who would be upset about not getting

557
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 3: baked goods? Unless it were in a health oriented episode,

558
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 3: I would say cookie Monster.

559
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, it is Cookie Monster. And you know

560
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,879
Speaker 2: what one of the producers on the show said earlier

561
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 2: when they were starting the show, a typist used to

562
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,199
Speaker 2: correct all of Cookie Monster's grammar in the scripts and

563
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 2: to stop avermappening.

564
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 1: Wow, that's pretty great, okay. Question number four. On episodes

565
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,920
Speaker 1: four to one, seven, four and four four one three,

566
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 1: this character organizes a nest sale where all his old

567
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,480
Speaker 1: toys can be bought for five birds seeds. What character

568
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:02,399
Speaker 1: are we talking about?

569
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:04,879
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with one of the friendliest characters I

570
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 3: can think of, and that's Big Bird.

571
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 1: Mm hmm, that's right, you got it, all right. Question

572
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:14,160
Speaker 1: number five for the big win. Here on episodes three, four, six,

573
00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,639
Speaker 1: five and three seven two two, this once imaginary character

574
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,280
Speaker 1: is depressed because every time he tap dances, it causes

575
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,000
Speaker 1: an earthquake. What character are we talking about?

576
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,879
Speaker 3: So, I'm pretty happy that a tap dancing earthquake is

577
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,680
Speaker 3: a more than one time occurrence, But I I don't

578
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:33,919
Speaker 3: know who that would be, although I'm gonna I'm just

579
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,119
Speaker 3: gonna guess that it's snuffle Up. I guess yes, I

580
00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:37,760
Speaker 3: think he's sizable enough that he could do it.

581
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,000
Speaker 2: That's right. And also, I didn't realize this until we

582
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 2: did the research, but Snuffy's favorite foods are cabbage spaghetti

583
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 2: and sassafras tea.

584
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,920
Speaker 3: So wait, Mango, is that a tea made out of cabbage,

585
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 3: spaghetti and sassafras?

586
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 2: No, those are separate items.

587
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 1: I'm glad you. I'm glad you added those little fun

588
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,400
Speaker 1: facts in there, Mango. That's that's really valuable. So, so,

589
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:00,640
Speaker 1: how did Chris do today?

590
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 2: Well, Christopher went an amazing four for five, which entitles

591
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 2: them to our big prize, our total.

592
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:11,680
Speaker 1: Admirationy congratulations Christopher, and thanks for joining us anytime.

593
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, so I love Komakotsu's zero waste plan. But

594
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 2: let's be honest, getting people on board to recycle is

595
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,000
Speaker 2: one thing in a town with fewer than two thousand residents,

596
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 2: But it's a lot harder to get that tens of

597
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 2: thousands or even millions of residents of the city to

598
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 2: all commit to that extra effort of recycling. So, I know,

599
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 2: cities like San Francisco and Portland are making huge strides

600
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,240
Speaker 2: and boosting the recycling rates, but some cities are taking

601
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 2: an even bolder approach to the challenge. For example, there

602
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,960
Speaker 2: are about twelve hundred cities across the US that have

603
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 2: adopted a so called pay as you throw system.

604
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,320
Speaker 1: You know, I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people

605
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,040
Speaker 1: that would not like the sound of that. So is

606
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 1: this is this some kind of garbage tax or something?

607
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, sort of. So the idea is that municipal garbage

608
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,080
Speaker 2: trucks won't pick up any trash unless it's been placed

609
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,600
Speaker 2: inside specially marked bags that residents buy from the city. So,

610
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 2: for example, in Malden, Massachusetts, it's one dollar for each

611
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 2: fifteen gallon bag, or two dollars for a thirty three

612
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:19,240
Speaker 2: gallon bag.

613
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:21,880
Speaker 1: And so I'm a little confused by this. So how

614
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 1: exactly does this encourage people to recycle?

615
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,920
Speaker 2: Well, Cities with pays you throw programs still pick up

616
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:31,400
Speaker 2: recyclables and yard waste for freeze, so it's really just

617
00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:33,920
Speaker 2: the landfill bound waste that costs you money. And the

618
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 2: hope is that the added expense will encourage residents to,

619
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 2: you know, take the initiative recycle and compost and just

620
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 2: be more thoughtful about their garbage.

621
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 1: Well, it's definitely an interesting idea, But what about all

622
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,480
Speaker 1: that research you mentioned earlier about the whole recycling saves

623
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: you money angle being kind of a dead end approach.

624
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not something that's going to be compelling to everyone,

625
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 2: and in fact, some cities have experienced pushback in the

626
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 2: form of residents who will buy regular trash bags and

627
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,040
Speaker 2: then just leave them ound the garbage or in public

628
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,000
Speaker 2: bins or in front of a neighbor's house. But there's

629
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,480
Speaker 2: evidence that the pay as you throw system is convincing

630
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,440
Speaker 2: enough people to make it worthwhile. So according to this

631
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,240
Speaker 2: Atlantic article about this type of program, the city of

632
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 2: Malden's trash tonnage was actually cut in half between twenty sixteen.

633
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,320
Speaker 2: In twenty thirteen, which was the year it adopted the

634
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,920
Speaker 2: paid throw model, and the same thing happened in Worcester

635
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 2: and other Massachusetts city that cut its solid waste tonnage

636
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,600
Speaker 2: by forty seven percent in the first year of its program.

637
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:29,959
Speaker 1: Well, I see your point, and those are some pretty

638
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,480
Speaker 1: solid results. And I guess since it is densely populated

639
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,640
Speaker 1: cities that churn out the most trash, this extra push

640
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:38,840
Speaker 1: from programs like this could could be worth it, you know,

641
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: to get people on the same page. But so, how

642
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 1: about we look at a few novel recycling programs that

643
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 1: use a I don't know, let's say, like a less,

644
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:47,560
Speaker 1: less compulsory approach.

645
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 2: Sure. So one of my favorites is the clean Wave

646
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,600
Speaker 2: program that's run by this ecological nonprofit in San Francisco

647
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 2: called Matter of Trust. They accept donations of human hair

648
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:00,800
Speaker 2: and petfur and then they turn it into these like

649
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 2: oil absorbing mats and brooms that hazmat teams can use

650
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,680
Speaker 2: to soak up oil spills. It's amazing and it's actually

651
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 2: a great way to make sure hair clippings that would

652
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,760
Speaker 2: otherwise wind up in landfills are recycled and put to

653
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 2: good use. So if you work in a barber shop

654
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,240
Speaker 2: or a pet groomers, or if you're just someone with

655
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 2: a bunch of cats or a really shaggy dog, you

656
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 2: should really check out the website to find out how

657
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 2: to donate.

658
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:24,960
Speaker 1: Well, that's a pretty cool and well another recycling program

659
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 1: that's making a real difference in the world is called

660
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,040
Speaker 1: the Limbs for Life Foundation. Now I didn't know this

661
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,400
Speaker 1: before today's show, but it's actually illegal to reuse prosthetic

662
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,400
Speaker 1: limbs in the United States, and since they're often made

663
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,040
Speaker 1: from plastics and other materials that can't be recycled that easily,

664
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,400
Speaker 1: there's a lot of perfectly functional prosthetics that just wind

665
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 1: up in the trash, you know. But the organizations like

666
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 1: Limbs for Life have found an amazing loophole here because

667
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,400
Speaker 1: it turns out it is legal to disassemble them and

668
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 1: then ship those used prosthetics to other countries. So that's

669
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 1: exactly what these programs do. They collect and they distribute

670
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 1: these used prosthetics free of charge to land mine victims

671
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: and other amputees and countries around.

672
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,720
Speaker 2: The world love that. What a great work around. So

673
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,720
Speaker 2: this one's kind of in the same vein. It's called

674
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 2: New Eyes for the Needy and it collects recycles and

675
00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:16,400
Speaker 2: distributes old eyeglasses and hearing aids to impoverish children and adults,

676
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 2: both in the US and abroad. And the group has

677
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,360
Speaker 2: been working to improve the world's vision since nineteen thirty two.

678
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,160
Speaker 2: So far they've distributed over eight million pairs of glasses

679
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 2: to people all over the globe.

680
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's pretty neat. Well, speaking of glasses, I

681
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:33,360
Speaker 1: came across this really neat recycling program where people can

682
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,640
Speaker 1: donate their eclipse glasses that you know that they used

683
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:37,440
Speaker 1: to view last year's total eclipse.

684
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 2: Wait, aren't those only safe to look at like for

685
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:41,360
Speaker 2: a few years.

686
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 1: Well, that's true here in the US, but actually South

687
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 1: America and Asia they're getting ready to experience their own

688
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: total eclipse in twenty nineteen, and so of course, you know,

689
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,440
Speaker 1: that's well within that three year span where it's safe

690
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,920
Speaker 1: to use all those glasses that we had last year.

691
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 1: So that's where a nonprofit called Astronomers Without Borders comes in.

692
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:00,880
Speaker 2: That's that's such a great name.

693
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 1: I love how many of the fill in the blank

694
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 1: without borders there are, but it is a great name.

695
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 1: And you know, the group is currently collecting these used

696
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,319
Speaker 1: and certified eclipse glasses to distribute to people who might

697
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 1: be unable to afford or otherwise get their hands on

698
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 1: a pair in time for next year as a clip.

699
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 1: So if you've held onto your glasses as memento or

700
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:22,320
Speaker 1: just haven't gotten around to tossing them yet, it's a

701
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,799
Speaker 1: great chance to help someone else have their own once

702
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,200
Speaker 1: in a lifetime experience.

703
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,439
Speaker 2: Well, the last unusual recycling program I want to mention

704
00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,120
Speaker 2: isn't as altruistic as some of the others we've talked about,

705
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:33,920
Speaker 2: but it does help take a bite out of the

706
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,919
Speaker 2: problem with plastics. So one thing I found out while

707
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,640
Speaker 2: researching is that most credit cards, as well as things

708
00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,560
Speaker 2: like hotel keys and ID cards, are made from PVC,

709
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:45,120
Speaker 2: and as Tristan will tell you, that's one of the

710
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,520
Speaker 2: five out of seven main plastic types that usually can't

711
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,640
Speaker 2: be recycled at all. Whenever people cut up their expired

712
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,400
Speaker 2: cards or turn in their old driver's licenses, all those

713
00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:55,840
Speaker 2: strips of plastic typically heads straight to the dump.

714
00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,520
Speaker 1: But so if PVC is unrecyclable, then than how's a

715
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,200
Speaker 1: recycling program supposed to help?

716
00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, So there are actually some groups. A major one

717
00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:08,320
Speaker 2: in Ohio is called Earthworks, for example, and they recycle

718
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,799
Speaker 2: old cards by chopping them up and melting them back

719
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:14,040
Speaker 2: into sheets of raw PVC and then the plastics able

720
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,000
Speaker 2: to be turned into well new cards. It's kind of

721
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,040
Speaker 2: like with those plastic bags that everyone has a million

722
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,600
Speaker 2: of under their sink, Like, we can't actually get rid

723
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 2: of them completely, so the best bet is to just

724
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,040
Speaker 2: keep reusing the ones we have, so we don't, you know,

725
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:28,120
Speaker 2: expend new resources to make more of them.

726
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:30,360
Speaker 1: Well, that makes a lot of sense, you know. It

727
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:32,680
Speaker 1: actually kind of reminds me of this cool design project

728
00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 1: that came across It's a diy machine that can turn

729
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 1: plastic trash into brand new housewares. The projects called Precious Plastics,

730
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 1: and it's the brainchild of a Dutch designer named Dave Hawkins,

731
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,200
Speaker 1: and so he wanted to create a system that makes

732
00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:50,600
Speaker 1: recycling plastic an easier and more accessible prospect for the public.

733
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:52,960
Speaker 1: And so to that end, he's released these free to

734
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:56,560
Speaker 1: download blueprints for the Precious Plastics machine, and the hope

735
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,799
Speaker 1: is that communities will build their own and then use

736
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:02,359
Speaker 1: them to establish these small scale centers locals that can

737
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:05,800
Speaker 1: then drop off their unwanted plastic waste in exchange for

738
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,040
Speaker 1: that that get a little bit of cash, and then

739
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,040
Speaker 1: the senters can actually recycle these old plastic bottles and

740
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:13,640
Speaker 1: containers and then turn them into new goods that can

741
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:15,640
Speaker 1: be sold in this on site shop there.

742
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 2: I mean, that's a great idea, and it sounds like

743
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 2: some kind of three D printer, but one that's designed

744
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:22,640
Speaker 2: to run on recyclables. Yeah.

745
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:24,839
Speaker 1: The machines are these all in one units, and they

746
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: house a plastic shredder and then three kinds of manufacturing devices.

747
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:33,520
Speaker 1: There's a rotational molder, an extruder, and an injection molder,

748
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:36,120
Speaker 1: and that kind of covers all your basics in terms

749
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:39,279
Speaker 1: of plastic making. And so unlike three D printers, though

750
00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 1: these precious plastic systems, they wouldn't cost towns an arm

751
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 1: and a leg to get everything needed to construct one

752
00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 1: can be easily obtained from scrap yards.

753
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:50,439
Speaker 2: So I think what I like most about this idea

754
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,480
Speaker 2: goes back to something we talked about at the top

755
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:54,520
Speaker 2: of the show, and that's the way that the invention

756
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 2: of plastic kind of did away with the tradition of

757
00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 2: people making their own goods on a small scale, easier

758
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 2: to just buy mass manufactured product, so entire skill sets

759
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,360
Speaker 2: were left by the wayside, and a lot of communities

760
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,840
Speaker 2: suffered as a result. But something like this precious plastics

761
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:12,680
Speaker 2: machine that almost returns some of that self sufficiency to

762
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:13,600
Speaker 2: local communities.

763
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,520
Speaker 1: That's a good point, and it's actually one that Hawkins

764
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:19,840
Speaker 1: touches on while he's speaking about his inspiration for the project.

765
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:22,319
Speaker 1: So he said, it sort of all started when I

766
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:25,040
Speaker 1: noticed we have a lot of plastic wastes, but for

767
00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,440
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons, we can't do anything with it

768
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:29,680
Speaker 1: like we would with wood or with metal. So you

769
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,400
Speaker 1: have a carpenter or a metal worker, and now you

770
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:34,040
Speaker 1: can have a plastics person.

771
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:36,520
Speaker 2: And with a little luck, every town on the map

772
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 2: will have a plastics person to help boost the national

773
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,719
Speaker 2: recycling rate in the years ahead. But until then, there's

774
00:37:41,719 --> 00:37:44,120
Speaker 2: still plenty of other interesting ways to help reduce reviews

775
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,360
Speaker 2: and recycle. So how about you say we feature a

776
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:48,279
Speaker 2: couple of those in our fact off before we go.

777
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 1: Sounds good to me, all right. So we've all read

778
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:02,279
Speaker 1: about roads built from her tires or other materials, but

779
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,759
Speaker 1: did you know that in the Netherlands there's actually a

780
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:09,200
Speaker 1: bike path made with recycled toilet paper. That toilet paper

781
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,440
Speaker 1: provides the cellulose that's helpful in maintaining traction when it's

782
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,279
Speaker 1: really wet or slippery out. And while there are other

783
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 1: sources of cellulose, this is a good use for recycled

784
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:21,080
Speaker 1: material that people really aren't that excited about being used

785
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,600
Speaker 1: in other ways, even though it does go through a

786
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:25,360
Speaker 1: serious sterilization process.

787
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:27,759
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I could see there being a bit of

788
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,360
Speaker 2: a mental block with toilet paper being recycled into things.

789
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,399
Speaker 2: So I'd read about the repurposing of crayons, but I'd

790
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,880
Speaker 2: never actually seen a figure out how many new crayons

791
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:40,200
Speaker 2: coming into the world each day. Apparently the Crayola factory

792
00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:44,839
Speaker 2: in eastern Pennsylvania produces about twelve million crayons every single day.

793
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:46,359
Speaker 1: Wow, every day.

794
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's insane, right, And that's because people often treat

795
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:53,040
Speaker 2: crayons as disposable, but crayons aren't actually biodegradable. So there's

796
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,560
Speaker 2: a nonprofit called the Crayon Initiative that collects old crayons

797
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 2: from schools and restaurants and then it melts them down

798
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,320
Speaker 2: and gives brand new crowns to hospitals and other places

799
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,040
Speaker 2: that could use them. It's pretty neat.

800
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:06,799
Speaker 1: That is pretty neat, all right. Well, I talked about

801
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,960
Speaker 1: the Netherlands before, and now I'm going to talk about Sweden.

802
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:12,319
Speaker 1: So did you know they've gotten so efficient with they're

803
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:16,040
Speaker 1: recycling that they actually now import waste from nearby countries

804
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,240
Speaker 1: to send through their recycling plants, just to keep them going.

805
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,320
Speaker 1: It's like overachieving, it is, they're definitely overachievers. Here's another

806
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:26,480
Speaker 1: way that they overachieve. I saw this crazy statistic. So

807
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,719
Speaker 1: less than one percent of household waste than Sweden goes

808
00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,120
Speaker 1: to the landfill each year. That's amazing.

809
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:34,320
Speaker 2: So earlier this week I was looking at photos of

810
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,720
Speaker 2: the beach at Yusuri Bay in Russia, and it's really

811
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 2: worth looking up because it's strange and beautiful. At one

812
00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 2: point it was a dumping ground for old glass bottles,

813
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 2: and that obviously doesn't sound that great. But the crazy

814
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:50,279
Speaker 2: thing is over quite some time, the waves on these

815
00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:52,960
Speaker 2: beaches have worn down all these beer and vodka bottles

816
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:56,759
Speaker 2: into these beautiful, beautiful pebbles. There's a protected area there

817
00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,879
Speaker 2: now called the glass Beach, and that's become this really

818
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:01,879
Speaker 2: popular tourist spot. Huh.

819
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:04,359
Speaker 1: All right, Well, in doing our research this week, I

820
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,319
Speaker 1: was pleased to see that there are two items that

821
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,040
Speaker 1: I have lots and lots of that can also be recycled. Now,

822
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,240
Speaker 1: the first is old CDs. So there's a CD recycling

823
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:16,240
Speaker 1: center that grinds the CDs up into a fine powder,

824
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,960
Speaker 1: and then later on that powders melted down and that

825
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 1: could be used in several ways, but the most common

826
00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:25,279
Speaker 1: uses in cars and building materials. So I can now

827
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,000
Speaker 1: feel better about, you know, doing something with that old

828
00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:31,319
Speaker 1: toad the Wetsprocket CD from the early nineties, feel pretty

829
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:33,799
Speaker 1: good knowing it's in somebody's car. And then the other

830
00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:35,759
Speaker 1: item is something I know you and I both had

831
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:38,440
Speaker 1: lots of old ones of, and that's tennis balls. And

832
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:42,680
Speaker 1: so there's this organization called Rebounces, and they actually repressurize

833
00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:44,760
Speaker 1: the old tennis balls so that they can be used again.

834
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:47,719
Speaker 2: Oh that's really cool. Well here's a quick fact for you.

835
00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 2: Did you know there's actually more gold and a ton

836
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,360
Speaker 2: of mobile phones than there is in a ton of

837
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:55,319
Speaker 2: gold ore. And so I read that from a ton

838
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:57,880
Speaker 2: of gold or you can actually get one gram of gold,

839
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,720
Speaker 2: but it only takes a little over four mobile phones

840
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:01,640
Speaker 2: to get that same amount.

841
00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:05,800
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Well, sing as, I probably have about forty

842
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:07,879
Speaker 1: old phones that might be an exaggeration, but I've got

843
00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:09,680
Speaker 1: a lot of old phones that I didn't know what

844
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:11,239
Speaker 1: to do with, But now I know what to do

845
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 1: with them. I'm gonna make some gold mango. But before

846
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:16,880
Speaker 1: I do that, I'm gonna give you today's fact Off trophy.

847
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:18,799
Speaker 2: Thanks so much, Will, But I don't know if I

848
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:21,320
Speaker 2: want this recycled trophy? Is there a new one you

849
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:22,240
Speaker 2: can hand me instead?

850
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:24,640
Speaker 1: All right, Well, thank you guys for listening. We'd love

851
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:26,760
Speaker 1: to hear from you. If we've forgotten any great facts

852
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:29,080
Speaker 1: about recycling, and I know you guys have a ton

853
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,040
Speaker 1: of them, feel free to send them our way. You

854
00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:34,080
Speaker 1: can email us part Time Genius at houstuffworks dot com

855
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:36,640
Speaker 1: or call us on our twenty four to seven fact hotline.

856
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,520
Speaker 1: That's one eight four four pt Genius. You can also

857
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:42,719
Speaker 1: hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. Keep the messages coming,

858
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:58,160
Speaker 1: and thanks so much for listening. Thanks again for listening.

859
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of house works and

860
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,160
Speaker 1: wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do the

861
00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:05,640
Speaker 1: important things we couldn't even begin to understand.

862
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:07,520
Speaker 2: Tristan McNeil does the editing thing.

863
00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:09,720
Speaker 1: Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy

864
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:10,560
Speaker 1: mixy sound thing.

865
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,200
Speaker 2: Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing.

866
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:16,200
Speaker 1: Gabeluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the Research

867
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,640
Speaker 1: Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams.

868
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,040
Speaker 2: And Eves Jeffcoat gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.

869
00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:24,120
Speaker 1: If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,

870
00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:26,000
Speaker 1: And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe

871
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:28,279
Speaker 1: you could leave a good review for us. Could we

872
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:29,799
Speaker 1: forget jam Jason who