Common Recycling Mistakes: An Infographic

When it comes to recycling, reusing, and reducing, you may feel as though you’re contributing to a mountain that is never going to be summited. After all, that little drop in the bucket—does it really matter? Well, of course it matters. The problem is, not enough people are doing what you do and many people (maybe even you) aren’t recycling correctly all the time.

household waste

Take, for example, the people who aren’t recycling: The U.S. recycles not even one-quarter of the trash that each of their households generates. And take the latter—the people recycling incorrectly. Glass, for example, doesn’t decompose in a landfill, so tossing it in the trash does no one any good, especially not those with ambitious recycling goals.

However, you shouldn’t despair. You can do better and you can do more, and you can persuade friends and family to follow your example.