After looking through my blue recycling bags for the City of Spruce Grove this week, I noticed that I had completely filled two of them with paper products, but didn't have enough other recyclable materials to fill my third bag. Hmmm. Then I looked in my garbage can. Non recyclable plastic wrap. Non recyclable plastic food storage bags. Non recyclable plastic containers. Then it dawned on me. I have too darned much non recyclable plastic! That evening I watched the shocking Canadian documentary, Addicted to Plastic. If you haven't seen this video, please rent it.    

The documentary shows how much plastic is ending up in our oceans as "plastic soup." Fish and birds mistake plastic "pellets" for fish eggs, eat them and die. As there are more humans using disposable diapers and other non-recyclable plastic products, this problem is getting worse each day.

To see what I could do in my community of Spruce Grove to help, I searched online.  I looked on the bottom of many of my plastic household products and found the recycle symbol for #1-#7 plastics. And, the City of Spruce Grove site mentions that plastics #1-#7 can be recycled. But I wondered, what exactly are plastics #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7? So I kept searching until I found some helpful information from a number of sites, including the Organic Consumers Association.

Category #1 plastics (PETE: polyethylene terephthalate) are used in soft drinks, peanut butter, salad dressing, vegetable oil, and microwave trays. Many soft drink, juice, and liquor (plastic) containers can be recycled at the Alberta bottle depots.  

Category #2 plastics (HDPE: high density polyethylene) are used in milk jugs, shampoo and detergent bottles, butter and yogurt containers. Milk jugs can be recycled at Alberta bottle depots.   

Category #3 plastics contain (V: polyvinyl chloride) and used in film for meat packaging, window cleaner and cooking oil bottles    

Category #4 plastics contain LDPE (low density polyethylene), and are found in bread bags, frozen food bags, dry cleaning and shopping bags.     

Category #5 plastics contain PP (polypropylene), and are found in yogurt containers, ketchup and syrup bottles, straws, and medicine bottles. 

Category #6 plastics contain PS (polystyrene). You can find PS in disposable plates, cups, meal trays, egg cartons, and compact disc cases. 

Category #7 plastics contain mixed resins, which are used in mixed plastic containers and plastic products