Why You Should Think Twice About Solo Cups

#1 Red Solo Cup, I Fill You Up. Let's Have a Party!

"A red Solo cup is the best receptacle for barbecues, tailgates, fairs, and festivals," sings country singer Toby Keith in the song "Red Solo Cup," and he also says that it takes them 14 years to decompose. Unfortunately, the truth is that they take about 450 years to break down. And even if they make their way into a recycling facility, there's no guarantee that these cultural icons won't be sorted out and sent to a landfill anyway.

#2 Are They Decomposing?

The cups are made of a plastic that is very difficult to break down. There are six different types of plastics, and Solo cups are categorized as a no. 6 plastic. This is the same category as Styrofoam, polystyrene, and expanded polystyrene. When heated, the plastics can release dangerous chemicals, like the potential carcinogen Styrene. This means that some recycling centers aren't equipped to break them down or could be exposing their workers to dangerous chemicals.

#3 What Gets Recycled and What Doesn't?

Just because an item has the recycling symbol, which was introduced in 1988 by the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) to identify basic resin types in plastics, it does not necessarily mean the product is recyclable.

#4 #6 Plastics Are The Worst For The Environment!

Few recycling centers actually take no. 6 plastics. Whether or not the cups will actually be recycled depends on the waste municipality in your city and whether or not their recycling facilities take no. 6 plastic. So, your good intentions that left Friday night's cups in the recycling bin sadly don't always matter.

#5 Recycling Center Sorting. It's A Hard, Dirty Job.

When evaluating what to do with the material, municipalities will look at the market for the recycled object and how hard it is to sort.

WHAT OTHER ITEMS CANNOT BE RECYCLED? Here are just a few...

#6 Pizza Boxes

Pizza boxes and left-over containers usually can't be recycled because food contamination, like grease, corrupts parts of the recycling process.

#7 Bottle Caps

Plastic bottles and caps are two different substances and even require different melting temperatures to break them down. If your municipality has to decide what to take, they might skip out on the bottle lids because plastic bottles are more valuable on the market.

#8 Plastic Hangers

Plastic hangers contain a blend of multiple plastic types. This makes them difficult to break down in the recycling process.

#9 Mirrors

Mirrors contain chemicals that can't be mixed with regular glass, so they aren't recyclable either.

#10 Styrofoam

Avoid using Styrofoam products whenever possible including cups, disposable plates and packing materials. These items are notoriously bad for the landfills and for our environment.

#11 Used Tires

When melted tires emit a toxic gas that is dangerous to humans and the environment. Your best bet is to re-purpose tires because they just won't break down like other materials.

#13 Shower Curtains and Liners

Shower curtains are made using a PVC-base product, shower curtains cannot be broken down and used again in the recycling process. They will take over 500 years to decompose, as with all PVC made items.

#13 Reduce, Reuse, and RECYCLE!

If you want to make a positive impact on the environment, minimize the amount of waste you create and re-purpose the plastic you do use. After all, it's easier to reduce and reuse than it is to recycle.