Many communities, including Fairfax County, do not allow you to put #5 plastics in your recycling bin. They only accept #1 and #2 plastics.
But Preserve, Organic Valley, Stoneyfield and Whole Foods markets have teamed up to give you a place to recycle those #5 plastic containers.
It's called the Gimme 5 program and it allows you to bring your #5s to a participating Whole Foods or send them to Preserve to be recycled into other plastic products. Just check the link to see if your local Whole Foods is participating in the pilot program. My market isn't one of them, but I keep reminding them about it and hope that they'll be added soon.
This is a fantastic program since a lot of plastic containers are #5. They'll even take Brita water filters! Yes, they're #5 too. It's difficult to see the recycling symbol at the underside of the filter though. I'd much rather see these plastics melted down and made into something useful instead of being incinerated or placed in a landfill.
Check out Preserve's web site and all of the useful things they make out of recycled plastics. I've used their toothbrushes and love them. I also use their large cutting board. They make their products in the U.S.A. and are doing lots of good things for the planet.
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