It’s Kuhl To Recycle: Cups Of Happiness
Ways To Save 7,000 Gallons Of Water And 25 Trees
By Mark Kuhl
For the GPHN
Denver started accepting food and beverage cartons in purple recycling bins in 2012. Paper coffee cups were added to the mix in 2018 because these containers are made with valuable paper fibers.
Many of these containers (milk, soup, juice, wine, broth, small juice boxes, coffee cups) also contain aluminum foil and thin layers of plastic. Carton recyclers have developed sustainable ways to separate these materials which are turned into food packaging, printer paper, and building products.
According to the Carton Council, a ton of paper made from recycled instead of virgin fiber conserves 7,000 gallons of water, 25 trees, 4,000 Kilowat-hours of electricity and 60 pounds of air pollutants.
When you drop your carton or coffee cup in the purple bin don’t crush it, to increase the probability the sorting robots will detect and place it on the right path at the material recovery facility.
Mark Kuhl is an environmental advocate who lives in Park Hill with his family. His handy tips and news about recycling household items appear every month in these pages. A directory of his past columns for recycling everything from paint to Styrofoam to shoes is at greaterparkhill.org/sustainability/recycling-directory/.