Frustrated homeowner shares aggravating image of neighborhood problem: 'I don't know what to do'

A disgruntled homeowner posted a photo on Reddit of an experience many people can relate to.

"Left the recycling bin out to get emptied," the Redditor wrote in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit. "Returned to find it filled with rubbish."

The poster included a photo of their recycling bin with trash that doesn't belong there on top of the recycling.

"I don't know what to do. I don't have room in my rubbish bin for this waste," they added.

Though this homeowner had the best intentions, when recycling bins are incorrectly filled, the consequences defeat the whole purpose of the process.

Often, as Vogel Disposal of Western Pennsylvania explains, when recycling is contaminated by things such as food or broken glass, the affected items become unrecyclable and end up in landfills.

Mistakes in curbside recycling can even cause danger to machines and to people, according to Vogel Disposal. From damaging equipment to injuring workers to creating fire hazards, putting the wrong things into recycling can wreak havoc. 

And the dirty fuel needed to transport unrecyclable materials to other locations for disposal is a problem, too.

National Geographic reported in 2018 that an unbelievable 91% of plastic was not being recycled, and this was partially because of incorrect recycling. 

While sorting technology continues to improve, learning how to recycle correctly is a positive and important way to make change. Individual recycling habits make a significant difference in the amount of recyclables that actually gets recycled.

What confuses you most about recycling protocol? Which materials I can recycle 📦 How clean the material needs to be 🧼 What the plastic numbers mean ♻️ Nothing at all 😇 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Commenters on the homeowner's post were compassionate and shared the frustration of having your best efforts undermined by careless neighbors.

"That is the worst! Bad enough they are illegally dumping in your bin. Then they put the wrong thing in the wrong bin! Come on people!" one said.

Another offered a solution, writing, "I now take ours to a recycling dropoff so I know it will actually get recycled."

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