We're not supposed to recycle plastic bags?!

That's a hard "no!". You were supposed to stop throwing them in your recycling bins back in 2019.

Unfortunately, people either forgot, never heard the news or somehow think they're still doing something good for the planet, by throwing them in with their weekly recycling.

Stop...IT!

Why? It's not harming anything, is it?

Yes. That is why they were banned from being recycled four years ago, according to Megan Raposa from Sioux Falls Simplified

There were a number of problems, and expensive ones at that, that finally led some recycling companies, to say "no more!" to plastic bags of any kind.

What kind of damage can they do?

Since machines that sort through your single stream recyclables at Millenium Recycling can't sort out plastic bags. Workers have to do it by hand, which means extra work and extra cost.

When the bags get missed, they get caught up in equipment. Sometimes they can melt together, gum up machines and even cause the entire plant to shut down to cut them out.- Sioux Falls Simplified

The crazy thing is, that the recycling plant still spends hours every day on the problems caused by plastic bags. This means that if it continues, recycling may start to cost us all a whole lot more.

Is there something you can do with them besides just throwing them out?

Yes, Hyvee, Target, Kohls, and other stores accept them for recycling.

However, the best thing we can do about the plastic bag problem we have in our country is to stop using them and start using paper bags again, or reusable bags.

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Source: Sioux Falls Simplified (by permission)

The 6 Types of South Dakota Drivers You Deal With Every Winter

Every year it snows in Sioux Falls. We may live in denial during the spring and summer, but it happens.

When the snow falls on the Falls, life in the city does not stop. We all still have to go to work, school, and the liquor store...um I mean go get snacks.

When you tackle the snowy routes around town you tend to run across six types of drivers in the snow.

 

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