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Paper Ice Cream Containers

After reading a number of recycling and composting sites that said paper ice cream containers could not be composted because of the plastic lining they use, I was very bummed. My wife and I like ice cream and I really wanted to enjoy it waste free.

Thankfully it looks like some local composting facilities are able to handle them in San Mateo and San Francisco. Apparently this small amount of plastic can be handled ok. Yay!

See:

And:

Please note that Sunnyvale handles paper milk, juice, and soup cartons as part of its recycling program.  Recycling of these is more efficient than composting at this time and these often have some aluminum metal in them that can be recovered.

Waste reduction summary:
  1. Matter (material):
    1. Switched material from trash to compost.
  2. Energy
    1. No significant loss or gain.
  3. Time
    1. Do need to pay attention and buy ice cream with all paper cartons.
  4. Space
    1. No significant loss or gain.
  5. Money
    1. No significant loss or gain.
  6. Environment/Health/Life
    1. Compost is much better for all of us than trash!

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