Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 21, 1991 TAG: 9104190385
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE MacEACHERN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: You're referring to the numbers printed inside a triangle that can be found near the bottom of the containers. The triangle, made up of three "chasing arrows," resembles the recycling symbol usually found on paper products.
The numbers, ranging from one through seven, were introduced by the Society of the Plastics Industry in July 1988 as a voluntary guideline to help plastic recyclers sort different kinds of plastics. Though not intended to be hierarchical, they have turned out to be a fairly accurate indicator of the recyclability of the product they label. For example, numbers 1 and 2, which are respectively found on beverage containers such as two-liter soda bottles and plastics such as milk jugs and trash bags, are much more recyclable than numbers 5 (yogurt containers) or 6 (polystyrene).
Here's what all the numbers stand for:
\ 1 - PET: Polyethylene Terephthalate. Includes beverage bottles, frozen food boil-in-the-bag pouches and microwave food trays.
\ 2 - HDPE: High Density Polyethylene. Includes milk jugs, trash bags, detergent bottles, bleach bottles and aspirin bottles.
\ 3 - V: Vinyl. Includes cooking oil bottles and packaging around meat.
\ 4 - LDPE: Low Density Polyethylene. Includes grocery store produce bags, bread bags and food wrap.
\ 5 - PP: Polypropylene. Includes yogurt containers, shampoo bottles, straws, syrup bottles and margarine tubs.
\ 6 - PS: Polystyrene. Also known by the brand-name Styrofoam. Includes hot beverage cups, fast-food clamshell containers, egg cartons and meat trays.
\ 7 - Other.
It is important to note that these numbers don't mean that the plastic is necessarily being recycled. Jeanne Wirka, a policy analyst at Environmental Action Foundation, says the use of an emblem that resembles the recycling symbol confuses the public into thinking it is buying a "green" product that, in most neighborhoods, will not be recycled.
In 1989, 28 percent of PET plastic beverage bottles were recycled, compared with 60.8 percent of aluminum beverage containers.
Q: Can you give me some tips for attracting more birds to my backyard?
A: Gladly. Thanks to local overdevelopment, many nesting places for birds have been destroyed. And tropical deforestation has eradicated many of the breeding grounds our winged friends once migrated to. Given the important role birds play in controlling mosquitoes and other insects and disseminating seeds, we should help keep them around. Besides, they're pretty, and a pleasure to hear.
According to the National Audubon Society, the best way to attract birds and keep them coming back is to grow natural plantings that offer food, shelter and cover. Here's what you can do:
Create irregular-shaped borders and plant hardy, native fruit and seed-bearing bushes.
Establish a spot for a brush pile of old leaves, stumps and brambles to provide cover for birds as well as habitat for the insects, worms and crustaceans upon which many birds thrive.
> When it is safe to do so, leave dead tree limbs in place to provide nesting cavities for owls and food for woodpeckers, nuthatches and creepers.
Allow annuals and perennials to go to seed before pruning them, to provide additional food, shelter and cover.
Provide different kinds of bird seeds and feeders to encourage many different kinds of birds to drop by.
Set up a small bird bath. You can buy one of the fancy porcelain pedestal types, but even the inverted lid of a garbage can will do. Just keep the water fresh so that it doesn't become a breeding ground for mosquitoes or other insects.
> Don't stop feeding the birds in the winter. Maintain your food supply all year long.
For a more complete description of what and how to feed birds to keep them in your backyard, get a copy of "Banquet for Birds," National Audubon Society, 950 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022, or "Invite Wildlife to Your Backyard," National Wildlife Federation, 1400 16th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. \ Environmental glossary
\ Dioxin - The Environmental Protection Agency defines dioxin as dibenzo-p-dioxins. Tests on laboratory animals indicate that dioxin is one of the more toxic manmade chemicals known.
Dioxin is the active ingredient in Agent Orange, a defoliant used in Vietnam. The toxin can be formed during the manufacture of paper if chlorine is used to bleach wood pulp. This discovery has led manufacturers of toilet paper, coffee filers, paper towels and many other products to use oxygen-bleached paper rather than paper made using chlorine bleach. Washington Post Writers Group
Diane MacEachern is an environmentalist and author of "Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up The Earth."
by CNB