Once again is the time of year when we see more of everything, everywhere – more sales, more traffic, more family, more food, etc. And speaking of food, it means we see more disposable aluminum ‘turkey pans’. From Christmas cup cakes to roasted pigs to pot brownies, we find our selves rushing to the dollar store for yet another aluminum pan. Together with the turkey, the disposable aluminum pan is the hottest item of Thanksgiving week, and really the hottest item thereafter till New Year’s Eve. By the end of any given holiday party we wind up with at least 1 big trash bag full of ‘turkey pans’. In actuality that trash bag could be a recycling bag instead.

If you have not guessed it yet, let it be known that those aluminum pans can be recycled. The most common excuse for not recycling them, is that they have to be clean or the sanitation department won’t be recycle them. It is true that they should be clean, but that’s where your dishwasher comes in. And much of the time a quick rinse in the sink takes care of business. Don’t fret any left over food burns, just get it as clean as you can and recycle it. And if you think that recycling aluminum is not important, think again:

- Aluminum is the only material that’s endlessly recyclable, and that pays for itself. If we recycled all our aluminum, we’d never have to make more!

- It takes 95% less energy to recycle old aluminum into new, then to mine and make aluminum out of the raw material.

- Every three months, Americans discard enough aluminum to completely rebuild every single commercial airplane in America.  Are we throwing easy     money in the landfill, or what?!

- Every year, Americans throw away aluminum that other wise would be enough to provide the auto industry with all the raw material it needs to build a year’s worth of new cars. Hello!?!

- Aluminum is the only recyclable material that depots can recoup their recycling costs with. Hence, by recycling aluminum, we afford to recycle other materials.

- Last but not least, if we double our aluminum recycling rate, we can cut a million tons of pollutants per year out of the atmosphere.

Considering all of the above, plus the fact that aluminum takes about 400 years to break down naturally, one begs the question why don’t we recycle all of our aluminum goods? Recycling aluminum makes perfect sense from economic and environmental point of view.  So there you have it!

Photo, courtesy of www.Bakerella.com