Featured product: organicgirl good clean greens Romaine Hearts are delivered in a #4 Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) plastic bag. They can be recycled through the free r3 mail-in program offered by organicgirl.
Recycling Steps
Step One
- Remove any remaining organic material and, as possible, the labels attached to the bag. organicgirl greens bags include a tag that shows where the greens were grown, which peels off easily.
Step Two
- Save a minimum of three bags.
- Visit organicgirl’s on the web to download an r3 program form, which you must fill out and send with each shipment.
- Remember when shipping your salad bags to choose a recycled envelope or box to minimize your carbon footprint.
Step Three
- Send your bags to organicgirl.
- You’re done! Your extra steps make a difference. Plus, organicgirl will send you goodies for your efforts!
Sit back and enjoy your salad. orgainicgirl will send the bags to Terracycle, which will process them. Bags are melted and turned into plastic sheets that are used to make grocery bags, carpeting and garbage bags, among other things.
Plastic #4 Explained
It is important to recycle LDPE plastic whenever possible because it can remain in landfills or the environment for hundreds of years. LDPE bags are a better option for food packaging than its sibling material, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) because it requires less material than HDPE. However, LDPE is not widely accepted by recycling programs due to risks to workers and machines if the plastic film causes a jam.
When you separate your #4 LDPE bags and send them to organicgirl, the benefits include reduced energy and raw materials use, as well as greater safety for recycling workers.
Sustainability Benefits of Recycling organicgirl #4 LDPE Bag Packaging
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, only 8.3 percent of LDPE plastic is recycled in the United States as of 2017, and another 15.8 percent is incinerated to generate energy. Recycling LDPE requires about 28 percent of the energy used to make plastic from virgin materials.
Data source: An Assessment of Energy Savings Derived from Mechanical Recycling of Polyethylene Versus New Feedstock
Products Covered
You can recycle the packaging of the following organicgirl products using the instructions on this page:
- Hearts of Romaine, 12 oz. bag
To learn more, visit https://iloveorganicgirl.com/about/recycling.