Trying to be a good recycling citizen...

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

If I've determined that removing a certain food residue (peanut butter from the walls of a jar, dried cheese from a paper to-go container, etc) is not something I am invested enough in being a good person to do... should I put it in the trash or recycling?

Comments

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Adding a bit of peanut butter to ramen or even chicken noodle soup is actually crazy delicious. I roughly follow the method you described when needing to polish off a near-empty jar.

Any food-soiled paper goods should always go in the trash or compost (if appropriate) anyhow. In general, the trash is probably the better bet when in doubt. But obviously things like soda cans get recycled all the time unrinsed, so anything with near invisible residue should be fine.