Q: When I prepare cardboard packing boxes for recycling, do I have to remove the tape?

A: The glue on the tape impedes the recycling process, so please remove it. Remember, corrugated cardboard must be recycled, not trashed, unless it is soiled.

Q: 1 keep seeing claims from different dry cleaners that they are environmentally friendly. What does this mean?

A: The first thing to remember is that for the most part dry cleaning isn't dry, it just uses a liquid other than water for removing the dirt. For the majority of dry cleaners since the 1930s, the solvent used is perchlorethylene (sometimes spelled perchloroethylene or called tetrachloroethylene) or PERC for short. It cleans well and isn't a fire hazard. On the other hand, it is toxic and heavily regulated by the EPA and OSHA, because if spilled it can contaminate land or water, and it is harmful to breathe the fumes. Several of the businesses that claim to be environmentally friendly use a wet cleaning system for many of the clothes they clean, as the actual dry process isn't necessary for many garments. If the garment needs to be dry cleaned, they use PERC under carefully ventilated conditions. They then remove the PERC from the garments so that individuals who are chemically sensitive don't react to it and recycle the leftover PERC in a responsible manner. The new "green earth" cleaning solvent is silicon based and not toxic in the way PERC is.

If you're choosing a cleaner, you should also pick a place that will recycle the plastic bags and take back extra unneeded hangers, so these items don't end up in your trash, and ideally pick a place to which you can walk, rather than drive.

Q: I keep seeing stuff in people's trash cans such as yard waste and cardboard. Why do the garbage truck workers take it?,

A: There is a lot of turnover among the workers and new training sessions have to keep being arranged. What is supposed to happen in cases such as you mention is that the barrel in violation of the rules should be stickered, and left behind by the truck.