To understand the challenges at the root of municipal recycling programs, check out a video clip from the TV satire \u201cPortlandia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a segment called \u201cWhich bin does it go in?\u201d a character played by Fred Armesin says, \u201cNow there is a bin for everything!\u201d The video<\/a> shows bins for sorting cardboard and paper (blue); plastic, aluminum and glass (black); then descends into the absurd. Orange bins for coffee cup sleeves. Brown bins for stir straws. Periwinkle bins for the cups. Fuchsia bins for coffee cup lids, unless they have lipstick on them. Those, of course, go into the rose-colored bins. Et cetera, et cetera. (And you’ve gotta crack up at what comes out!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n