: " Mooove over cream puffs --the Wisconsin State Fair is adding another great tradition for fairgoers: the chance to recycle away from home.
Seventy-two bottled-shaped bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans will be scattered throughout the fair grounds, making it easy for fairgoers to follow the same recycling routine they use at home.
“Wisconsin residents do a great job of recycling aluminum cans and plastic bottles at home, but we find that too many of those containers are discarded with other trash when people travel during the summer and attend special events,” says Cynthia Moore, Department of Natural Resources recycling coordinator. “The recyclable bins at Wisconsin State Fair are an innovative way to help make it easy for people to recycle away from home.”
Wisconsin recycles about 55 percent of the aluminum cans and plastic bottles citizens discard, a higher proportion than in most states but not as high as state recycling officials would like to see.
DNR estimates, almost $20 million worth of plastic bottles and aluminum cans are thrown away every year in Wisconsin, with a good share of them thrown away when people are on the road or at special events like festivals, fairs and concerts, Moore says.
“Keeping aluminum cans and plastic bottles and other recyclable items out of landfills has significant and positive environmental and economic impacts,” she says. “Not only is recycling a good environmental choice, but in Wisconsin it helps our economy grow, it provides thousands of jobs and it help conserve valuable oil.” Recycling one ton of plastic can save 16 barrels of oil. "
