Where does this go?

September 9, 2009 9:49 AM

Can I recycle a dirty tissue or napkin?

I have pretty annoying seasonal allergies, so I go through a significant amount of tissues during the day. Tissues and napkins, in fact, are probably the majority of the waste I generate in a given day. Can I put a snot-soaked tissue or a food-stained napkin into the recycle bin? Is there a compelling reason not to?

posted by ben242 to grab bag (12 comments total)

You're not supposed to recycle snotty tissues according to most of the sources I checked out, but you can compost them (and napkins) unless they have a significant amount of food on them that will attract animals.
posted by jessamyn at 9:55 AM on September 9

Compost, yes, mixed paper/newspaper, no.
posted by GuyZero at 9:59 AM on September 9

There's always old-fashioned handkerchiefs, which aren't as gross as you might think at first. (Not really an answer to your question, but it may help if your central concern is creating waste.)
posted by Ladybug Parade at 9:59 AM on September 9 [1 favorite]

MIT says no recycling anything with organic matter like food or germs. Which I did not know. I've been tossing paper towels in recycling. Bummer.
posted by dejah420 at 10:00 AM on September 9

You can definitely compost food-stained napkins. I don't compost biohazards like my own snot.
posted by grouse at 10:03 AM on September 9

All sorts of shit goes in the pulpers at paper mills. A few extra snotters isnt going to make a difference.
posted by the cuban at 10:05 AM on September 9

I think recyclable tissues are called handkerchiefs
posted by Spaizy at 11:27 AM on September 9 [2 favorites]

Handkerchiefs are washable.

I think composting diseased mucus is asking for trouble.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:33 AM on September 9

By "composting" I guess I mean something like a municipal green bin - in Toronto you can put dog poop in that, so mucus doesn't seem any worse.
posted by GuyZero at 11:35 AM on September 9

I think composting diseased mucus is asking for trouble.

Not to hijack, but this response provoked a question for me... Wouldn't the heat involved in the process of composting (or the bacteria aiding in decomposition) take care of this? And if not for some reason, what impact would that have on plant life?
posted by tdischino at 12:03 PM on September 9

I compost my own snot rags, and wouldn't do so unless I was really sick with something really bad. For those interested in the composting of "nasty things", check out the humanure handbook, basically if you compost things properly it'll get hot enough to kill pathogens. Compost 'em, I say.
posted by glip at 3:01 PM on September 9

Thanks for all the interesting answers. I think the folks who suggested the handkerchief have the right idea for me. I just feel too guilty generating so much garbage.

Also very interesting about the composting. I can't have a composting bin at my office or in my apartment, and NYC doesn't have them on street corners.
posted by ben242 at 7:11 PM on September 9