Aluminum is a valuable recyclable because it maintains a high raw material value and it can be recycled back into metal products over and over again. When it comes to aluminum cans and foil, you can recycle both. For beverage cans, it's only necessary to do a light rinse, because the contents are grease-free. As for aluminum foil, you can recycle it as long as it's completely clean of grease and food. So if there's a food substance like cheese baked onto the foil, crumple it up and toss it away.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

We've been taught that plastic bottles that have a No. 1 and No. 2 mark on the bottom are recyclable, but there is one variety of plastic bottle marked with the No. 2 that should never, ever be recycled: motor oil bottles. The thick residue that remains in the bottle makes it nonrecyclable, and in fact, motor oil bottles that end up in the recycling stream are considered the biggest contaminant in the plastic recycling market. Toss those bottles into the trash.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

If your curbside recycling program accepts paperboard boxes from things like frozen dinners, you might wonder if the paper bowl or tray inside is also recyclable. The reality is, even if the paperboard insert is recyclable, you should not put it in your recycling bin because residual oils from the food make the paperboard totally contaminated. Even thoroughly washing it isn't enough to make it recyclable, because the oils soak into the fibers of the container. Flatten and recycle the outer box, but toss the inner components into the trash.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION