Recycling Plastic: The Ugly Truth

Remember how in third grade your teacher gave you an explanation of recycling? And how she was like, "Now, take a look at this cranberry juice box. See the little triangle on the bottom with the number in it? That's what the Nice People In Charge of Recycling drew to tell you to recycle!" And you probably learned that the lower the number in the little triangle, the easier the plastic was to recycle.
I'm unembarassed to admit that this was my understanding of plastics recycling until very recently.
Turns out the little eco-friendly-looking-triangle was invented by big plastics conglomerates to get consumers to think their products were good for the earth. It's practically fraudulent. Little triangle with a number does not equal recyclable. In fact, some types of plastic like vinyl (PVC) are actually damaging to dispose of. More specifics on PVC later. In the meantime, click to enlarge and get familiar with this handy guide to recycling.