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If you're spring cleaning this weekend in honor of Earth Day, make sure to do it right!

Let's review common recycling mistakes and what can be reused.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Earth Day is all about demonstrating support for environmental protection. In honor of this special day, there are some steps you can take to make your spring cleaning more sustainable.

Jeremy Walters, a sustainability ambassador with Republic Services, said to remember the three Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Reduce 

You don’t always have to buy things like cleaning products. You can purchase reusable bottles and concentrated blocks of water-soluble cleaning products and make your own.

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You can also make your own products at home with natural ingredients like lemon, vinegar, and salt scrubs. 

Walters said you can easily get creative with cutting down your waste with these alternatives. Just keep in mind that price may play a role here.

Reuse

Reuse things like old t-shirts, towels, and blankets as rags for cleaning. You can also donate them to local animal shelters.

"They can cut them up and they can use them for rags as they clean," Walters says. "So, you can definitely think outside of the box!"

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Recycle 

Cleaning products need a little extra love when recycling properly. Remember to clean, empty, and dry the bottles. 

Some cleaning products can have the cap recycled, too, but things with a spray nozzle cannot. It may be plastic on the outside, but Walters explains it's the other added functions that are worth considering. 

"There are springs that are helping this trigger function work, sometimes little rubber tubes in there," he said. "So, you actually need to take this off and dispose of this."

Common mistakes

The most common mistake with recycling is putting your recyclables in a plastic bag and throwing them in the bin. Whether it's tied or not, these bags cannot be recycled and most facilities throw the entire thing in the trash.

Why? The bags gum up the machines and the workers don't have time to filter through the bag and decide what can go and what cannot. This is frustrating and leads to more trash going into our landfills.

So, what should you do? If you use a plastic bag to collect your recyclables, make sure you empty the recyclables in your bin. Then, reuse the bag for something else.

You can also return plastic bags to many local stores that accept them, or even better – turn to reusable shopping bags or paper options.

Contact Brittany Van Voorhees at bvanvoorhe@wcnc.com and follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

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