Anywhere from one-half to three-quarters of Americans say they participate in the environmentally virtuous act of recycling. I am one of them. Or at least I try.

The problem is that every time I open the cover of my big brown curbside recycling bin, I am confronted with an intimidatingly long list of "Don't recycle" items. Yogurt tubs, microwave trays, clamshell containers from delis and salad bars, and disc-shaped hummus containers are all don'ts. I guiltily toss them into the trash, even though I live in hippieish Boulder, Colorado.

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