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Dear Dot,
This is more a comment than a question. It's too bad that catalogs aren’t recyclable or compostable.
– Maggie
Dear Maggie,
First, let me thank-you for your comment. Dot delights in mail from all readers. (While Dot encourages queries related to climate and the environment, I enjoy communications of all kinds from readers, including a recent one from Melody B., who was desperate for advice about her elderly mother’s sleeping problems. Marketplace editor Elizabeth recommended a sleep strategy called Cognitive Shuffle, which seems to amount to boring yourself to death sleep. Whereas Dot’s go-to for a busy brain that refuses to shut down for the night is Headspace’s Sleepcasts, which are simultaneously sweet and dull — Cat Marina is a fave.)
But your note threw me a bit, Maggie. Aren’t catalogues recyclable? Compostable? I thought they were both. So I did a bit of sleuthing.
The confusion seems to be due to glossy catalog covers, which can sometimes be coated in plastic — polyethylene, to be exact. Polyethylene (or PE for short) is a common plastic, widely used for packaging. But when it’s applied to paper, making that paper highly durable and water-resistant if not -proof, it renders that paper unrecyclable and uncompostable. (Another thing that renders some catalogs uncompostable is the ink used. If it’s vegetable- or soy-based ink — the catalog will often note that inside the front cover — shred or tear and toss it on the heap. If you’re unsure, better to recycle.)
How can you determine if your fancy catalog is simply high-gloss paper or coated in PE? Easy. Try to tear it. If it rips easily, into the recycle or compost bin it goes! If not, it’s trash (or a candidate for upcycling). Or try the water test. Place a page of the catalog in a tray and pour some water over it. After a bit of time, say a half-hour, check. If the paper looks almost as good as new, that’s thanks to the PE protection. Otherwise … you’re dealing with good ol’ paper.
So it turns out both of us are right, Maggie. While the vast majority of catalogs — even high-gloss publications — are recyclable and potentially compostable (you can speed up decomposition by shredding the paper), there are a small number with a PE coating that makes them neither.
If you do find yourself with a pile of unrecyclable, uncompostable catalogs, perhaps it’s time to cull the supply — Dot has outlined how to stop the barrage of catalogs here.
And thanks for the comment, Maggie! Keep ’em coming, Readers!
Catalogically,
Dot
