Everyone from politicians to rock stars is talking about "going green," but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says most of us are still generating too much waste. In fact, the average American throws out about four pounds of unwanted stuff a day, at home and work -- and a lot of it ends up in landfills.

Fortunately, recycling is growing in popularity. Many municipalities and workplaces provide recycling receptacles or bags that make it fairly effortless to recycle bottles, cans, and newspapers. But it turns out that some items you might think are easily recycled can't be reused at all. On the other hand, many items that don't fit into any obvious recyclable category can, in fact, be kept out of landfills -- if you know where to take them.

The problem with (some) plastic

According to the EPA, about half of plastic waste comes from packaging; the rest comes from everything from toys and razors to computers and garbage bags. The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) reports about 1,800 businesses in North America are involved in recycling post-consumer plastics; that's about three times the number of a few years ago. However, according to the EPA, only about five percent of plastic is actually being recycled.

Although manufacturers usually put a number inside the recycle symbol on the bottom of plastic items, that doesn't mean the objects are all recyclable. What's more, the numbers are not regulated federally and 39 states have varying rules about what the numbers actually mean.

Bottom line: the recycle symbol and number on the bottom of an item isn't an absolute guarantee that it's recyclable, but it can help you decipher what kind of plastic you have and what to do with it:

• # 1 is found mostly on soft drink containers and means the plastic is polyethylene terephthalate (PET). It's easy to recycle and manufacturers have lots of uses for it -- including structural molding, more containers, and fiber. That's right. The bottles you recycle today can become tomorrow's Berber carpet or fleece coat.
• # 2 means an item is made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE, for short). This plastic, used for milk jugs, grocery bags, and dishwashing detergent bottles, is widely recycled to make everything from bottles and toys to pipes to crates.
• # 3 designates polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl). It's used for some food containers and, if clean, it's recyclable.
• # 4 marks low-density polyethylene (LDPE) used for dry-cleaning and fresh produce bags. The American Chemistry Council's plasticbagrecycling.org has information on where to take these and almost any kind of plastic bag -- from zip lock and produce bags to dry cleaning bags and newspaper wraps -- for recycling.
• # 5 stands for polypropylene (PP). Found in bottle caps, yogurt cups, and drinking straws, it melts at a different rate than other hard plastics so it's not recyclable. Yep, just toss these.
• # 6 indicates polystyrene (PS), also known as Styrofoam. Used mostly as a packing material, it can be recycled but it takes effort. Your city curbside pickup probably won't take it. Try giving Styrofoam "peanuts" away on craigslist to people who need it for packing. Or enter your location at earth911.com and find the closest facility that accepts Styrofoam for recycling.
• # 7 stands for "other" plastics, such as polycarbonate baby bottles. For the most part, these aren't accepted at recycling centers.

More plastic items that can't be recycled:

• Food or cling wrap
• Prepackaged food bags including frozen food bags
• Film that has been painted or has excessive glue on it
• Bio-based or compostable plastic bags

The paper chase

The EPA reports Americans are recycling more than 50 percent of the paper we use. It can be recycled at least five or six times and often a single sheet of paper contains new fibers as well as fibers that have been reused many times.

It's not only paper that is made from paper, either. Over 5,000 products use recycled paper -- including masking tape, bandages, dust masks, lamp shades, car insulation, and egg cartons.

Fortunately, paper is fairly easy to recycle. Paper mills that process recovered paper even remove staples and paper clips from pulped paper.

But you need to check with your community's recycling program to see what kinds of paper products are acceptable. For example, sticky notes are usually recyclable -- but not everywhere.

Other paper recycling dos and don'ts:

• Food particles contaminate paper for recycling so forget trying to recycle used paper plates. You can recycle pizza boxes, though, if you first rip off any parts that have food particles or stains on them.
• Most notebooks with metal spiral binding can be recycled just fine (recycling machines remove the metal). But remove plastic covers before recycling.
• Office envelopes with plastic windows can be recycled with regular office paper. So can FedEx envelopes with plastic sleeves.
• Commonly used mustard-colored envelopes are not recyclable because goldenrod paper, along with other dark colored paper, is saturated with difficult-to-remove dyes.
• Jiffy Paks envelopes, including those containing fibrous packing material, can be recycled with other mixed papers, like cereal boxes. However, envelopes padded with bubble wrap can't be recycled.
• DuPont Tyvek envelopes are not actually paper; they are a form of plastic and difficult to recycle. However, for a fee, you can recycle Tyvek items with DuPont's Waste Management Recycling Kit.
• Pendaflex folders can go in the recycle paper bin if you cut off the metal rods first.
• Old phone books are collected for free by many cities. Or find out how to recycle them at yellowpages.com/recycle, or call 1-877-88RECYCLE (1-877-887-3292).

Metal recycling? Can do

Recycling metal saves an enormous amount of money and energy. For example, the EPA says recycling aluminum cans saves 92 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite ore. And steel containing a recycled component of the metal requires 75 percent less energy to produce than "virgin" steel.

Tips for successfully recycling your left over metal products:

• Wire hangers. When they multiply mysteriously in the recesses of your closet, don't throw them out. Dry cleaners will often take them. Or remove any attached paper or cardboard and recycle hangers with other household metals.
• Aerosol cans. Most can be recycled with other cans if you remove the plastic cap and empty the canister completely.
• Metal cleaning product cans. Carefully cut off the ends of empty powdered cleanser cans before recycling.
• Food cans. Easily recyclable, empty cans should be rinsed first but don't bother removing labels.
• Metal cookware. You can recycle them as scrap metal, even if they have plastic handles.

Why recycle glass?

There are many reasons. While it's true glass eventually biodegrades, it can take tens of thousands of years to break down. What's more, making glass from recycled "cullet" (crushed glass) takes 40 percent less energy because it melts at a lower temperature than sand and other glass ingredients. And recycled glass isn't only used to make more glass, either --- it creates sports turf, kitchen tiles, and sand for depleted beaches.

The main key to recycling glass is separating items according to color (clear, blue, brown, and green). But there are other, sometimes surprising, things to consider:

• Most recycling programs reject windshield and window glass, test tubes, and Pyrex cookware because they have different melting points than typical container glass.
• Because of chemicals used in their manufacturing process, glass vases, drinking cups, and ceramics can't be recycled. Likewise, don't toss old light bulbs in the recycle bin, either.
• It's a good idea to rinse out jam and other food jars (to keep insects away) but don't worry about making them squeaky clean -- recycling centers don't care.
• Mirrors aren't recyclable because chemicals used to make the glass can't be mixed with glass bottles and jars. Consider donating unwanted mirrors to thrift stores. Place a broken mirror in a paper bag (to protect trash collectors) and throw away.

That other stuff

So what do you do with all that other stuff -- is it destined for the trash heap or can it be recycled? Call 800-CLEANUP to find out what your municipality recycles or visit recyclingcenters.org [http://recyclingcenters.org/] and search on-line for recycling facilities by location and specific types of items accepted.

More resources for recycling odds and ends:

Paint: Earth911.com has a search engine for locating the nearest place to take old cans of paint for recycling.

• Crayons: Sure, you can donate usable crayons to a school but what do you do with a lot of broken, little pieces? The National Crayon Recycle Program (crazycrayons.com) will take them off your hands and melt them into new ones. You don't even have to take the wrappers off.
• Eyeglasses: Plastic frames can't be recycled. However, you can include metal frames with your other metal recyclables. Another possibility: donate any kind of old eyeglasses to help the world's needy. Contact neweyesfortheneedy.com or onesight.org for information.
• Batteries: The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (rbrc.org/call2recycle) has information on where to take old batteries for recycling.
• Old or broken computers, printers, monitors, cell phones and more: You can keep them out of landfills and help the less fortunate by donating these items to the non-profit Next Recycling Organization (Nextsteprecycling.org). They'll repair your broken electronics and send them to schools, families, and nonprofits in need.
• Videotapes: No one is ever going to watch those old "Barney" videos and your recycling center won’t take them. So what can you do with unwanted videotapes? Send them to the ACT (actrecycling.org) facility in Columbia, Missouri, which employs disabled people to erase, recycle and resell videotapes.