07/25/2017

Test your recycling mettle with 'Wicked Smaht Recycler' game

How smart a recycler are you?

Test your knowledge with a new app published by ecomaine, the waste management non-profit owned and operated by 20 Southern Maine communities including Cape Elizabeth.

"Doing our part to upkeep Maine's long-standing reputation as 'the way life should be' requires constant education about what can and can't be recycled," according to the ecomaine website:

"The 'Wicked Smaht Recycler' waste-sorting game is designed to sharpen and test your recycling and waste handling know-how. Play this game to learn about what can be re-used or recycled, and become 'wicked smaht' at keeping valuable resources out of landfills. As you refine your mastery through each of the game's five levels, you can pick from a range of fun fixtures to spruce up your very own virtual park."

The game is part of a computer "Recyclopedia" app (also downloadable to your smaht phone) that offers an engine to quickly search for what can and cannot be recycled. New items are being added every day. For example, Have you ever wondered how to dispose of an old fire extinguisher? Visit www.ecomaine.org/recyclopedia/ to find out, or download the mobile app: Android | Mac

Ever wonder how Cape Elizabeth measures up to other communities when it comes to recycling?

ecomaine has also introduced an online comparison tool that lets you compare recycling in Cape Elizabeth to that in Yarmouth, Falmouth, or any one or more of the owning and contracting communities - 56 in all.

You can even find out which communities have recycling incentives such as a swap shop, yard-waste or food-waste solutions. The tool compares recycling rates and incentives for fiscal year 2016, which for Cape Elizabeth was 35.41 percent. The town with the highest rate was Falmouth, 45.73 percent.