Chicken rice dinner and what happens after that

Yesterday, friends came to visit and stayed for dinner. We bought nine packs of chicken rice that came in oblong plastic containers and 2 half-portions of chicken that came in two of those pink plastic carriers. When dinner was over, everyone advised that I disposed of these containers into the garbage bin. It was really simple - just throw them into plastic bags, tie them up and get rid of them. It would have saved me the effort of washing all those oily boxes.

To their surprise, I started to educate them about how these plastic boxes could be recycled and that it would not take too much of our time or effort to do make that happen. I showed them that with some imagination and a commitment to go green at home, the boxes could be cleaned with paper napkins (to remove the oil) and then rinsed with soap. Although the oil could not be removed 100%, the boxes were clean enough to be left to dry without the risk of attracting ants or cockroaches. After one day of airing, the boxes were dry enough to be put into the plastic bags for recycling instead of taking up space in a landfill or poisoning the environment had they gone to the incinerator.