Posted Mon Oct 6, 2008 5:08pm PDT

Most of us feel less guilty when we toss something in the bin headed for the recycling plant rather than the landfill. Turns out, though, wishful thinking may do more harm than good. If you include some items that aren't recyclable, you run the risk of your entire batch being shipped off to the nearest dump.

The best thing you can do is educate yourself about local recycling rules. In the meantime here's the short list of common items that don't belong in the recycling bin, no matter what your zip code:

• Pizza boxes. The oil from pizza can contaminate cardboard boxes, making it impossible to process them into clean paper.
• Napkins and paper towels. It's not the paper goods themselves that present a problem, but the fact that they're typically used to wipe up food, cleaning products, and other "hazardous waste."
• Sticky notes. Their size, color, and the adhesive strip make them a better bet for the trash bin.
• Plastic caps. Curbside programs won't recycle them, but Aveda collects them and turns them into packaging for new products.
• Wet paper. Paper fibers that have been exposed to water are shorter and therefore less valuable to paper mills, making it unprofitable to collect and recycle

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