Decorations and donations can create a create a huge problem at recycling sorting facilities.
Items like garden hoses, garlands, and light strings get caught in the machinery and can take hours of hazardous work to fix.
Items like gently used clothes and shoes cannot be recycled with regular curbside recycling. They will be counted as "contamination" at the sorting facility and will end up in the landfill.
Plastic bottles should only be recycled when empty, clean, and dry.
All recyclables are easily "contaminated," but it's a big issue for plastic bottles in particular. If they are dirty, degraded, or have any liquid or food waste on them, they will be marked as "contamination" and end up in the landfill.