Video by Natalie Fertig, Daniel Lewis, and Alexis Barnes

Interactive by Natalie Fertig

What Can You Recycle? from Natalie Fertig on Vimeo.

Recycling in New York City is complicated. Many transplants to NYC try to keep recycling the way they did in their hometown or state, and those who grew up here are unfamiliar with the relatively new system. After the 2006 initiative, Bloomberg’s government created an online resource for city residents in NYC.gov/NYCWasteless. But even this website has a lot of information, possibly too much for the casual recycler to want to wade through.

So the Trash Talks team has broken recycling in NYC down to the most commonly confusing items. What do you do with a paper towel? Can you recycle a yogurt cup? What about a ziplock bag? And those plastic liqour bottles? If these are questions you often find yourself wondering, watch the video above and click through the interactive below to get up to speed on recycling laws in NYC.