Do you toss your receipts into the paper recycling bin? Well, as much as it pains me to say it, you shouldn't. Yeah, I know. It sounds crazy.

I was at MOM's the other week when I noticed a bin in their recycling area labeled "receipts". My girlfriend and I thought it odd that receipts would warrant their own bin. So, we asked the cashier about it and the response we got was that the receipts are partially made of plastic. (And, despite their best efforts, this includes the receipt paper that MOM's uses.)

I was incredulous. But, all it took was a little web-searching to discover that it was true. Well-intentioned recyclers are contaminating the paper supply with plastic-coated receipt paper. Even worse, very often, that plastic coating the receipt paper is BPA plastic! Ugh.

How frustrating is that?

So now we're compelled to just discard innocent-looking paper receipts in the trash. I really appreciate MOM's for raising awareness of the issue among their customers. I'd love to see a watermark added to receipt "paper" that states "made with plastic - don't recycle - we suck". Actually, what I'd really love to see is receipt paper that isn't coated with plastic (of course).

In the meantime, I'll try to let as many people as possible know the plastic-coated truth about receipt slips. Pass it on, please.