Psst — the color-coded ✱ icons in this story are clickable. Tap one for a recycling rule, a recycling benefit or a bit of need-to-know trivia.
Nyla’s first week of teaching had gone better than she could have imagined. But there was one thing that she couldn’t shake. Despite teaching the neighborhood kits the basics of raccooning (cleaning their food and Did you know? Plastic, metal and glass containers are common recyclables — meaning your OJ bottles, tuna cans and pickle jars are recyclable curbside!digging in the trash can for recyclables), there always seemed to be something new to say about plastic recyclables.
She adored their little faces and the little treats they brought her (though truth be told she’d prefer a latte over an apple) but still felt something was missing — a feeling that was about to change …
At the end of one school day, one of her favorite students, Timmy, was still there after most of the other parents had come to pick up their kits.
“Timmy, honey, I’m sure someone will be along in a minute,” Nyla told him, even though inside she was a little annoyed. That’s when a handsome raccoon came bounding up.
“Sorry, bud! I couldn’t remember the address.” He stopped short at the sight of Nyla. “Why, hello there! I’m Timmy’s uncle, Dave.”
Suddenly Nyla didn’t feel so annoyed anymore. She straightened her necklace and fluffed out her cheek tufts casually.
“I’m Timmy’s teacher, Nyla.”
Those simple introductions led to weeks of small talk. Eventually, Nyla and Dave started going on dates, sharing You found a recycling basic! Plastic, metal and glass containers should be rinsed and emptied before recycling!a can of tuna or a spoiled yogurt container as they sorted the trash from the recycling. Nyla couldn’t keep her passion for plastic recycling from creeping into their conversations.
“Ya know, I should introduce you to my friend Frank. He’s really into recycling too — even has this club he meets with. He talks about some of the plastics, but he’s more of a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to recycling,” Dave told her.
They were out so late one night, they were still digging through the recycling when morning came.
“Look at this!” Nyla said with disgust. “You found a recycling basic! Plastic bags should NOT be recycled in your curbside cart since they can tangle up recycling machines and endanger recycling workers. But they can be returned to local grocers like Meijer and Kroger instead!They threw all these plastic bags in with the other plastics! Somebody could get tangled up and hurt. We better get them out of here before the truck comes.” She began to frantically dig through the bin, grabbing all the plastic bags.
“I’m not sure we’ll have time to get them all. There’s the truck now! You get out of here. I’ll grab the rest.” Dave gently pushed her over the edge of the bin. Nyla dived into the ditch with the bags she had sorted out, but when she looked back the truck was already pulling the cart up to empty it. Dave held on to a plastic bag, trying to wrestle it from the recycling truck.
“Dave, let go!” But the truck was already driving off, the plastic bags tangled in the back of the truck’s machinery as Dave held on to the side. “Dave!” Tears rolled down her cheeks as the truck drove off with him. The brave raccoon was still attempting to undo the jam as he disappeared down the subdivision.
Nyla chased after the truck for as long as she could until her legs finally gave out. She must’ve stayed there for what felt like hours.
Weeks passed before a raccoon wearing a turquoise bandanna around his neck and a raccoon with a stylish red hat entered her classroom after school had ended. “Excuse me, but are you Nyla?”
“Yes,” she replied shakily.
“I’m Frank, Dave’s friend. And this is Paper. He told us a lot about you. Have you seen him?”
“He’s missing. He … tried to save a recycling truck.” Nyla vowed from that moment on to help others know about plastic recycling, so an accident like Dave’s never happened again.