Five Things I Learned About Recycling While Putting Together The Quiz

• I can recycle more than I thought I could. Over the years I've trashed a lot of stuff I should have recycled.
• I wasted time and resources getting my recycling too clean. For food containers, they have to be basically empty but not spotless.
• I erred on the side of caution too much. I would trash things that I thought were marginal or wasn't sure about; I probably should have put them in recycling and let the experts make the decision.
• Plastic films are a PITA for recyclers. They can mess up machinery and slow the process down. Throw out the clear plastic covers from microwave meals. And recycle plastic bags at the grocery store or other drop off centers. Don't put either in curbside recycling bins.
• Taking photos of things you pull from the trash or recycling for a blog post can garner dirty looks from your S.O.

Quizzes As A Tool For Informing And Engagement

Here are a few things I learned about online quizzes while working on the recycling quiz project.

• Online quizzes can be used for more than pure entertainment, and they can still be entertaining.
  
• It takes time to do it right. I spent a lot of time writing questions, taking photos and checking the answers for clarity and still see things that I wish I had done differently.
• My gut feeling is that people will retain more from taking a well-constructed quiz than stepping through a slideshow or reading a list of bullets -- if for no other reason than that they're more involved.