Most of the time, all you have to do to recycle items is place them in your recycling bin, or call a company to have larger items picked up. However, while a typical paper or plastic juice box is made of materials that can be recycled on their own, sometimes the whole box can't be recycled as it is.

A technology called hydrapulping, which separates non-paper materials from paper so that the paper can be recycled and turned into a mush called "pulp," is required to recycle juice boxes. Not all American cities have hydrapulping machines, so depending on where you live, your juice boxes may end up in a landfill.

If your city doesn't accept juice boxes for recycling, you can mail them to a Carton Council facility in Colorado, Nebraska, Virginia, or Michigan to have them recycled. You can also reuse juice boxes as planters, pantry organizers, or as a pouch for pencils, cell phones, and other items.