In two hours before the rain could return Saturday afternoon, Waste Watcher volunteers had gathered 5,540 pieces of trash, 1,066 cigarette butts and three syringes from Owen Sound's east shoreline. And yes, they counted them. Styrofoam, broken glass, food wrappers, coffee cups, beverage bottles and cans as well as pieces of clothing and unidentified plastic made up most of the trash. Large items like eavestroughing, a plastic chair and a piece of a toilet were carried back to the dumpster (thank you Miller Waste) on a bike trailer (thanks Bikeface!) Some tires and rusted metal barrels were buried too deep in the frozen shoreline to be removed. City councillor Carol Mertonwas filling her third canvas bag when she said “I had no idea there was this much garbage here.” She carefully removed two of the syringes, and we spoke about safe sharps disposal in the city. She and councillor Scott Greig attended the "Talking Trash" social after the pick-up to learn what more we can do about our waste. In the social following the pick-up, Rochelle Byrne of A Greener Future said that in some communities syringes, condoms, and tampon applicators are not thown away where they were found, but have been flushed down toilets and then entered the water in a sewage bypass at the treatment plant during a heavy rain. Byrne said styrofoam breaks off docks and bouys, and even properly disposed of waste can be blown around or picked out of receptacles by birds and animals. Reducing the use of non-degradable and single-use materials is the primary goal. Recycling has high energy and resource costs. The higher the number in the triangle (and usually darker the colour) on a recyclable material, the more difficult and energy consuming it is to recycle, and often the smaller the market for the end product. "Recycling is a for-profit business," she said. "Just because you put it in your blue box doesn't mean it will not end up in landfill." Byrne participates in trash pick-ups all along the Lake Ontario shoreline. She is currently working on the “Butt Blitz”, an annual Spring event that aims to remove as much cigarette butt litter as possible from the environment. Volunteers pick up the non-degradable cigarette butts locally and they’re sent to TerraCycle Canada for recycling. Yes, recycling! - into plastic benches and industrial pallets. It is not about smoker-shaming, " Byrne says, "It's about keeping this material out of our water and wildlife."  Access to public disposal containers, she said, helps smokers change their habits and dispose of their butts responsibly. Byrne and her husband Mike had spent the morning at the Owen Sound Farmers' Market, selling reusable and low-waste items from produce bags to bamboo cutlery and toothbrushes, and speaking to local residents about small changes that can have a big impact on our waste stream. Saturday's pick-up coordinator, St. Mary’s Grade 12 student Meredith MacFarlane was encouraged by the efforts of the group. “It was a pretty wet day, but that motivated us to get the trash off the ground before it can make its way into our harbour. I just wish everyone would realize they are contributing to the decline in water quality and marine life when they casually toss a cigarette butt, candy wrapper or plastic coffee lid on the ground.” Meredith and Owen Sound Waste Watcher Facilitator Laura Wood hope to present the findings of the day to Owen Sound City Council within a month and urge immediate action to reduce single-use plastic and improve awareness of the problem. “Our planet has limited resources and we need to learn how to use these resources wisely. We look forward to more events like this in the days ahead,” says Wood.

RECYCLE, HELP WIN A PLAYGROUND TerraCycle, CVS, Colgate-Palmolive and the Starlight Children's Foundation are asking CVS customers to recycle their used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and floss containers to help win a playground for a children's hospital. Participants visit the CVS promotion website at cvs.com/shop/content/colgate-recycle and download a free shipping label to ship oral care waste to TerraCycle for easy recycling. The state that collects the most waste will win a new playground, made from the recycled materials, that will be awarded to a Starlight Children's Foundation member hospital. The program will accept post-consumer toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, floss containers and oral care products and packaging through June 22. The Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program is an ongoing activity, open to any individual, family, school or community group. To learn more about the program, visit terracycle.com.

Mayors are being challenged in competition for the biggest haul of butts     A Beamsville-based group of volunteers united by their goal to decrease Niagara’s environmental footprint is asking for the public’s help.   The Eco-Defenders are hosting Lincoln’s annual Butt Blitz on Saturday, April 27, where participants will spend roughly four hours picking up cigarette butts.   Last year’s blitz collected over 17,000 butts from Grimsby and Lincoln alone, and over 239,000 from across Canada.   New this year, the group is unveiling the Mayors’ Biggest Butts Competition, where the mayor of the municipality with the most butts collected will win a trophy.   “It is our intention that this could become an annual competition and the trophy would get passed around to the winners,” co-ordinator Jane Gadsby said in her letter to the mayors.   Every littered butt retrieved will be sent to TerraCycle, where it will be turned into plastic and used to make products like shipping pallets. Tobacco will also be separated and sent out to be composted.   Anybody wishing to support the effort can do so by notifying the group in advance of especially littered areas, can volunteer to join the cleanup or can donate prizes for volunteers of all ages.   Lincoln Butt Blitz volunteers will meet at the Fleming Centre, in Beamsville, at 10 a.m. and will clean until roughly 2 p.m. For more information, visit the groups Facebook page.  

Debuting next month, the "circular shopping platform" aims to make reuse as popular as recycling.       Loop will deliver Haagen-Dazs ice cream in a reusable stainless-steel container. (Photo courtesy of Loop) What if you combined Amazon Prime with a 1950s milkman and Target's democratic design? That pitch might make the judges on Shark Tank scratch their heads, but it's the exact premise of a grocery delivery service that will debut in the Northeast next month, with potentially revolutionary implications for sustainability and the environment. On May 21, Loop will launch a "circular shopping platform" at loopstore.com. It will stock hundreds of familiar branded products — including condiments, ice cream and personal-care items — in durable, reusable packaging instead of single-use bottles, boxes and cans. Customers subscribe to the service and place orders that arrive via UPS; after the products are used up, Loop circles back to pick up the empties at no charge, then cleans and sanitizes them for reuse. Replenishments are automatically delivered. It's the brainstorm of TerraCycle, a company founded in 2001 to recycle previously unrecyclable materials. The overarching concept is the circular economy: Instead of "make and dispose," the goal is "reuse and eliminate." Materials are used for as long as possible, then recycled or reused, with the goal of creating zero waste.

"It's funny: Most of the things we buy, we don't really want to," says TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. "When you go to say Starbucks and you buy a cup of coffee, you buy the coffee, but the cup is also in the price, and you own the cup. But do you really want to own it in the end? If we change ownership — instead of having the consumer own the package, the manufacturer owns it — the manufacturer is motivated to move away from making a product as cheap as possible to making it as durable as possible." To kick off the service, Loop partnered with some of the world's biggest manufacturers of grocery items, including Proctor & Gamble, Nestlé and Unilever. Brands available at launch will include Pantene, Tide, Crest, Gillette, Pampers, Always, Dove, Seventh Generation and Hellmann's. The reusable containers are made from innovative polymers and metals that are stylish and functional: Häagen-Dazs ice cream arrives in a stainless steel, double-walled container that's warm to the touch but frozen inside; Axe deodorant comes in a container that looks designed by Apple. "The design level is a whole new departure from anything in disposable," says Szaky. "Durability enables reuse, but it also enables amazing materials that can be leveraged in beautiful designs." But what if consumers don't want to pay for that premium? "That's crucial. For scale, we need not just the big brands and big retailers, but affordable pricing," says Szaky. "The goal with all the products is to cost about the same as what you normally pay." A small deposit will be charged for the containers; it's fully refunded when they're returned. "We need Loop to be affordable for it to really change the world," says Szaky. "Even middle income and rich people don't want to pay a premium if they don't have to. This is about more than just the circular economy. It is the circular economy at its heart, but it's also about the future of how we consume."  

In 2017, the global cosmetics industry was valued at 532 billion dollars. A ton of beauty products are purchased and used every single day. Eventually, those products turn into empty packaging that needs to be disposed of. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the 2015 rate of recyclable materials like plastic, glass, and paper actually being recycled was only at 34.7 percent. That means that the majority of foundation bottles, moisturizer jars, and shampoo and body wash bottles (as well as other pieces of household waste) are going into landfills. As a beauty editor, I test a lot of products. So many, in fact, that I rarely finish an entire bottle of shampoo or jar of moisturizer. I’d like to say that I always rinse out each and every one of the products I’m no longer using, then recycle the bottles accordingly. The truth is, though, I don’t — and part of the reason is, I didn’t always know how, or if the products can even be recycled in the first place. Do I have to rinse out everything before I recycle it? Are there any containers that can’t go in the trash? Can I mix the empty packaging from all of my products in the same recycling bin? These are the questions I ask myself every time I’m ready to dispose of a beauty product. And, when I’m not sure one of my products can be recycled, I just throw it in my bin and hope for the best. It's called “wish-cycling,” and as I learned while researching for this story, it’s exactly what you shouldn't be doing. That’s why one of my 2019 goals is to make sense of it all so that I recycle more of my beauty products and throw less in the trash. RELATED: Here's What Actually Makes a Deodorant Natural To demystify the process, I spoke with Alita Kane, community liaison of The Recycling Partnership, a non-profit organization that provides recycling consulting to communities nationwide. I gave Kane the task of breaking down general recycling rules, and how they apply to your beauty products. Check out her advice below.

1. Recycling Plastic Can Be Complicated, So Find Out What's Accepted In Area

Most of your beauty products likely come in plastic packaging (and the rest are likely in glass, but more on that later). Given the recent war waged on plastic straws and the impact the material has on the environment, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that plastic should be a priority. The only problem is that all plastic is not created equal. “The challenge is that plastic comes in so many shapes, forms, and sizes,” says Kane. “To narrow down what can actually go in your bin, stick to bottles, containers, jugs, and tubs.” This can include products like shampoo bottles, moisturizer jars, and body wash bottles. Kane says that recycling availability is different across the country, and is constantly changing — often at a pace that people can’t keep up with the latest information. The rules aren't consistent across the board, so before recycling your products, you'll want to do some digging on your local city hall and/or sanitation department websites for information. However, she says that one of the biggest factors affecting what your municipality will pick up is which manufacturers are getting sent these materials. When your recycling is picked up curbside, it’s brought to a material recovery facility (or MRF). Then, it’s sorted, packed into bales, and sent to manufacturers for reuse. “Depending on who that MRF is, and who they have purchasing their materials, locally and internationally, is really going to make a difference on what your municipality is able to allow you to put in that recycling bin,” she explains.

2. That Arrow Symbol You Learned In School? It Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

When I see a three chasing arrow symbol (also known as the Möbius Loop) on one of my products, I always assume it means it’s made of recyclable materials. It turns out that the chasing arrows, and the number that appears in the middle of the symbol, indicate the type of resin that the package is made from. Technically, that packaging is only recyclable if that resin is accepted by your area’s curbside recycling program. “These arrows are not an indicator of recyclability,” confirms Kane. “There is no one out there policing whether or not a company can put that symbol on their products, so a lot of times it’s misplaced. It doesn’t indicate recyclability as much as it tends to indicate the contents of the product packaging and what type of resin material it’s made from.”

3. Shape And Size Matter

If you’re like me and throw lipstick tubes and sample-sized serums into your recycling bin, Kane says you could be doing more harm than good. Product packaging that’s too small usually gets lost when it’s being sorted. Kane says a good rule of thumb is to leave anything that’s smaller than an index card out of your recycling bin. These items unfortunately have to be tossed into the trash, or recycled by a third party program (more on that later). As for the shapes of packages, the materials need to be hard. Anything that’s flexible or squeezable — tubes of toothpaste, hand cream bottles, and sheet mask pouches — can’t be recycled. RELATED: The 8 Best Non-Toxic Sunscreens for Summer 2019

4. Yes, You Need To Rinse Your Empties

A few drops of shampoo left in the bottle is perfectly fine, but if there’s almost enough in bottom for you to shampoo your hair with, you’ll need to take the extra step to clean it. If liquids co-mingle with other recyclable materials like paper and cardboard, it can get everything wet and ultimately ruin its ability to be recycled. Kane says that if the if the recyclable materials cross-contaminate, they can’t properly be sorted and processed, and thus can’t be repurposed into new materials. Removing any adhesives or glitter stuck on product packaging is also important for the same reason.

5. Pay Attention To Caps And Pumps

Plastic caps are too small on their own to be recycled, but if they’re left on the bottle or jar they came with, you can put them in your bin. As for pumps, check to see if they have a metal ring in them. “Technically that would be a mixed material so you wouldn’t want to have that together,” says Kane. Take the pump off, put that part in the trash, and then put your empty lotion bottle in the recycling bin.”

6. Glass And Paper Are Pretty Simple To Recycle

The good news: not all recyclable materials are as complicated as plastic. Paper and cardboard, and glass are among the easiest things to recycle — for now. The cardboard boxes that your products come in, along with any paper instruction booklets, are typically safe to toss into recycling bins. If your area picks up glass, stick to putting bottles, containers, and jars in your bin. Kane says that things like moisturizer containers can be picked up curbside as long as they’re bigger than an index card and don’t have any mirrors on them because that would make it a mixed material. VIDEO: How to Use Tinted Brow Gel  

7. Your Hairspray and Dry Shampoo Are Recyclable

Spray cans made from aluminum, steel, or tin can be thrown into your blue bin. “If it’s an aerosol like a dry shampoo, make sure it’s completely empty,” says Kane. “If it has a plastic cap, that plastic cap should come off.” Since material facilities don’t have the equipment to sort mixed materials, the cap needs to be removed in order for the spray can to be successfully recycled.

8. Know Your Other Recycling Options

Alternatively, you can check whether the brand or store you purchased the product from has their own recycling program. A few examples? Unilever, the parent company of brands like Dove and TRESemme is partnering with Loop, a shopping platform that will carry some of their brands' products in sustainable packaging that when empty, gets picked up, cleaned, and refilled. Credo Beauty has a partnership with TerraCycle, a third-party recycling program, and will take customers’ empties in exchange for customer loyalty points. The biggest takeaway? Think twice before throwing any beauty product packages into your recycling bin. And if that eye cream jar, moisturizer bottle, or eyeshadow palette can’t be recycled, check to see if the brand or a third-party company can take it back. Yup, it’s a little extra work, but our planet is worth it.

Because everything in the recycling and solid waste world is in disarray right now, it’s time for new thinking and action. There is something called “Loop,” which turns some old-fashioned thought into a new world of actionable solutions. Think of the milkman and “Charles Chips” of days gone by and the way products were delivered right to your door in mostly reusable containers. Then also hear the words of Tom Szaky, CEO of Terracycle, the company putting forward the concept of the “Loop”: “Loop is about the future of consumption and one of the tenets is that garbage shouldn’t exist.” This idea is based on delivering products to homes and businesses in reusable containers, with a goal of having all packaging be reusable or recyclable by design. Some companies on board with this thinking are huge ones: Proctor and Gamble, Pepsico, Nestle, Unilever, Mars, Clorox, Coca Cola, Nature’s Path, Danone and many others, here and abroad. With the encouragement of Terracycle, an example of reuse would be for Tide detergent to come in a durable stainless steel container with a sturdy twist cap. Haagen-Dazs ice cream could be packaged in reusable double-walled stainless steel tubs designed to be kept cold. Similar products such as shampoo, hand soaps, mouthwash, creams, etc. can be handled this way. UPS and other delivery services would deliver a box of these supplies and pick up the empties to and from your home, their facility or another delivery scenario point. Concurrently, the “zero-waste” movement strives to take our wasteful ways down to a bare minimum. This is no easy task, given the current levels. Roughly, each American generates about 5 pounds of trash per day, of which only about 30% is either recycled or composted. Much of this material goes to landfills, where it produces large amounts of methane gas, a small fraction of which is captured or burned off. We have a long way to go and need a multi-pronged attack.   Source reduction efforts on both the production and consumer sides are critical to making substantial progress without resorting to landfilling and burning. Some of the same large corporations that are talking about “buying into” the Loop process are also still manufacturing products in containers that are not recyclable in most areas. On the recycling side of things, since other countries are now restricting the amount of our waste that they will buy; we need to co-ordinate exactly what materials can be universally marketed. The issue of contamination within the recycling stream must be straightened out through education and, if necessary, code enforcement actions. As in many cases involving business trends, they need strong signals from both government and consumers to react positively for the environment with new or less packaging, or the refillable container idea. “Loop” is scheduled to be rolled out in test markets in the Eastern United States and in parts of Europe right about now. Check out progress by searching for “TerraCycle Loop” online. Also, the zero-waste movement has many iterations and suggestions online. The Galloway Township Office of Sustainability has more information on the current state of recycling, ways to “precycle,” tips on source reduction of trash as well as deeper, nontraditional recycling. The office can be reached at gtnj.org or at 609-652-3700, ext. 209.  

On Earth Day, April 22, Russo Music Academy, 619 Lake Ave., Asbury Park, is holding a guitar string recycling program from 5 to 8 p.m.   In conjunction with D'Addario, which is rolling out what they say is the world's first wide-scale recycling program, Playback, Russo is offering a free set of strings and restring on any qualifying 6-string electric or acoustic guitar when you bring in used strings to contribute.   Customers can choose between a set of D'Addario's premium NYXL electric guitar strings or D'Addario's NEW Nickel Bronze acoustic guitar strings.   The free strings are limited to one per customer, and restrictions apply.   Playback is powered by TerraCycle, an international upcycling and recycling company that works to collect difficult-to-recycle items and repurpose them into innovative products.   Visit russomusic.com for more on Russo Music Academy.