A new program from Mountain House allows you to send in your used Mountain House meals to be recycled.   Mountain House recently partnered with TerraCycle in order to bring a free recycling program to Mountain House consumers in an effort to reduce waste and keep their meal pouches out of landfills.   You even earn reward points which turn into donations for a school or non-profit of your choice.   This program is only open to the United States and pouches will need to have all food debris removed from them before sending. If you opt to wash or rinse out your pouch, you will need to make sure it has completely dried out before sending them in.  

How to Recycle Mountain House Pouches:

 

1. Create a free account on TerraCycle.com and join the Free Mountain House recycling program.
2. Save your used Mountain House pouches instead of throwing them away.
3. When you are ready to recycle them, box them all up, log in to your TerraCycle account, click on profile & click “Get Shipping Label” to have a pre-paid shipping label emailed to you. Print off your pre-maid shipping label and attach it to your box.
4. Drop of your box at your nearest UPS store.

  While you are at it, browse their other free recycling programs and join those whose products you use frequently.  

You know that clean beauty is good for you, but do you actually know what clean beauty is? It can be tricky to figure out, because “clean” and “natural” (the other word that's become ubiquitous in beauty marketing) can mean a lot of different things. That's because there's still no standard definition for these terms in the U.S. Perhaps renewed pressure will help move things forward. The Editorial Board of The New York Times recently made a plea for reforms, pointing out that the laws the Food and Drug Administration uses to regulate products and ingredients haven’t been updated since 1938.

1. It's important to read the labels—diligently

While we don't have crystal clear definitions, the word “clean” often means free of chemicals (like sulfates, parabens, and phthalates), and “natural” usually indicates plant-based ingredients (like jojoba oil or aloe), minerals (such as zinc oxide), and animal-based ingredients (like beeswax or milk). Despite those distinctions, the terms are frequently used interchangeably. (To avoid confusion, we'll stick with “clean” for the rest of this article.) It's not a perfect system, but checking your labels for these specific ingredients or lack thereof can help you figure out what's legit and what might just be lip service. Internationally, there are organizations that verify the source and quality of ingredients and certify natural and organic products, like EcoCert and NaTrue, which have official seals. There is also the International Standards Organization (ISO), which isn't a certifying body, but has developed consensus-based criteria for natural and organic cosmetics. The beauty brand Burt’s Bees has adopted the ISO standards, and as a result, the company is rolling out new product packaging that will list the percentage of natural origin on the front. Expect to see new, ISO-based ingredient claims (like “100% natural origin”) on your Burt’s Bees favorites, like the classic Beeswax Lip Balm shown above.

2. You can buy clean beauty products just about anywhere

Ten years ago, you couldn't just walk into any store and shop for clean beauty—you typically had to order from a speciality retailer and wait two weeks for your products to arrive by mail. Now, you can buy clean makeup and skincare at the same place you pick up toilet paper. Target has expanded its clean offerings over the last few years, and now carries dozens of clean beauty products under $15. Even CVShas taken steps to attract more ingredient-conscious consumers. They're in the process of removing parabens, phthalates, and formaldehyde from their in-house brands by the end of this year. Sephora recently rolled out a special “Clean at Sephora” seal to make it easier for shoppers to find items that don't contain iffy ingredients like formaldehyde and sodium lauryl sulfate. And if you're looking for luxury clean beauty products, you can't beat the selection at Credo.

3. You don't need to toss your entire synthetic stash immediately

If you want to go the clean route, you can ease into it by replacing one thing at a time. Mascara is a great place to start, as it's best to use a new tube every three months. (We're into the Burt's Bees Nourishing Mascara pictured below). Then, just keep exploring your clean beauty options and incorporating new discoveries as you see fit. Taking baby steps will help ensure that you find products you actually like.

4. Clean beauty extends to a product's packaging, too

Beauty shoppers aren't just paying closer attention to what their products are made of—they're also scrutinizing the packaging. Many veteran clean brands have been mindful of waste for years; the packaging and labels on Burt's Bees Lip Balms and Lip Shimmer are cellophane free, and the company uses an average of 52% post-consumer recycled plastics across its entire portfolio. Today, more and more companies are getting into sustainable packaging. The opportunity to buy a clean product that's also better for the planet is an added bonus for anyone who's really looking to make a difference not just for themselves, but also for the environment. When you're shopping, look for factors that impact how eco-friendly a product's packaging is, like whether it's made from recycled, biodegradable, or renewable materials. Once you're finished with a product, recycle it curbside whenever possible (just look for the recycling symbol on the back). Many smaller products (like makeup tubes and compacts) may be too small to be captured by conventional recycling equipment, but shipping those items to a company like TerraCycle, which specializes in hard-to-recycle waste, is a great option. Terracycle partners with beauty and personal care brands (including Burt's Bees) to take back empty packaging—and it won't cost you a dime.

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at WIllis Music Company. Sponsored by D’Addario and TerraCycle, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

Sponsored by D’Addario and TerraCycle, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

FREE INSTRUMENT RESTRING/RECYCLING EVENT HOSTED BY HEID MUSIC

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Heid Music in Oshkosh, WI on Friday April 12, 2019 from 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM. Sponsored by D’Addario and TerraCycle, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

Gottschalk Music Center in Old Town Clovis will be hosting a free restring and recycling event this Saturday. Sponsored by D’Addario, a musical instrument manufacturing company, the public is invited to bring old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with new, free D’Addario strings. The old strings collected will be recycled through Playback, D’Addaroio’s free, national recycling program, which also happens to be the world’s first instrument string recycling program. “Instrument strings have been a huge waste for us in the past, and it’s great that D’Addario has teamed up with TerraCycle to provide a program for dealers that confronts this issue,” says Gottschalk Music Center Manager Jeremy Bergmann. “We are looking to minimize landfill usage by collecting used instrument strings, regardless of brand, for recycling.” The program was launched through a partnership between D’Addario and international recycling company TerraCycle. The program is also a part of D’Addario’s Players Circle loyalty program that allows registered users to recycle their used stings in exchange for extra Players Circle Points, which can be used towards merchandise or donated to the D’Addario Foundation. The recycling event will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m at Gottschalk Music Center at 328 Pollasky Avenue in Clovis.

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Heid Music in Appleton, WI on Saturday April 6, 2019 from 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Sponsored by D’Addario and TerraCycle, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program.

Musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program. Playback is the world’s first instrument string recycling program, launched through a partnership between D’Addario and international recycling company TerraCycle.

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Heid Music in Appleton, WI on Saturday, April 6th from 11 am to 4 pm. Sponsored by D'Addario and TerraCycle, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restored.