The South Otago A&P Society has joined forces with Fonterra to reduce excess waste as part of a recycling scheme. The society will be part of Fonterra's pouch recycling programme TerraCycle.

Contributing to keep New Zealand clean and green The Collective have joined forces with TerraCycle® to create a free recycling programme for all used suckies tubes, spouches, caps and other Collective packaging across New Zealand!

IF YOU think living your life without producing any rubbish is impossible, just ask the growing number of city-dwellers embracing the trend. Living a completely rubbish-free life is difficult but some are managing to reduce their waste so dramatically that two years worth of rubbish can fit into a mason jar.

Filling your recycling bin isn't enough: each Aussie home produces over one tonne of waste annually, and 70 percent of it still ends up in landfill. We are the second highest producers of waste per person in the world behind the United States. The question is what more can we do? Here’s how to shrink your waste and become an eco warrior.

Though what many of us don't know is that Nespresso pods are recyclable. Sure, it's not as easy as chucking them in the designated council bin, but there's collection points all over the country. Nespresso has capsule collection points in all of its Australian stores, but now you'll also find them in a whole bunch (pardon the pun) of florists across the country.

Looking for a fun DIY craft you can do with your little ones? Try out these 3 easy ways to upcycle your Whole Kids packaging with just a few materials.

In 2013 Nespresso partnered with Terracycle to establish a growing network of recycling points at selected florists throughout the country. The North Rocks Greenery is one of the recycling points.

Recycling has even become a worldwide business with TerraCycle, a company that recycles hard-to-recycle items, launching in Australia in 2014. It started in the US in 2001 and is now in 21 countries. “The TerraCycle philosophy is to eliminate the idea of waste,” TerraCycle communications manager Ausseela Thanaphongsakom said. In Australia it allows people to recycle yoghurt pouches, used mail satchels and other dental products for free. While the company has only just established itself in Australia, in other countries it even offers recycling of things like chewing gum. “I think (the companies) perceive, rightly so, that consumers would appreciate and are demanding such programs,” TerraCycle founder and chief executive officer Tom Szaky told news.com.au. Pretty much everything is recyclable, Mr Szaky explained, but the problem is making it into a product that people wanted to buy. This is because most products, especially plastics, can only be “downcycled”. A plastic toothbrush can’t be recycled into a new plastic toothbrush, for example. This is in contrast to metal, which can be recycled endlessly, and paper, which can be recycled seven times. Most plastics are recycled into things like park benches and garden materials. Part of TerraCycle’s business is creating a market for these recycled products. Mr Szaky said he thought Australians had less opportunity to recycle things, compared with other countries, because of a lack of infrastructure. This applied even to more profitable materials such as glass and paper. But he acknowledged that the ideal situation was not to consume. “That’s the fundamental answer, don’t buy this stuff to begin with. But if you chose to buy, as many do, the best thing is to buy things that you can reuse.” TERRACYCLE RECYCLING PROGRAM Items that can be recycled for free include: Colgate Oral Care Brigade: used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss containers and outer packaging Nescafé Dolce Gusto Capsules Brigade: only Nescafé Dolce Gusto are accepted. Whole Kids Snack and Pouch Brigade: snack wrappers and yoghurt pouches. Australia Post Mailing Satchel Brigade: Mailing post satchels. Natures Organics Cleaner Packaging Brigade: nozzles, triggers, on cleaning, beauty and laundry products, beauty wipe packaging Nespresso Capsules Brigade: only Nespresso capsules are accepted and can be dropped off at participating florists and garden centres. Loccitane Recycling Program: Its products can be dropped at participating stores. For more information on the free recycling program go to: www.terracycle.com.au/en-AU/brigades You can also purchase zero waste boxes to recycle other items: www.terracycle.com.au/en-AU/zero_waste_boxes

It's easy to make the change in your own world, but change is also needed at a community level. This means we need to work together to create the change we want for our town. I've come up with a wish list of things I believe the community of Ballarat needs so we can move towards 'No Waste'.

¡Es hora de poner manos a la obra! ¿Cuántas veces hemos tenido que comenzar a tirar varios de nuestros productos de  maquillaje por diferentes motivos?  

  El rímel estaba seco o se pone con demasiados grumos, o nuestro lápiz labial comienza a desmoronarse. En muchas ocasiones sin lugar a dudas. Pero antes deberíamos pensar en el mal que podemos estar haciéndole al planeta tirando este tipo de cosas a la basura directamente sin un previo reciclaje. Si el producto definitivamente no tiene forma de volver a ser utilizado, entonces, es recomendable que lo empaques en un recipiente que puedas cerrarlo herméticamente de manera que no afecte al medio ambiente para poder descartarlo. Pero para no desperdiciar todo por completo puedes reciclar aún algunas cosas…

El envase

Si te gusta mucho hacer cosas tú misma en casa, créeme que guardar recipientes puede ser una gran idea.  

  Puedes usar los frascos de perfume como pequeños floreros para decorar tu hogar, o porqué no, como envase para un labial creado por ti.

Campañas de compañías

Muchas compañías de maquillaje se toman el reciclaje en serio y tienen programas donde reciben algunos viejos productos que tú tengas y a cambio te dan uno nuevo. Por ejemplo, la marca MAC recibe seis viejos productos que ya no utilices o apenas le queden un poco y a cambio te brinda un nuevo labial. Una buena excusa para obtener un nuevo cosmético ;) Otras compañías como Garnier y TerraCycle también se han unido a la campaña de reciclaje y aceptan viejos envases de productos para evitar la contaminación medioambiental. Esto puedes hacerlo mediante correo postal. ¿Qué te parecen estas ideas? A mi me encanta poder ser parte de un mundo más saludable de forma simple y sin dejar de potenciar mi belleza