Beauty brand Garnier, in partnership with upcycling pioneer TerraCycle, is bringing its Garnier Greener Tour to Houston. The fully loaded, glass tour Beauty Brigade bus will be making stops at area Walmart stores, offering beauty-lovers exciting ways to help protect the environment. You can even drop off empty hair care, skin care or cosmetic packaging to be recycled and receive free Garnier samples and try out new products. If you bring at least one piece of beauty packaging waste to be recycled, you’ll be eligible for a mini-style at the on-site Garnier styling station. It’s a great way to stay beautiful and help the environment.

Terracycle is an organization that will collect often otherwise un-recyclable items and also pay a small amount for the items you send. I have set up a stack of four plastic bins in the hall across from the Kitchen, where the other recycle bins are. Each bin has a sign that lists what it can collect. Please gather as many of these items as you can, from your house or work or elsewhere. In addition to raising a little money, it will be great to have a place to send these things other than the trash heap. Here is a run down of what you can bring in: Elmer's Glue and Scotch Tape: Empty glue sticks or other Elmer's glue product containers, any brand of empty tape rolls and dispensers. Cleaning Supply Packaging: Containers, lids, triggers, and refill bags (like Method brand bags) for all kinds of cleaning supplies, any brand.

Frugal and clean ways to use and recycle all that makeup and moisturizer!

Having a lot of beauty products is fun. But there's a responsibility that comes with that, which includes begin green. I feel I must test samples before I can recommend anything. Plus, there's the issue of green beauty — where does it all go afterward? Because really, shouldn't every day be Earth Day? I have a very very frugal and thrifty streak, and I hate throwing anything away when there's even just a smidge left. It just seems wasteful to me and I dislike waste. But that leads to a lot of stuff in every cabinet, closet and corner of my abode. For Earth Day Week, I am determined to make a little more room, and get some feng shui going in the beauty department. Not to mention streamline! I have 12 foundations in my repertoire right now! That's ridiculous. Although, I do use a lot of them... So, a quick look at some money-saving strategies and green routines to get into: 9. Packaging: Let's face it, beauty products are over packaged. Look for green beauty options such as: Physicians Formula cosmetics come in recycled & recyclable cardboard-type packaging. I did have one fall apart in my purse — anything that goes in there takes a beating - but I still used it. You can use some jars for jewelry, other left over makeup (see #3) or container for kids paints but in the end you're still left with the stuff. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel massively guilty, so... The BEST Discovery: A points program for recycling beauty products! TerraCycle is a company that specializes in recycling harder-to-recycle goods, so the you don't have to worry.  Lotsof beauty products are accepted (not: hair spray cans, polish remover, nail polish bottles). Bellasugar says:

Products are then upcycled to build eco-friendly playgrounds throughout the U.S."

Frugal and clean ways to use and recycle all that makeup and moisturizer!

Having a lot of beauty products is fun. But there's a responsibility that comes with that, which includes begin green. I feel I must test samples before I can recommend anything. Plus, there's the issue of green beauty — where does it all go afterward? Because really, shouldn't every day be Earth Day? I have a very very frugal and thrifty streak, and I hate throwing anything away when there's even just a smidge left. It just seems wasteful to me and I dislike waste. But that leads to a lot of stuff in every cabinet, closet and corner of my abode. For Earth Day Week, I am determined to make a little more room, and get some feng shui going in the beauty department. Not to mention streamline! I have 12 foundations in my repertoire right now! That's ridiculous. Although, I do use a lot of them... So, a quick look at some money-saving strategies and green routines to get into: 9. Packaging: Let's face it, beauty products are over packaged. Look for green beauty options such as: Physicians Formula cosmetics come in recycled & recyclable cardboard-type packaging. I did have one fall apart in my purse — anything that goes in there takes a beating - but I still used it. You can use some jars for jewelry, other left over makeup (see #3) or container for kids paints but in the end you're still left with the stuff. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel massively guilty, so... The BEST Discovery: A points program for recycling beauty products! TerraCycle is a company that specializes in recycling harder-to-recycle goods, so the you don't have to worry.  Lotsof beauty products are accepted (not: hair spray cans, polish remover, nail polish bottles). Bellasugar says:

Products are then upcycled to build eco-friendly playgrounds throughout the U.S."

Here's a ugly stat: Containers and packaging created roughly 71.6 million tons of waste in the United States in 2009, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That's why Garnier is sponsoring the Personal Care and Beauty Brigade with recycling pioneer TerraCycle. Mail your used beauty loot (bottles, compacts, lipsticks, and so on) to TerraCycle, and the item will be recycled into stuff like cutting boards and bike racks. For each item sent, you'll be awarded points for either a charity gift or cash for the charity or school of your choice. Joining is free and all shipping costs are paid. Visit terracycle.net for details.

A busy day at a salon can result in bags of non-recyclable garbage from a full day of haircuts, coloring, nail services and spa procedures. Becoming more environmentally-friendly is on the minds of many spa and salon owners as they rethink what they throw away and how they operate. TerraCycle offers a free recycling program called the Personal Care and Beauty Brigade to help salons and spas move toward more eco-friendly waste management practices. With the Personal Care and Beauty Brigade program, difficult-to-recycle packaging such as hair color tubes (including aluminum tubes), hair care product containers, skin cream tubes, cosmetics packaging and any other plastics or tubes can now be recycled—regardless of brand. TerraCycle, in partnership with Garnier, awards two points for each package received, which can be put toward buying a charity gift or converted to money and given to a charity. Collected packaging is turned into plastic items such as park benches, recycling bins and plastic lumber.

To bring awareness to this issue on America Recycles Day, Garnier (yup, the beauty brand) and upcycling/recycling pioneer TerraCycle are sponsoring the Personal Care and Beauty Brigade. All your hair care, skin care and cosmetic packaging, regardless of brand, can be collected and sent to TerraCycle, free of charge. The company specializes in recycling difficult-to-recycle materials, so you can rest assured that they will be made into brand new products. And bonus, for every piece of waste that TerraCycle receives from you, you are awarded two points. Those can be applied to a charity gift on the TerraCycle website or redeemed for $.02 for the charity of your choice.

Research Your Municipal Recycling Just like checking the smoke detector batteries on the day the clocks change for daylight savings time, America Recycles Day is a great day to reacquaint yourself with your municipal recycling regulations.  Most people can recycle glass, aluminum, paper, and certain plastics through curbside recycling, but the list of what is and is not accepted varies from town to town. What if you’ve been throwing #5 plastic in your recycling bin but it’s not accepted?  What if your town, like my town, only accepts #1 and #2 plastic bottles of certain shapes?  The neck must be smaller than the widest part of the  bottle, so no tubs or odd-shaped containers are accepted.  Who knew?  I wouldn’t have unless I took the time to do a little research.   Your town should have a list of accepted materials on its municipal website. Recycle the Traditionally Non-Recyclable with TerraCycle You recycled those “recyclables,” but what about the rest of your household waste?  TerraCycle is a recycling and upcycling company that specializes in traditionally non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle materials.  You can send in hair care, skin care and cosmetic packaging, soap refill pouches, tortilla and tostada packaging, cereal bags and 40 other kinds of waste through the Brigade programs for free, thanks to sponsors like Garnier, Method, Mission Foods and Malt-O-Meal.  For every piece of waste sent in to TerraCycle, the collector is awarded points, which can be put toward specific charity gifts or converted to cash and sent to any charity.

In honor of America Recycles Day tomorrow, check out TerraCycle's cool program for all your used makeup, hair, and skin care products. http://www.terracycle.net