AN Australian first recycling program is now in the Shoalhaven. Nowra’s Ewing Electrical has teamed up with innovative recycling company TerraCycle to launch a scheme to recycle usually non-recyclable items. People can now recycle things like toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, cigarette butts and Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules. Ewing Electrical has registered as one of Australia’s first public collection points for typically “unrecyclable” waste. Lisa Pearson from Ewing Electrical, who will administer the volunteer collection point, said the company wanted to support a program that would help stop more rubbish going into landfills. “We are excited to house a collection box at our shop to give the Shoalhaven community a drop-off location to recycle their used items,” she said. “This empowers us by allowing us to decide where our waste and packaging ends up.” Not only will people be helping the environment, they will also support the Shoalhaven Junior Baseball Club, the Mariners. “Two points are earned for each piece of waste that we send in for recycling,” Mrs Pearson said. “All the money raised will be donated to Shoalhaven Junior Baseball Club and so we encourage people to join us in this community recycling drive and drop off these items and tell all their friends and family to do the same.” Locals are now encouraged to drop these selected used items to the public access collection box at the building entrance of Ewing Electrical, 97 Plunkett Street Nowra from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Items that can be recycled are: * any brand of toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, outer cardboard packaging and floss containers - excludes electric toothbrush components * any brand of hand and body wash pumps, triggers, nozzles beauty product pumps, tubes and face wipes and Nescafé Dolce Gusto tea and coffee capsules. Only a specific type of capsule is part of this collection and cannot be contaminated with other types of capsules.

Used dental items are being sought by St Anne's School to be turned into new products such as bins, chairs or bottles. The Harvey primary school is urging the wider community to contribute items such old toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers. Program co-coordinator and Year 1 teacher Amber Carruthers said the donations would be used for the Colgate-TerraCylce joint program, an addition to the school's own sustainability and recycling initiatives. Miss Carruthers said more than 30 million toothbrushes and 80 million toothpaste tubes were thrown away every year in Australia and New Zealand. "The TerraCycle program teaches children about recycling waste and also shows them how old products can be used to make new ones," she said. "Students are encouraged to bring in their used dental products, which are collected and sent away to be melted down and made into new products such as bins, chairs and bottles. Students have been very excited and each day, more products are coming in but now we are extending it to the general public to join us." Miss Carruthers said the school would receive two cents for every item - including toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, and outer packaging and floss containers. "Money received for the recycling will be used to purchase resources for the school's sustainability centre," she said. She said the students had enjoyed making their own recycle boxes for collecting products and classes were competing to collect the most products. Items can be donated at the school office on Young Street, Harvey. The program runs until November 1 and the school recycling the most also receives a bonus cash prize.

A daily coffee gives many of us a much-needed second wind, but what about a second life for the capsules responsible for the caffeine boost? Wollongong florist Primavera Flowers has joined a nationwide coffee capsule recycling program set up by Nespresso and recycling company TerraCycle. As part of the initiative, coffee connoisseurs can drop their used Nespresso capsules in a collection box inside the Corrimal Street store at no cost. Owner Lina Russo jumped at the opportunity to help Wollongong residents do their bit for the environment. "I know these little capsules are made out of aluminium foil and they don't perish," she said. "So, it was absolutely no trouble for me to offer a little space in our shop, if we could help the environment. "Coffee is really in vogue, a lot of people drink it and these [Nespresso] machines are really affordable now, so a lot of people have them in their houses. "Often they don't know what to do [with the capsules], they just put them in the bin, so that's why we're here." Ms Russo said the concept had been "exceptionally well received" and she was onto her second collection box just eight weeks into the program. "We've had a lot of customers popping in just saying hello and dropping their little bags off. "In the morning, often I find little bags next to our front door, so the news is starting to spread really well." TerraCycle collects the used capsules and sends them to Nespresso's recycling plant, where they are "upcycled" into various aluminium products. Only Nespresso capsules are accepted as part of the program and the capsules should be sealed in a plastic bag.

A radical new way of thinking about business, The Blue Economy, is set to generate 100 million new jobs in the next 10 years all inspired by nature with zero waste, according to the Blue Economy Institute founder and consultant Anne-Maree Huxley. In coming weeks Ms Huxley will present one-day workshops on this topic in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, tailored to business, government and community leaders. The Blue Economy enables improved productivity and sustainable growth for virtually every part of the economy. It is also shaping a new way to do business with zero waste, and represents a sustainable and competitive business framework. As outlined by its founder Gunter Pauli in his report to the Club of Rome, now in 38 languages, The Blue Economy is set to generate 100 million new jobs in the next 10 years. This highly innovative, competitive business model supports a world guided by the Kyoto Protocol and heralds a paradigm shift in economics and sustainability. It showcases cascading business models that have multiple cash flows, examines new energy and buildings options, and shares 100+ innovations that achieve zero pollution and builds social capital. To date The Blue Economy has seen over EUR4 billion in investments and the creation of an estimated three million jobs with innovation and technology that is as diverse as it is game changing. This ranges from turning thistles – yes a weed we spend millions trying to kill with expensive toxic chemicals – into valuable oils (the Sardinia Refinery has seen $600 million in revenues in its first year) to turning coffee waste into a valuable substrate to grow mushrooms, be used in a range of products to repel odors from paint to sports clothes, or in the manufacture of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, textiles, biofuels and batteries. It has also seen investment in new industries such as growing silk for use in medical procedures as a replacement to mining titanium – which can be done at around half the cost of digging titanium out of the ground – or producing stone paper from mining and building waste – paper that uses no trees or water that can be endlessly recycled at about 40 per cent less than it takes to make paper through traditional means. Aussie ingenuity in blue So what does this mean in an Australian context, especially as we face significant competitive pressures from globalisation, commodity price and exchange rate volatility, extreme weather events and biosecurity issues? Well for some it’s going to mean a new way of looking at the products and services we produce. What we currently see as waste streams and liabilities can actually be new income streams. Natural Evolution in North Queensland, for example, has turned its waste green bananas into high value banana flour and ointment. In the Gascoyne, the Sweeter Banana Cooperative is using bananas salvaged from Cyclone Olwyn to make banana bread that is being stocked in 30 WA stores, and across Australia, thanks to a partnership with Australia Post and TerraCycle, we are also seeing individuals and community groups collecting non-traditional waste such as chewing gum and cigarette butts so they can be reprocessed into high value products such garbage bins and house frames, earning money in the process.

In her second blog, covering her participation at the DesignThinkers Bootcamp (Amsterdam) and The Future Laboratary’s Sydney Trends Briefing, MashUp’s Customer Experience Designer Grace Turtle summarises key observations from Link Festival and how experience is transforming sectors from waste management to retail. At Link, Grace joined eminent people such as Dr. Brandon Gien (CEO of Good Design Australia), Avis Mulhall (Think Act Change) and Anna Minns (Terracycle) in the “Solving the future of stuff” session exploring how movements, communities, design and innovation all help solve the future of stuff. The common consensus was that a shift is underway. Corporations bigger than governments are driving change that is influencing policy and our engagement / experience evolution. Uber, Google and AirBnB are testament to this change. Seguing this change is a need for deeper conversations across communities. For example, hotels – previously synonymous with big chains and uniform service – are slowly evolving to be extensions of the community around them. Like Ace Hotels, a US based chain that is curating individual properties with local artists. People are expecting personal and customisable experiences. At a time of ubiquitousness, speed and more products that our minds can handle, transaction is giving way to experience. And experience is more than just fusing digital to physical. It is about creating value around the entire customer chain. More is giving way to less – but of greater value. It is imperative for corporations to start recognising their impact and influence social environmental and economic sustainability. Read more: http://www.indesignlive.com/articles/in-review/crafting-personalisation-from-ubiquitousness-link-festival#ixzz3XFkCowqe

We speak to two experts about why turning trash into treasure is a worthwhile endeavour. You know about recycling, but what about upcycling? It’s a trend that’s really taking off, and here at homeheaven, we couldn’t be happier about it. I was recently lucky enough to meet and chat to two upcycling enthusiasts, Tiffany Threadgold, the Chief Design Junkie at Terracycle, and Nathan Devine, the founder of Retrash.com.au. Both are passionate about helping people to not only dispose of their waste responsibly, but turn it into products for re-sale. So if you want to live a more sustainable life, read on for their advice… What is upcycling? Upcycling is the recycling of waste materials to create new and practical objects. Here’s an example of Nathan’s suitcase speakers, made from suitcases he found on eBay and speakers from old speaker boxes spotted at the Salvation Army. retrash How to get started Tiffany says that to embrace the upcycling trend, you need to “remember that garbage doesn’t exist in nature. It’s a modern concept.” On the other hand, Nathan believes keeping everything is unrealistic and, ultimately, \Psustainable (see what we did there?), so he suggests setting a goal to “try a small upcycling project and grow your confidence from there.” Tiffany recommends getting your friends and family involved so you’re not doing it alone. Create projects together and make it fun and practical! Even if you’re new to the idea of upcycling, it’s easy to get started. Nathan tells us that he hits eBay when he’s looking for materials to use for his next project: “I scour eBay for items that nobody wants, and items ending soonest that have no bids. I can then create something that is special and productive that would have otherwise ended up in landfill.” Benefits of upcycling Reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfill Creating exciting projects with a fun ‘problem solving’ element Living a more sustainable life Eliminating the idea of waste Making something special out of someone else’s ‘trash’ Have you heard of upcyling? What do you think of the trend?

In an ideal world, it’d be easy to recycle everything we didn’t need. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple – but these 13 tips will make it a little easier to recycle more. Even if you were part of the generation of Australians who had ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ drilled into you during the last decade – recycling can be hard to do. It’s not always clear what can and can’t be recycled in your local council area. recycle bins Even if you were part of the generation of Australians who had ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ drilled into you during the last decade – recycling can be hard to do. It’s not always clear what can and can’t be recycled in your local council area For recycling plastics, we’ve put together this handy guide - but what about recycling beyond your yellow bin? Here are the best tips for recycling all that you can. SHAREONFBSHAREONTWSUBSCRIBE 1: ‘Green’ polypropylene bags, and plastic packaging that you can’t recycle at home, such as biscuit packets, bread bags, rice and pasta bags, can all be recycled in the dedicated bins at both Coles and most Woolworths supermarkets. They might even be remade into things like garden benches for schools. You can read more here. 2: Mobile phones (but not cables) can be left at Sony Centres and Leading Edge Computers. Here, mobile phones are recycled and the money raised will be used to build specialised youth cancer centres for 15 to 30 year old cancer sufferers through the charity YouCan. 3: Domestic batteries can be disposed of sustainably in bins at most ALDI stores. Learn more from our friends at Planet Ark. 4: Used stamps are accepted as donations by many organisations – for example, Guide Dogs in Tasmania. You can find a full list of organisations who collect used stamps at the Give Now website. 5: Used prescription glasses and sunglasses can be donated to OPSM or Personal Eyes, who will pass them on to someone who can’t afford glasses in a developing country. 6: Unused mini shampoos, soaps and lotions from hotels can be given to your local homeless shelter or women’s refuge. 7: Corks from wine or champagne bottles might be recyclable at a location near you. Use Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You tool to find a drop-off point. 8: Used bras and swimwear can be donated to Project Uplift, which sends them on to women for whom bras are unobtainable or unaffordable. You can find participating stores across Australia here. 9: Wire clothes hangers can be returned to dry cleaning shops. 10: Joggers that are not too worn can be given to Soles for Souls who will donate them to orphanages or use them to help fund microfinance projects in developing countries. 11: Used plastic children’s toys in good condition can be recycled with Second Chance Toys. 12: Empty toothpaste tubes, brushes, floss containers, some coffee capsules can be recycled with Terracycle. Just remember to check in and arrange it with them first. 13. Printer cartridges can be recycled at Officeworks, JB HiFi, Australia Post, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith. SHAREONFBSHAREONTWSUBSCRIBE 'Arctic 30' Take Part in a Recycling Day in St. Petersburg Being environmentally conscious on recycling day and sorting your rubbish into compost, recycling and general waste bins is fantastic – but it’s important to think about producing less rubbish to begin with. To help consume less ‘stuff’, try asking yourself these three questions when you’re buying something new: 1. What resources went into creating, producing, packaging, and delivering this product to me? 2. Will my use of this product achieve a good return on investment for those resources? 3. Is there another way? Do I already have something like this at home? Could I borrow this from someone I know? Is there a less resource-intensive alternative? Could I buy this second-hand? Could I make this out of something I already have? TIP: If you can’t recycle it, maybe you can upcycle your trash into something new. Learn more about upcycling and check out some easy DIYs here. Want to do more? Sign up to join 400,000 Greenpeace supporters and get opportunities to create change straight into your inbox!

Workshop with De-cluttering Guru – Tanya Lewis Infoactiv had the pleasure of working with Tanya Lewis, Australia’s EcoOrganiser during our ‘How to Go E-Waste Free’ workshop at this years Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne. She shared with us her knowledge and passion around the notion of organising to help people live more simply. Tanya went through her tips and tricks on how to effectively de-clutter the office and home through her 10R’s of Eco Organising Solutions. This 10-step process helps people regain control over their time and space, in turn saving money and reducing waste. Top 10 things we learned from Tanya during her workshop: 1. Rethink Tanya kicked off our workshop, encouraging people to start from the beginning, that infatuation moment experienced when you are about to purchase something brand new. She asked us to try and pause for 6 seconds in that moment, until our rational thoughts catch up with our emotions. She explained that this time would give us a chance to think about if we really need this product, or do we just want it. Most of the time, we probably don’t need another fancy new phone, when ours is working perfectly well. To start to de-clutter and reduce waste in your life, you need to stop and rethink your purchasing habits. 2. Responsible How can we de-clutter our lives in a more responsible way? Tanya suggests shifting from the ‘throw-away’ mentality when sorting through our stuff, towards other more sustainable options such as repurposing, recycling, donating to a charity or second hand store. We can’t continue to throw things into the bin and assume they are gone forever. There is no such thing as ‘away,’ so lets think twice about the end-life of our products. 3. Refuse This 3rd ‘R’ is going along with the same theme as Rethink. How often do you find yourself at a conference, function or party with bags full of freebies? How often do you find yourself actually using any of this stuff that we are all guilty of accumulating? Tanya is challenging us to politely refuse the things that we will not end up using. This will help to keep our work and home life free from nonsense stuff. 4. Repurpose0609082e807a8bedaab356ee8166f730 This R means instead of throwing away your unwanted stuff, repurpose it into something new. Take this opportunity to tap  into your inner creative self. If you cannot find any creativity, go on Pinterest to find many great ideas about how you can repurpose your unwanted stuff. Tanya even showed us a great  idea on how to reuse those annoying bread clips as labels on    wires in the office. A really great company that’s goal is to repurpose waste is Terracycle, contact them for some up-cycling ideas. 5.Reorganise A key step in the process of de-cluttering your home and work life is to start to reorganise your stuff so that you can find those items you are no longer using and remove them (responsibly) from your space. This will help you to live and work in a highly functional space that flows to increase convenience and ease in your life. 6. Repair and Restyle Instead of automatically throwing something out the second it stops working, try to see if you or someone else can fix it, replace a part or use some parts of it towards something else. As mentioned before, our stuff never really goes ‘away’ anywhere, so reduce the amount of waste you produce and products you purchase by tapping into ‘the good old days’ and repair your broken items. 7. Reduce This point is about noticing the things in your life that have been piling up on your desk or in your closest that you just haven’t gotten around to ‘dealing with.’ Maybe even try tagging or marking those things that you regularly use, if at the end of a couple weeks you notice that half of your stuff has not been marked, its probably time to reduce this clutter out of your life. As Einstein said ‘a cluttered desk is a cluttered mind.’ 8. Reuse We can reuse things instead of throwing them out very easily in the home or office environment. Try to set up a composting program or integrated e-waste recycling solution at your workplace. Maybe organise a clean-up drive at your office, taking all unwanted things to a local opp shop. 9. Recycle This is all about gaining the knowledge and resources on where and how you can actually recycle things. A great resource is by Planet Ark, here you can use the search bar to plug in your location and waste stream to find recycling options near you! 10. Reward It’s no use doing all of this work without recognising you and your colleagues efforts. If people are making serious changes in the workplace to de-clutter, and this is making a huge difference on the flow in the workspace, reward everyone! Maybe this is in the form of an office party of a few hours off early on Friday. Be creative, you have been through this whole process. We are moving towards an economy that will continuously rely on individuals and organisations who think of ways to reuse components and materials in products traditionally considered waste. The innovative companies have already tapped into this, and are saving lots of time and energy in the process. For example, a new Chilean start-up company called Bureo is recycling plastic ocean waste into skateboards. If we can all start to de-clutter and maximise the use of the stuff we already own, who knows the potential for bigger ideas to be inspired by these actions. For more information about how to de-clutter and other practical storage and styling solutions, visit the EcoOrganiser website.

Last week I attended LifeInStyle and the Home and Giving Fair in Sydney, and came home with some great businesses to share and some new products for our store. I will share a post about these events and my thoughts about them soon. But first, in a moment of “it was meant to be”, the very clever Nathan Devine, the author of the website and book Retrash, called me before I left on the off-chance I may have been able to come to Sydney for an event last Friday. I just happened to be headed to Sydney on Thursday so it was perfect! Retrash is a book of inspirational stories from people across the world, on ways they are reducing landfill through recycling, upcycling, repurposing and rethinking waste. Nathan gave me a copy and I will review it soon on the blog. Not only was the event at Google headquarters, which for a geek like me was a real thrill, but it was a presentation from both Nathan and the Chief Design Junkie (yes that is her actual job title!), Tiffany Threadgould, from one of the most clever upcycling and recycling organisations in the world – TerraCycle. TerraCycle basically take things you think are not recyclable, including DIRTY nappies (yes I know!) and cigarette butts (because they are essentially plastic, may be time to give up now) and recycles them. They recycle and upcycle pretty much everything and anything and you can even make cash sending your trash into them. Tiffany is an eco-lifestyle expert who spreads recycling inspiration with easy do-it-yourself solutions. Tiffany began with an MFA in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute, and now hones her upcycling know how as Head Design Junkie at the mega recycling company Terracycle. Her own company Tiffany Threadgould has been featured on CNN, Every Day with Rachael Ray, the New York Times, and countless magazines and blogs. Stay tuned for more as I am going to run an interview and feature with her soon. Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, then a 20-year-old Princeton University student, TerraCycle, Inc. began producing organic fertiliser by packaging liquified “worm poop” in used soft drink bottles. Since the inauspicious start, TerraCycle has become one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world. Today, TerraCycle is a highly-awarded, international upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products. TerraCycle is widely considered the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable, post-consumer waste. TerraCycle works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. and 24 countries overseas, including Australia, to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It repurposes that waste into new, innovative materials and products that are available online and through major retailers. Tiffany also told us about the new partnership with TerraCycle and Australia Post, that makes it easier for groups to collect waste and post it for free. You can collect your waste, print a postage label and send it for free. It is a great idea for schools and community groups, through the national programs -“Brigades” – where you collect previously non-recyclable or hard to recycle waste and in most programs, you receive a small donation for each piece of waste collected. It’s a great way for schools to fund raise. Find out more about the TerraCycle Brigades here. It was a fabulous session and so good to hear about the amazing things happening around the world. Have you heard of TerraCycle? And will you now be saving up waste to send to them?  I am starting special boxes here and will be speaking with my son’s school about getting involved. Helen

Local Manly small business The Shop Next Door takes part in innovative butt recycling program TerraCycle, an innovative global company that recycles ‘unrecyclable’ waste including cigarettes is working with local Manly business The Shop Next Door to tackle cigarette litter. The Cigarette Waste Brigade allows any individual, group or business to register and collect unrecyclable waste such as cigarette butts and send it to TerraCycle via Australia Post at no cost. Since its launch on Clean Up Australia Day in 2014, TerraCycle has collected over four million cigarette butts to be recycled into new industrial items. The Shop Next Door is taking part in the Manly based environmental consultancy, Edge Environment’s 200 Stories Project.  This project being funded by through the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Bintrim Business Grants, providing free waste audits to 200 businesses in the Northern Beaches to reduce waste going to landfill. "Cigarette butts are a pervasive, non-biodegradable waste and is Australia’s most littered item. TerraCycle recycles ‘unrecyclable’ waste that others deem challenging or unsavoury. Instead of ending up on our streets, in landfill or in waterways, cigarettes can now be recycled into new sustainable items,” said Anna Minns, General Manager, TerraCycle. The Shop Next Door on busy Pittwater Road in Manly is a popular hangout for locals and visitors –it’s fantastic to see that both shop and organic café are reducing their waste to landfill. The Shop Next door is not only tackling cigarette litter – they will help recycle it too from the Laundromat one shop down so the butts don’t end up in storm water and in the ocean. They will place an upcycled receptacle for people to dispose of cigarette butts responsibly,” "Local businesses and individuals can simply send in cigarette waste to TerraCycle to be recycled by securely storing it in a plastic bag (which will also be recycled), requesting a free shipping label from the TerraCycle website and affix it to any used box. For every kilogram of cigarette waste collected, TerraCycle donates two dollars to a not-for-profit organisation of the collector’s choice.” TerraCycle Australia collects other difficult to recycle waste streams including oral care waste such as toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss containers, used cleaning, laundry and beauty packaging waste as well as Nespresso and NESCAFE Dolce Gusto capsules.