You know the old adage “do good, feel good”? Well, we firmly stand behind that, though we have to admit getting a little perk for doing good never hurts. As luck would have it, Old Navy and TerraCycle Canada have just teamed up to offer theFlip-Flop Brigade, an initiative that allows consumers to send in their old flip-flops to TerraCycle and receive an exclusive coupon to Old Navy in return. Not only does that mean you have some extra cash to burn in-store, but you’ll be saving your old sandals from wasting away in a landfill. Instead, the worn down flip-flops will get a new life as they are recycled into everything from playgrounds to bike racks. This isn’t the first time Old Navy and TerraCycle have teamed up: they started a one-month flip-flop collection run last spring starting on Earth Day, and managed to recycle almost 20,000 flip-flops. If you’ve been holding onto beat-down pairs of Havaianas or Old Navy flip-flops for far too long now, log on to TerraCycle to sign up for the brigade. Once you have a full box of sandals, you can print off a prepaid UPS shipping label to ship off your box at no cost.

Ahh, summer. With warmer temperatures come evening barbecues (or the smell of your neighbour's), bike rides along the seawall, Saturday strolls after brunch and, naturally, trips to the beach. In fact, sand and surf rate high on any list of good things about Vancouver living, so arm yourself for an epic summer at the beach with this list of essentials. IN THE SWIM We may as well start with the item you either loathe (ugh, pasty skin, muffin top, need we go on?) or love (tanned bod, all those hot yoga classes) shopping for. Trends in swimwear have all but disappeared, so choose something - anything - that suits you, flatters you and, most importantly, that you like. A fringed number in lime green by L*Space (recently seen on Rihanna)? How fab. A vintage-inspired bandeau top in a more subdued maroon by Vitamin A? Yes, please. Homegrown label Aritzia (and, more specifically, its sporty lifestyle label, TNAction) has also launched its very own swim collection, while Anna Kosturova's crochet bikinis, which have won countless mentions in Sports Illustrated, are coveted yachtwear.

If you visited households throughout Canada, chances are you’d find at least one pair of flip-flops (if not more) in each. Unfortunately, every pair of flip-flops Canadians throw out ends up as waste in landfills. That is changing thanks to a partnership between Old Navy and TerraCycle Canada that now makes flip-flops recyclable. The free Flip-Flop Brigade is sponsored by national retailer Old Navy and run by leading upcycler and recycler TerraCycle. Consumers can send their old flip-flops to TerraCycle and receive an exclusive coupon in return. TerraCycle will recycle the flip-flops into innovative products such as playgrounds, park benches and bike racks.

TerraCycle and Canada's largest tobacco manufacturer have launched a free program to collect and recycle cigarette waste. The Cigarette Waste Brigade program will divert used cigarette butts, along with cigarette foil and plastic packaging waste, from landfills.

A New Jersey-­‐based recycling firm is putting Canadian butts to work as it looks to turn discarded cigarette waste into industrial use pallets. TerraCycle, a firm that reuses and reprocesses hard-to-recycle waste, has launched its Cigarette Waste Brigade program, which diverts cigarette butts—along  with plastic and foil cigarette packaging—from landfills and uses them to make pallets for industrial shipping. “I’m personally very excited about cigarette butts because it’s a landmark waste stream,” said TerraCycle founder Tom Szaky. “It’s a massive litter issue.”

Everyone check out these links (below) about Terracycle and what they really do with the cigarette waste (butts). Cigarette waste (butts) is not biodegradable and takes up to 12 years to breakdown. 8,000 tonnes of cigarette butts are dropped by Canadian each year, the majority within 10 feet of an ashtray.

Caledonia and soon Kenya will be a better place due to the contributions of Jake Poirier, a Grade 8 student at Notre Dame Elementary School in Caledonia. Poirier is a member of Notre Dame’s Youth Ambassadors of Christ Club (YAC club), which participates in many fundraisers. This past September, Poirier attended “Me to We Day” in Toronto, which was hosted by the Free the Children organization. This day was inspiring for Poirier and lead him to apply to go on a trip to help in Kenya.

They're everywhere -- so much a part of the landscape that you may have to focus for a moment to even notice them. Trillions of cigarette butts are flicked and stomped to the ground each year, often by people who would never think of themselves as littering. Contrary to popular belief, cigarette filters are not biodegradable. They're made from cellulose acetate, a plastic that absorbs tobacco "tar" and eventually breaks down in the environment, but never loses its toxicity and can poison essential links int he aquatic food chain.