To help guide you on how to recycle efficiently, I asked recycling experts from TerraCycle and Tacuna Systems on recycling rules and tips. Learn how to manage your waste better with their insights.

On a recent Saturday morning, I answered my antsy 3-year-old’s request for a snack by digging into my bag and finding – to my relief – a pouch of applesauce. I snapped off the cap and handed it over, and he was content for the last few minutes of his sister’s violin class. Perhaps apple slices would have been more ideal, but I was glad to have the pouch on hand. o Since the introduction of baby food pouches about 10 years ago, they’ve claimed more of the market each year. Technavio, a market research firm, estimated in 2018 that global revenue from baby food pouches grew tenfold between 2010 and 2017 — from $16 million to $160.8 million. In 2017, the market research firm Mintel surveyed 1,000 households in the United States with young children and found that about half of kids 3 and under eat purees from pouches, and of these, 58 percent have one or more pouches per day.   As a parent and college nutrition instructor, my guess is that pouches are popular because they’re convenient, shelf-stable and usually more nutritious than other packaged snacks. While they’re mostly fruit and vegetable purees, they can include more interesting ingredients like chia seeds, chickpeas, millet, avocado and yogurt.   “They were great when my daughter was about 2 and so hungry at 5:30 when I picked her up from day care. It prevented many dinner-prep meltdowns,” said Melissa Marks, a biology professor in Salem, Ore. “I didn’t love the eco-unfriendly nature of them,” said Marks, “but they got this scientist mom through the final pre-tenure year.” While the pouches are not recyclable through municipal services, they can be mailed to TerraCycle at a cost of at least $65 per shipment, except for a few brands that have set up free mail-in programs with the recycling company. Pouch caps are collected in some locations by Preserve, which manufactures goods like toothbrushes and razors from recycled plastic.   The pediatric feeding experts I spoke with said that there’s nothing wrong with giving your kids pouches from time to time, but they’re worried that some families might be becoming too reliant on them. The pouches’ entry into the baby food market is so recent that there isn’t yet published research on their impact, but they are enough of a departure from traditional baby foods that they raise several theoretical concerns, including delaying motor development, diluting nutritional quality, and increasing picky eating and cavities in young kids.   One potential problem is that pouches may oversimplify the eating process, leaving fewer opportunities for babies to practice the oral and fine motor skills they need to use utensils and to eat more textured foods. For example, babies can suck from a pouch using similar mouth and tongue movements as when they breastfeed or drink from a bottle, said Jenny McGlothlin, M.S., a speech-language pathologist at the University of Texas at Dallas and coauthor of “Helping Your Child With Extreme Picky Eating.” It’s better for babies to eat purees with a spoon, she said, so they can practice closing their lips over the utensil and moving food back in their mouths to swallow, and then advance to food with more texture as soon as they’re ready.   Pouched baby foods are marketed for babies as young as 4 months, and since they’re easy for babies to suck down, this might encourage parents to add too much pureed food to their babies’ diets too early. “As semi-liquids that could fill up the baby, they are not good nutritional substitutes for breastmilk or formula in early life,” said Dr. Steven Abrams, M.D., chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Nutrition. The A.A.P. advises parents to start offering solids to babies when they’re interested and developmentally ready to sit up and eat from a spoon, usually around 6 months.   Anecdotally, some professionals say they’re observing delays in motor development among kids overly dependent on the pouches. Ruth McGivern, M.A., a pediatric speech-language pathologist in Philadelphia, said that she and her colleagues had noticed that some of their toddler clients were learning to self-feed with a spoon later than usual, and that she was “pretty sure reliance on the pouches is part of the reason.” On its own, taking longer to learn to use a spoon wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, she said, but she worries that these toddlers are missing out on an important stage of food exploration.   “Without the opportunity to smear food all over their faces, and lick it off with their tongues, and wave the spoon around while they play with the food in their other hand, young toddlers tend to lose their curiosity about food and become more and more dependent on either the pouches or their parent spoon-feeding them,” said McGivern.   Research suggests that kids use all their senses to learn about food. Having the opportunity to see, smell and play with food can increase a toddler’s acceptance of new foods, according to studies published in the journal Appetite, and pouches don’t allow for that full sensory experience. Maryann Jacobsen, M.S, R.D., a coauthor of “Fearless Feeding,” recommended advancing from purees – like those in pouches – to more textured foods between 6 and 10 months so that babies can learn to chew and feed themselves finger foods.   Babies are most open to new tastes during a “golden window of opportunity” between 6 and 18 months, said McGlothlin. It’s a perfect time to get used to the bitterness of green vegetables, which can require repeated exposures. “If we don’t offer a variety of foods and experiences, then we’re setting ourselves up for pickiness later,” she said.   If vegetables are introduced to kids only in pouch form, their taste is probably masked. “When you’re mixing it with other flavors, there’s no guarantee that they’re able to taste it in the way that they need to in order to learn to like that flavor over time,” said Kameron Moding, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in pediatric nutrition at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, whose research has shown that most packaged baby and toddler vegetable products, including pouches, are blended with fruits or sweet vegetables.   Those sweet ingredients also mean the pouches are high in sugar. A study published this July in the journal Nutrients analyzed 703 pureed baby and toddler food products and found that pouched purees were often higher in sugar than baby food in other packages, like jars or plastic tubs. For example, among fruit and vegetable blend products, pouches had a median of 11 grams of sugar per serving, compared with 5 grams of sugar per serving in products with other packaging because the pouches both came in larger serving sizes and were more concentrated in sugar. Among the pouched blends, 58 percent had added sugar beyond that naturally present in fruits and vegetables, compared with 33 percent of the purees in other packaging.   “The higher the sugar content, the higher the risk of tooth decay,” said Dr. Joe Castellanos, D.D.S., immediate past president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. He recommends using pouches only in moderation, along with a good tooth brushing routine.   Despite these concerns, there’s nothing wrong with the occasional pouch, Jacobsen said. “It’s fine to use these,” she said. “It’s just when we overuse them and we rely on them too much, I think that’s when it becomes problematic.”   The experts I spoke with said that it’s impossible to give hard and fast rules on how many pouches is too many. Some kids who eat several pouches per day are still comfortable eating many other foods. However, if your kid is fussy when they can’t have a pouch; or if they refuse to eat more textured foods, or if they don’t want to use utensils or touch food with their hands, it’s a problem, McGlothlin said. A pediatric feeding specialist can do an evaluation to identify sensory or oral motor issues that may be contributing and help make a plan to broaden the child’s diet.   Although she’s concerned about overuse of pouches, McGlothlin, who’s also a mother of three, said that it’s not helpful to judge parents about how they feed their kids. “We’re all kind of just trying to do the best we can on a daily basis,” she said.   Pouches may be especially helpful for parents with disabilities, or for those who have little time for food prep and who might find that pouches are the most realistic way of getting fruits and veggies into their kids’ lunchboxes.   The same can be true for children with special needs. Katie Herzog, a mother in Novi, Mich., has a 4-year-old daughter who has significant feeding problems that require therapy. “Even as we add solid foods to her diet, the pouches are important to give her jaw a break,” Herzog said. Her daughter also has celiac disease, an autoimmune condition in which the body mounts an attack response against the small intestine after eating gluten, she said, so pouches can be given to her on the go without having to worry about wheat contamination.   For my part, I see parenting as both a short game and a long game. My long game that Saturday morning was to make a fragrant lentil and veggie curry that would simmer in the slow cooker all afternoon. I wasn’t sure if my son would eat much of it, but at least he would smell it, taste a bit of it, and watch his sister and parents enjoy it. But my short game? It might involve a pouch every now and then.

ACURE, a specialist in skin and hair wellness, has partnered with Terracycle to make the packaging for their line of skin care and personal care products nationally recyclable in the United States.   As an added incentive, for every shipment of ACURE waste sent to TerraCycle, collectors earn points that can be donated to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice. Through the ACURE Recycling Program, consumers can now send in ACURE skin care and personal care packaging to be recycled for free.   Participation is easy: sign up on the TerraCycle program page  https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/acure and mail in the packaging waste using a prepaid shipping label. Once collected, the packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   "ACURE is giving their customers the unique opportunity to divert waste from landfills by offering them a way to responsibly dispose of their skincare packaging," said TerraCycle CEO and Founder, Tom Szaky. "In turn, by participating in the ACURE® Recycling Program, consumers can demonstrate their respect for the environment not only through the products that they choose to include in their beauty regimen, but also by how the packaging is disposed of."   The ACURE Recycling Program is open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization.

It’s not exactly a secret that we waste a ton of food. As more and more studies have shown that up to 40 percent of edible food gets tossed each year, in the U.S., consumers, nonprofits and businesses have turned their attention to reducing food waste. New York City caterer, Purslane, has made the issue central to its business. In 2018, the Brooklyn-based company began shifting its business model to focus on becoming both a zero-waste and carbon-neutral caterer and in the process, they’re showing how consumers and businesses can revolutionize how we eat at events and home.   The Oberon Group, the Brooklyn-based hospitality collective that operates Rhodora, Rucola and June started its catering division in 2012, restructuring its business in 2018, to combat the enormous amount of waste generated by events. In 2019, Purslane was able to divert nearly 85,000 pounds of trash from the landfill and prevent 125 metric tons of CO2 from being released (an estimation based on large events like weddings and smaller food drop-offs).     “The restaurants became such a staple that people wanted to source more food them,” said Michelle Gabriel, the Managing Director of Purslane, on the initial inspiration for the catering business. According to Gabriel, when the company began thinking about moving and restructuring its commissary kitchen in 2017, it presented the opportunity to figure out how they could make reducing food waste a central part of the business’s mission.   “There were a lot of challenges—logistical, financial, educational,” Gabriel said. “By zero waste, we mean nothing goes to landfill, so we have to maintain control of our waste.” Purslane’s zero waste mission means they only generate compost and recycling. The company does this by maintaining control of all their waste at events it produces, bringing in its own waste containers and then bringing everything back to its headquarters for either composting or recycling. Items that can’t be easily composted or recycled, such as rubber gloves and soft plastics they work with waste management company TerraCycle to recycle.   Reducing their waste, though, begins long before an event takes place. They’ve made changes across their supply chain, starting with buying less food and adapting menus to be as food and cost-efficient as possible.   “We’re buying less food from the beginning, and make very close to what we need, so we’re not just not sending it to compost,” Gabriel said. “We really find ways to cross-utilize ingredients.” Financially they had to adjust almost all the costs of operating their business from the cost of food to the price of recycling haulers. And for them to be successful, there’s also a bit of education that comes with talking to clients, especially with clients who are drawn to their company for their food and may be unaware of the zero-waste component of the business.   They measure the carbon footprint of each event they hold, so they can invest in carbon negative initiatives to be carbon neutral and they’re continually evolving, looking at more ways to reduce waste and their carbon emissions. With almost all events currently on hold, Purslane is beginning to help feed New Yorkers at home while still working to reduce food waste. They recently launched Purslane Provisions offering weekly prepared meals, a vegetable CSA and add-on wines from Rhodora and pantry staples available to customers in Brooklyn and Queens with plans to expand citywide.   “We’re trying to supplement what might be challenging to get at this time,” Gabriel said.

The average American produces approximately three pounds of non-compostable, non-recyclable waste every day. Lauren Singer, on the other hand, has generated fewer than two pounds of trash in the past eight years.   The 28 year old committed to a zero-waste lifestyle (which she defines as not contributing anything to the landfill) in college. A classmate in one of her environmental studies courses at New York University was bringing plastic takeout containers and utensils for her lunch every day. "I asked the question, ‘How could you care about sustainability and make so much waste?’" she says. "That’s when I realized that I was doing the same thing: purchasing groceries with plastic packaging, buying clothing made out of synthetic material. I was doing these unsustainable things even though all I talked about every day was sustainability."   To document the process of shifting to a trash-free lifestyle, she created the site Trash is for Tossers in 2012. She shares tips for composting, recipes for DIY beauty products, and explains how she limited nearly a decade’s worth of waste to a single 16-ounce Mason jar. She also founded Package Free, a set of shops in New York City selling zero-waste essentials, such as biodegradable bandaids, cotton produce bags, and reusable bamboo utensils.   In honor of Earth Day, Furthermore spoke with Singer about starting a sustainable business and maintaining her values in the pandemic.   Q: How did you shift your environmental passion into a full-time career?   A: After I started Trash is for Tossers, people were asking me about the products that I was making and featuring on the site. They wanted the sustainable laundry detergent or toothpaste, but thought that it would take too much time to make, so they would abandon the idea. The thought that time could be the limiting factor felt so unfair to me. (That's how my first company, The Simply Co., which sells 3-ingredient laundry detergent started). I began meeting all of these awesome consumer product companies that had the desire to make a product to solve an environmental problem, like ocean pollution or animal cruelty, but were having a hard time acquiring new customers. So I started Package Free as a way to bring all of these brands together in one place.   Q: What goes in your Mason jar?   A: Things that I haven’t been able to divert from landfill [that aren’t recyclable or compostable]. For example, hair ties and bandaids. Although now at Package Free we have sustainable alternatives to most of these.   Q: Can you explain the concept of "circumstantial trash?"   A: It's trash that we ourselves don’t necessarily create but is a function of circumstance. You order something and you stipulate that you want it to be plastic-free but it comes to you in plastic. You can feel guilty about that, sure, but if you did everything in your power to ask for things the way that you wanted it then that’s OK. You could take initiative from there and email the company to say that you’d like to continue supporting them but you prefer your packages without plastics. You also need to be understanding that, for the most part, the world isn’t there yet. At Package Free we have these Terracycle boxes where people can drop types of materials that aren’t recyclable through New York City’s program. [The company then turns these items, like electronics, certain personal care products, and cleaning supplies, into new products].   Q: What makes recycling so confusing?   A: The regulations around what is recyclable and the processes around what gets recycled are different in basically every single city in the world. That’s why I try to prevent any packaging from entering my home to begin with. One of the most important things to do is to check on your city's government website to see what is recycled and what isn’t.   Q: What’s an easy way to approach the zero-waste lifestyle?    A: I always suggest that people look into their trash can and see what they’re throwing away. Say you have a ton of single-use plastic water bottles, a good option is to get a sustainable water filter. Or if you’re super attached to the type of dental floss you use, but not your toothbrush, swap that for the bamboo kind. Little things that aren’t super hard can have a positive environmental impact.   Q: What about athletes specifically?   A: Make sure you have your own reusable water bottle. It’s great when gyms and facilities have stations where you can refill. Also choosing synthetic-free gym clothing is a big one. Most athletic clothing is made using plastic and synthetic fibers. So I try to support brands that have organic cotton leggings, sports bras, and workout t-shirts.   Q: What does your own workout routine look like?   A: Walking is one of my favorite things to do. It is so meditative and while I’m doing it I can talk to someone on the phone or just listen to music. I went on a five-mile walk today, which was great to help clear my mind and reset my body. I also love yoga.   Q: And what about diet?   A: One really cool thing about a zero-waste lifestyle is that you’re not buying packaged, processed foods. I go to the farmer's market every week and buy fresh fruits and vegetables. I also eat plenty of whole grains and beans, like rice, chickpeas, and black beans. The food I make is super simple. I make fresh pasta so I’ll do that with vegetables. The other night we had vegetable tacos and made the tortillas from scratch. It takes 15 minutes to make and you can do a huge batch and freeze the rest. They taste so much better than the store-bought version and you know exactly what’s in them.   Q: Are you finding it harder to maintain this lifestyle while self-isolating?    A: Yes. I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of my environmental sustainability values when it comes to food. When Sandy hit in 2016, I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t have water stocked or food. This time I made the decision that I wouldn’t let myself be in that situation again. I bought a lot of canned beans and frozen produce, which is healthy and in alignment with how I normally eat, but the packaging is misaligned. I’m still recycling and separating out these materials [into a Mason jar] that I do consider to be trash. So I’m not contributing anything to the landfill, but at the same time I’m creating a demand for these materials that I know are not sustainable. It makes me feel a little shitty, sure, but I need to take care of myself. I also have a team of 50 people that depend on me as a leader and if I get sick that threatens their livelihood. I realized that I had to give up some of my own sustainable values for the safety and security of others. No matter what, it was a sacrifice well worth making.    

For most of us, using a product once before throwing it away is a daily habit. Beverage bottles, food containers, and other packaging are sanitary and convenient, but our disposable world brings consequences that must be addressed: Trash is ending up in our rivers and oceans, threatening wildlife and food supplies.   To allow for the benefits of safe packaging without creating a flood of waste into the environment, we need to create a circular economy, where products are designed to last longer and eventually come back into use as new materials rather than going to landfills. National Geographic recently convened a group that included CEOs, city officials, and recycling experts to talk about how we can bring the circular economy from concept to reality. Here are five notable concepts that emerged during the discussion February 26 at National Geographic's headquarters in Washington, D.C.    

1. The circular economy is bigger than you think

When we talk about reducing waste, the temptation is to think recycling is the answer. But recycling alone will not save us from a surfeit of stuff, noted Andrew Morlet, CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation: "The circular economy is a bigger idea that takes the entire system into mind." That means rethinking how products are conceived at the start, minimizing unnecessary use of resources, designing items to be used as long as possible, and planning to funnel material back into the economy afterward. Achieving this will require massive investment in collection, sorting, and recycling infrastructure, but especially in developing economies, governments won't be willing or able to invest at the pace needed."It's not a $1 billion problem—it's a $150 billion problem," Morlet said. "We need to have industry stepping up and actually contributing to the creation of that infrastructure so that these systems can work."  

2. For businesses, green is good

While the mantra "greed is good" from the movie Wall Street ruled the 1980s, companies today are turning away from a solely profit-driven definition of success. Smart business leaders recognize both the obligation and the opportunity in pursuing growth while safeguarding resources. Managing future risks associated with climate change are an important driver of focusing on environmental impacts, but not the whole story. Halsey Cook, CEO of Milliken & Company, pointed to a recent Ethisphere ranking of most ethical companies, which included Milliken. "The data is very clear that companies that focus on doing the right things over time have higher returns,” he said, when compared to the Large Cap Index. Among other initiatives, Milliken has invested in PureCycle Technologies, a technology that transforms post-consumer polypropylene into a like-new version of the resin that, Cook added, could potentially be valued more highly by industry.    

3. Cities can lead the way

In cities around the world, municipal governments are becoming incubators for ideas that can inform broader policies and can inspire action in both public and private sectors. Toronto, for example, collects organic waste from the city's households and turns it into biogas that can fuel truck fleets or be used for heating. In New York, the city is looking at ways to boost its already strong recycling initiatives by extending the life of products before they go into the bin. At least 4,500 New York City businesses focus on repair, reuse, and the sharing economy. "It's there, it's under the radar," noted Bridget Anderson, deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability for the city's Department of Sanitation. "So the question is, how do we scale those things up for the products that can have a second life before they become recycled."    

4. Carbon needs to be factored in

"We have to decide what we're solving for," said Milliken CEO Halsey Cook. "It's easy to [say you want to] eliminate plastics, but you might replace that with other materials that might have a big disadvantage" from a carbon footprint perspective. Some argue that strong policy targeting carbon emissions is key to making progress. A policy that holds companies responsible for waste from the products they make, for example, "needs to be first rooted in how we track our carbon," said Nina Butler, CEO of the consulting firm More Recycling. The better producers do at shrinking the lifecycle carbon emissions of their product, she argued, the less they should have to pay.    

5. What you buy—and recycle—matters

Consumers have voiced their concerns about waste in the environment, and companies are responding. To build on the momentum, people need to ask businesses for products made from recycled content and demand better local recycling programs from local authorities. "Part of the answer here has to be an increase in the use of recycled materials on the back end,” said Jim Fish, CEO of Waste Management. “Both big and small businesses play a very critical role in this.” The more people value the reuse of materials, the easier it becomes for businesses to accelerate the circular economy: "Let the people you buy from know that recycled material is important in their container," advised Scott Saunders, general manager of the recycler KW Plastics. "Companies follow what their customer wants."  

We all want to reduce our carbon footprint and become better stewards of the earth. But for something that seems as simple and straightforward as recycling, there can be a lot of complications. And when you make a guess at something being recyclable, and it isn't, that can actually be worse for recycling programs than if you had just thrown it out with the garbage. So, in honor of Earth Day, we sat down and straightened out just what can be recycled — and how! — so we can all avoid future mistakes and better support our local recycling efforts.   You can find everything we could think of in the glass, metal, and miscellaneous categories below, and how to dispose of it properly. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Ask us on Facebook or Twitter!        

Glass

Glass is one of the easiest things to recycle and, with the exception of lightbulbs, household glass and broken glass, almost everything can be recycled at curbside.  

Recyclable

• The glass used in most bottles and food storage containers is easily recyclable at curbside. Don’t forget to rinse it and remove the lid.

 

Throw Away

• Broken glass is unfortunately not recyclable, as it can clog recycling machinery and even result in injury to sanitation workers. Before throwing it away, make sure to wrap it up in a thick plastic bag so you don’t hurt your garbage person.

 

Hmm…

• While mirrors, drinking glasses, window glass, or baking dishes seem like they could be recycled with regular glass, household glass is often treated with chemicals to make it sturdier. We recommend you donate items, or, if they’re too worn, throw them away.
• CFL bulbs and other fluorescent bulbs contain trace amounts of mercury. While it’s a small enough amount that they can be used safely in your home, they shouldn’t go to a landfill, where they can contaminate ground water. To recycle safely, take them to a Home Depot or Lowes.
• Incandescent lights, LED’s and halogens do not contain any hazardous materials, so it’s safe to throw them in the trash. But they are also recyclable in some cases, so check your local center first. If they don't accept them, EcoLights or Lampmaster Recycling offers recycling for a fee.

     

Metal and Foil

Like glass, the metals and foils you use the most are also the easiest to recycle. Food tins, disposable baking items, aluminum foil, paint cans, and even aerosol cans are recyclable if prepared properly.

Recyclable

• Your typical tin and aluminum cans (think soup, tuna, and veggies) can by thrown in your curbside recycling after you rinse them out.
• Disposable bakeware like muffin tins, lasagna trays, and bread pans can also be put in curbside recycling.
• Aluminum foil and foil lids (like you find on yogurt or cream cheese) can be recycled as long as they are free of grease, food, and chemical coatings.
• Clean — and we mean clean — paint cans and lids can also be recycled.
• Empty aerosol cans, like those used for hairspray and cleaning products, are tricky to recycle. As of April 2020, there don’t appear to be any mail-in initiatives, but Clean Harbors Environmental Services in Braintree, MA accepts them for a fee. These can also be disposed of if your town has a household hazardous waste collection day.

 

Throw Away

• Any pieces of metal under three inches — like nails, screws, washers, and soda can tabs — can be hazardous to recycling machines, and should be thrown away to avoid damage.
• Candy and cookie wrappers that look metallic often aren’t, because the foil has been fused with plastic. A good test? If you ball up the wrapping and it doesn’t keep the crumpled shape, you should throw it out.
• Capri Sun packs and smoothie squeeze pouches are also fused with plastic, and must be thrown away. There is one exception that we found: Serenity Kids has partnered with Terracycle to offer a recycling initiative, here.

 

Hmmmm…

• Syringes, epi-pens and razor blades can’t truly be recycled or thrown away, because of the danger they pose to the general public. They should be disposed of in a medical sharps container, which can be found at your local pharmacy, hospital, or police station.
• Potato chip bags are recyclable through a mail-in initiative from Hain & Terracycle. You can find it here.
• Unfortunately, most foil coffee bags are fused with plastic, and cannot be recycled. That said, some coffee brands feature packaging that's partially recyclable; read the label first, and make sure to peel out the internal plastic liner if there is one.
• Safety razors are a little tricky. Locally-based Gillette offers the opportunity for communities to set up a recycling station for any brand of safety razor, but not an individual mail-in option. Try to jump start an initiative in your town.
• Pots and pans, bike frames, metal tools, metal furniture, metal kitchen tools, metal utensils and metal shelves are similarly complicated. If any of these are lightly used, think first of taking them to a Goodwill or Salvation Army for someone else to benefit. But if your cookware or bike is not fit for donation, it’s time to find a scrap metal recycler. A few things are key: are they sealed with Teflon or plastic? Are they ferrous or non-ferrous (hint: ferrous pots are magnetic)? Find this out first, and then start calling scrap metal recyclers near you.
• Do you ascribe to the “no wire hangers” rule? If so, you have some options for recycling here, too. Wire hangers can be reused at your local dry-cleaner or recycled at a scrap yard.
• Soda Stream canisters help us save on more than just seltzer. Bring them into a nearby Bed Bath & Beyond so they can get refilled, and get a dollar off your next canister.

     

Everything Else

What's left after paper, plastic, glass and metal? Everything else! This section contains every single thing that we looked at around our homes and thought, "how do I recycle that?"

Recyclable

• Liquid food cartons — also known as what your soup, milk, juice, and sometimes wine come in — are not always recyclable. So far, the only ones that have joined the Carton Council recycling initiative are Tetra Pak, Elopak, SIG, Combibloc and Evergreen Packaging, so be sure to look for those logos when shopping. But even if you buy these brands, recycling gets tricky. While some cities and towns pick up curbside, most don’t. You can find out if your town recycles them, or what your alternatives are at Earth 911.
• Both Brita and PUR have free recycling programs with Terracycle; you can find Brita here, and PUR here.

 

Compostable

Food is, for the most part, compostable. Here are a few options for composting in Mass., most of which take all kinds of food scraps and come right to your door:  

• In Greater Boston and Providence, we’re lucky enough to have access to Bootstrap Compost.
• Offbeet Compost does the same for Merrimack Valley (and is women owned!).
• City Compost serves all of New England.
• The cities of Acton, Worcester and Cambridge all offer municipal composting programs as well.

Throw Away

• We've already talked about recycling plastic tape dispensers. But what about the tape? While plastic tape (Duct, Scotch) goes right in the trash, Amazon’s brown paper tape is recyclable (yay!).
• Particle board is often used in inexpensive furniture — but, unfortunately, in order to create this cheap material, the process heavily treats the wood and as such, it cannot be recycled.
• Terracotta pots are not recycled and have to be thrown away. But this is your chance to get creative — try mosaics, using broken pieces in place of drainage stones, or creating garden sculptures.

 

Hmm...

• Good-condition clothing can be donated to second-hand shops, or even sold through consignment shops. Not sure if something is in good enough shape for second hand stores? Look for Bay State Textiles bins (map here) — they'll donate quality clothing to second-hand stores, and recycle stained or torn materials into new products.
• Electronics and appliances can all be recycled at Best Buy or Staples. Free to the general public (though not businesses or organizations), they both offer programs that recycle your goods for free. Check out the Staples list here. Check out the Best Buy list here.
• Furniture and exercise equipment can be sold online, or donated if it's in decent shape. But if your old bookcase is rickety, it might be time to recycle it. Some towns offer special pickup days for bigger items like these, but if yours isn’t one of them, look around for a scrap yard.
• Building materials that are in good condition — windows, lumber, cabinets, bricks or flooring — can be donated to Habitat for Humanity. If something isn’t reusable, to the scrap yard it goes.
• Bicycle tires and tubes are prime items for reuse. The recycling process for these is not great for the environment, so if you can come up with a creative way to reuse them (or you want to try one of the ideas here) go for it! But if you absolutely must recycle, try your local bike shop or REI.
• There are quite a few parts in your car that can be recycled. Many autobody shops will recycle oil and oil filters, batteries, tires and windshields for you, just be sure to ask in advance so you're not sent packing. Water pumps can be returned to auto parts stores to reduce the charge for new products. Engines, starters, and alternators can all be rebuilt by mechanics, and you can ask the shop that you’ve taken your car to if they’d be able to help you with that. Plastics and metals should go to the scrap yard.

  If you live in one of Massachusetts' major cities, you can find a handy printout for additional trash and recycling guidelines, as well as pickup times in your neighborhood, below:   Boston | Worcester | Springfield

Here's a list of things you can do that will lighten your environmental footprint and green up your life! 1. Stop using plastic coffee pods! Use compostable coffee pods or a reusable single cup coffee system, including cotton coffee filters.   2. Minimize household chemicals and waste. Make your own eco-friendly cleaning products: Watch how to make eco-friendly dryer sheets and how to make reusable sweeper pads and how to make a all-natural cleaner with grapefruit and salt. See our guide to green cleaning products.   3. Compost kitchen waste to save landfill space. Create your own compost pile or use one of these local compost services.   4. Replace your lawn with native plants. They don’t need as much water and they support native wildlife. Plant a pollinator garden to provide food for bees and monarch butterflies! Read about North Texans stepping up aid for monarchs.   5. Grow your own organic food. Plant an organic garden even if it’s just a few herbs on your patio.   6. Consume less meat! A plant-based diet is recommended by the UN as the most environmentally friendly, climate-friendly diet.) Not only are you saving animals but a plant-based diet is healthier for you.  Local author Carol Adams has tips for going vegan in middle age but it applies to all ages.   7. Stop drinking bottled water. Use water filters instead.  Read about our favorite water filters.   8. Fix leaky faucets and toilets. Save precious water.   9. Green up your home. Install a programmable thermostat, LED light bulbs and better insulation.   10. Cook your own organic food. It's more sustainable and better for you than eating pre-packaged food.   11. Think before you shop. Choose products made from natural, biodegradable or recyclable materials. Avoid products that will likely just fill up landfill space when their end life is over.       12. Choose quality over convenience. When you need conventional products, choose items that are built to last, made from sustainable materials, have minimal packaging and are energy smart. Here's our list of eco-friendly products for the new year!   13. Minimize trash. Recycle everything that you can.   14. Ramp up your recycling efforts. Look for specialty recycling outlets for items not accepted in recycle bins. For example, plastic bags can be recycled at most grocery stores. Home Depot and Lowes will take batteries and light bulbs. Terracycle accepts items like toothpaste tubes. Help your school or place of business start a recycling program. Read about how the Fort Worth Botanic Garden set a zero waste goal.   15. Give away rather than throw away. Donate that old couch, stacks of nifty paper, nice clothes, tools.       16. Buy less stuff! Before you buy something, ask yourself - do I really need this?   17. Shop local. Visit the farmer’s market, support small organic farms and food producers.   18. Bring your own shopping bags. Reusable bags are not just for the grocery store. Take them wherever you shop. Keep them by the front door, in your purse or backpack and in your car.   19. Harvest your rainwater. Build your own rain barrel or buy one and use it to water your garden.   20. Drive less. Walk or ride a bike instead of driving. Make each trip count when you do take your car. Carpool! When shopping for a new car, consider an all-electric or a hybrid.

We all want to reduce our carbon footprint and become better stewards of the earth. But for something that seems as simple and straightforward as recycling, there can be a lot of complications. And when you make a guess at something being recyclable, and it isn't, that can actually be worse for recycling programs than if you had just thrown it out with the garbage. So, in honor of Earth Day, we sat down and straightened out just what can be recycled — and how! — so we can all avoid future mistakes and better support our local recycling efforts.   You can find everything we could think of in the paper and plastic categories below, and how to dispose of it properly. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Ask us on Facebook or Twitter!     Paper Paper is a recycler’s best friend; after all, it's made out of trees, right? Alas, that is not the case. Many types of paper are not recyclable — and some aren’t even compostable. Here’s a quick rundown of what you can and can’t do with this sneaky substance:   Recyclable

• Almost anything that comes in the mail — catalogs, phone books, magazines, newspapers and packages — can be recycled, but make sure to remove all tape or adhesives first.
• Sticky notes are fine to recycle, but consider compost for the smaller sizes.
• Plain paper bags should go right in the bin, but remember to reuse them as long as you can first!

  Compostable

• Shredded paper, regardless what it is made of, should be composted; anything smaller than three inches can get in the works of recycling machines and cause a shutdown.
• Paper plates should be composted, not recycled, regardless of cleanliness level. However, if you’ve used them for an art project that involved glitter, trash ‘em.
• Paper towels and napkins are compostable as long as you didn’t use them to clean anything with chemicals.

  Throw Away

• Receipts are nature’s enemy; many are coated with BPA, which can’t be recycled, and could taint your compost.
• Bubble lined paper mailers should be thrown away, but do try to reuse them first.

  Hmm…

• Parchment paper is only compostable if lined with wax, not plastic. Check the box to be sure of your next steps.
• Wrapping paper, greeting cards or gift bags can be recycled so long as they don't have foil or glitter on them. Be sure to remove tape, ribbons, and bows.
• Pizza boxes have long been contested. We say, if the top is not soiled or at all greasy, you can recycle it. But the part that is greasy should be composted or thrown out.

   

Plastic

Plastic is in everything. Everything! Unfortunately, when it’s mixed with paper (see above) or made into Styrofoam, the process can render both items completely non-recyclable. And even when it’s on its own, some plastic items aren’t recyclable in curbside bins. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t easy — and creative — ways of recycling many of your plastic goods.

Recyclable

• Plastic bags aren’t recyclable in your curbside bins, but most Lowes and Target locations have bins right by the front door for recycling them.
• Plastic envelopes, unlined or lined with bubble wrap, and air pillows can be recycled in the same bins as plastic bags at Lowes or Target.
• The same goes for Saran wrap, plastic wrap for food, Ziploc bags and plastic wrap for products like paper towels; Target or Lowes has you covered.
• Soda stream bottles help us protect the environment — twice! They can be recycled at curbside.
• Plastic bottles are recyclable at curbside, but rinse them out and remove plastic film labels first.
• Packing peanuts might be Styrofoam, but often UPS or Fed-Ex stores will take them back to reuse.
• Yogurt cups, cream cheese containers, hummus tubs and the like aren’t always recyclable at curbside, so check your town’s recycling guidelines first. Whole Foods locations have special bins for #5 plastic, or you can find other options at Earth 911.
• Rigid Plastic, like milk crates, children’s toys, reusable plastic cups, buckets, laundry baskets, etc. can be recycled by drop-off at some local locations. Find them at Find-a-Recycler. Make sure there’s no metal attached first!

Throw Away

• Foil insulation bags might look like silver plastic envelopes, but they actually contain elements that are not recyclable.
• Plastic utensils are unfortunately not recyclable, for a myriad of reasons. Though some are made out of recyclable plastic, others are made out of compressed Styrofoam — and user beware: rarely do they say on their body which type of plastic they are.
• We all know straws aren’t great to throw away, but they are also not recyclable; they can get stuck in machinery, clogging the whole works up. Stick to your reusable straws.
• Salad mix bags, frozen food bags, candy bar wrappers and chip wrappers all have to go in the trash.

Hmmmm…

• Foam polystyrene, or Styrofoam, in any form is generally not recyclable. While some shipping stores take packing peanuts for reuse, for all other types you’ll have to search for specific drop off locations. You can find a map on the Industry Alliance page here.
• Tupperware containers are usually recyclable, but be sure to check the bottom for the recycling icon.
• Small plastic pieces under three inches can get caught in the machines, so most recycling locations won’t accept them. Check your local recycling guidelines to make sure.
• Clamshell packaging, like the kind used for takeaway salads or batteries, aren’t always recyclable at curbside, so check your local recycling guidelines.
• Deodorant tubes are… complicated. They’re often made from multiple types of plastic, which makes it hard for them to get properly recycled. However, Terracycle and Tom’s of Maine offer drop-off locations or shipping options.
• Like your deodorant tubes, Scotch tape dispensers are tricky to recycle. Luckily, they also work with Terracycle to recycle tape dispensers and cores.
• If you live in one of Massachusetts' major cities, you can find a handy printout for additional trash and recycling guidelines, as well as pickup times in your neighborhood, below:

 

When my beauty products run out, I often find myself looming over the trash and recycling bins, debating which receptacle deserves my empties. If I throw them in the trash, will I turn on the TV and see a helpless sea turtle being impaled with the product I tossed? Will I be tagged in a viral video of a penguin with the subtitles “Thanks a lot Dana, now my lungs are full of glitter!”? If I opt for the recycling bin, will it even be recycled? SO MANY IFS. Even after working in the beauty industry for two decades, I don’t have all of the answers. I remember the moment my curiosity was heightened. I had just purchased a handful of new products and as I was unwrapping their plastic-on-plastic-on-plastic packaging, I became increasingly anxious about the ugly truth.   This industry is built on making people feel beautiful, but are we simultaneously devastating our planet? There’s an undeniable feeling of guilt when you throw something out that could have been recycled or repurposed, but once it’s out the door or down the chute, it’s “not your problem” anymore. The truth is, it’s still your problem; it’s our collective problem. Trash is like karma—it comes back to haunt you.   All of this waste is compromising our ecosystem and it’s making me nervous, so I asked Terracycle—a company that’s paving the way in recycling—to put my IFs to bed and give me the hard facts to share with you. Because garbage is scary and knowledge is power. I hope you learn as much as I did and take an extra moment to consider your options before your next purge.   What happens to a product once it hits the recycling bin?   Once a product is placed in a recycling bin, it begins a long process of sortation, separation, cleaning (if applicable), and processing before it can ultimately be recycled into a new product. For instance, plastics (a major component of much beauty and cosmetic packaging) may change hands through sales several times before it even begins processing. The Atlantic published a very comprehensive article a few years back that detailed a plastic bottle’s recycling journey.   What can we do at home to reduce waste from our personal beauty routines?   One tip that individuals can easily implement into their beauty routines is to replace disposable items like makeup wipes and sponges with durable, multi-use alternatives that can be washed and used again and again. Likewise, planning ahead of time for the end-of-life phase of the plastics that you can’t cut out is also advantageous. Consumers are invited to mail in or drop off various types of beauty care waste via TerraCycle’s free brand-sponsored recycling programs. However, it is important to remember that simply buying less is the single-most effective way to reduce beauty care routine waste.   When and how should we get rid of old or unwanted beauty products?   Great question. A lot of people have the best intentions when attempting to recycle their beauty or cosmetic products but forget to empty out any residual material. The presence of leftover material not only contaminates the original product (relegating it to landfill) but also risks contaminating more otherwise recyclable material that also encounters the residuals. Likewise, when emptying out products, it is important to remember to seal the residuals in a non-recyclable container and dispose of it in the normal garbage since some modern beauty products contain microbeads that risk exacerbating the plastic pollution crisis if flushed down the drain. Consumers can check their town’s recycling guidelines via the easy-to-use database maintained by Call2Recycle to avoid wish-cycling, a counterproductive practice that can cause recycling machinery to break down and that contaminates otherwise recyclable material. They are also invited to see if their waste can be recycled through any of TerraCycle’s free recycling programs.   Where do the majority of beauty products end up?   Unfortunately, much of the beauty product waste generated worldwide is destined for landfills and, in the worst possible scenarios, it contributes to litter or the plastic pollution of natural marine habitats. The Ocean Conservancy reports that “every year, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that currently circulate our marine environments.” While it is unclear how much of that ocean plastic is a result of people’s beauty routines, a 2014 study by Care to Recycle reports that while an impressive 95% of consumers claim to recycle waste produced in their kitchens (aluminum cans, glass bottles, etc.) only about half do so in other rooms, including the bathroom where a large volume of beauty/cosmetic waste is generated. So, it can be extrapolated that much of the beauty/cosmetics waste that can actually be recycled municipally (like glass bottles and some plastic shampoo or lotion bottles) is not finding its way to a recycling center.   How much waste does the beauty industry account for?   According to a study by Zero Waste Week and an article published by Stylist, the global cosmetics industry produces 120 billion units of packaging every year, which translates to the yearly loss of 18 million acres of forest. To put this statistic into perspective, after just six decades of producing plastic en masse (a staple material in most beauty product packaging), 8.3 billion metric tons have been produced and 91%, the overwhelming majority, has not been recycled.   Can you name a few beauty brands that are taking necessary steps to make a positive change in the waste department?   Over the years, many notable beauty and cosmetic brands have sponsored free recycling programs through TerraCycle to solve for their product’s end-of-life cycle. To name a few, Garnier, Burt’s Bees, eos, Herbal Essences, L’Occitane, Josie Maran, Limelife by Alcone, and Paula’s Choice all currently have TerraCycle programs, and Head & Shoulders partnered with TerraCycle to create the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made with beach plastic in 2017.   How can brands better educate their consumers about recycling?   Brands can help their consumers recycle their products by prominently displaying the product’s recycling symbol and number on their packaging along with the advisory that they should first check what type of plastics are recycled in their town. Likewise, many brands (such as Febreze) have TerraCycle’s symbol on their packaging to denote that their product is recyclable via a TerraCycle program.   Would you agree that manufacturers should be leading innovation, since they’re typically the first point of contact when it comes to packaging?   Manufacturers have responded to the plastic pollution crisis with several alternatives, namely compostable plastic containers. While these products are certainly innovative since they are produced from renewable resources as opposed to petrochemicals, it is important to note that, according to Greenbiz, “If these materials are not correctly disposed of at their end of life, they will cause just as much damage to our land and marine environments as traditional petrochemical-based plastic litter.” Simply put, there has yet to emerge a “silver bullet” that is poised to solve our plastic pollution crisis. As TerraCycle’s founder and CEO Tom Szaky says, one of the best ways to elicit change is by voting with your dollar since, while we may cast a vote for a political candidate every so often, we decide what brands to support every day through the purchases we make. If brands are willing to innovate by making their product packaging more environmentally friendly, the conscious consumer will respond to their efforts. A lot of brands have already reacted to increased consumer demand for more eco-friendly packaging by either cutting-down on existing packaging or by reinventing their packaging from the ground up through TerraCycle’s Loop, a platform designed to take us from disposability to reusability through cutting-edge technology and packaging design.   What are the most conscious options for packaging that exist today?   Since much of the packaging currently utilized by beauty brands is comprised of different materials like plastics, glass, and metals, it can be too costly (in terms of time and money) to separate and process. As a result, much of the beauty packaging waste thrown in the blue bin is sorted out by municipal recycling centers and relegated to landfills because even if the consumer does their best to recycle the conventionally recyclable parts of beauty/cosmetic packaging (i.e. cardboard, #1 and #2 plastics, and glass bottles), the remaining pumps, trigger heads, and product tubes are still not accepted by many municipal recycling programs. A good example of this phenomenon are deodorant tubes, described in an article by National Geographic. While the consumer can easily recycle the cardboard box the deodorant might be packaged in, they would need to dismantle the entire deodorant tube (including its tiny plastic pieces) in the hopes of getting it recycled. Even then, the separated plastic components will not be recycled if the municipal recycling facility does not process that specific type of plastic. Even with the best intentions, the act of throwing waste in the blue bin without first consulting your town’s recycling guidelines is known as wish-cycling and is a major stressor for recycling experts. To avoid this, it is recommended that consumers check their town’s specific guidelines via the resource offered by Call2Recycle. Reusable packaging, like that employed by TerraCycle’s Loop, is resoundingly the most eco-conscious option, but since glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled continuously without any loss in the resulting quality, it is the next best thing compared to reusable models.   What advice would you give a founder who’s in the research & development phase of a future brand?   As aforementioned, eco-friendly packaging design, in the form of reuse models such as Loop, or containers that utilize recycled or less overall material, seem to be the trajectory of packaging design. As consumers become hyper-aware of environmental stories like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for instance, they will begin to expect more environmentally friendly alternatives.   How is TerraCycle helping brands make a smaller environmental footprint?   The following is an excerpt from TerraCycle’s website on the environmental benefits of recycling through TerraCycle: “By sending waste to TerraCycle you will avoid it ending up as litter, in a landfill or incineration facility. Instead, new materials and products will be made with your collected waste, reducing the need to extract new materials from the planet. This avoided impact is not small; for an average product over 90% of the environmental impact comes from extracting and refining the raw materials from which it is made.”   Well, there you have it. As members of the beauty industry, we need to wake up and start making some serious changes. As TerraCycle said above, there are a handful of simple things we can all do to help…  

1. Send our used products to TerraCycle, which is free and takes two seconds to sign up for.
2. Discard residue from packaging in a non-recyclable container (aka any type of multi-layered plastic bag or pouch) and throw it in the trash instead of flushing it into the water system.
3. Buy less single-use products like wipes and sponges and switch to reusable options instead.
4. Contact your local government officials to find out best recycling practices.
5. Shop less.
6. Spread the word and share this article with your community.

  Here’s to making smarter choices for our planet! Photo: Angela Compagnone via Unsplash DANA RAE Dana Rae is a published makeup artist with two decades of experience in the beauty industry. She is also a founder, product innovator, brand consultant, contributing writer, and creative.