We are a wasteful society. Looking at plastic bag consumption alone, Americans use around 14,000,000,000 plastic bags per year, which in turn require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. According to Waste Management, only 1% of those plastic bags are returned for recycling — the rest end up in landfills or as litter. (Side note: Please use reusable shopping bags.)   It's a hard pill to swallow, sure, but the truth is that we have a lot of work to do when it comes to living more eco-conscious lifestyles. While some of the changes needed aren't completely in our control and need to happen at government levels, there are plenty of small edits that we can apply to our personal habits that have the potential to do some good for our Earth.   It goes beyond recycling your water bottles and soda cans the ethical way — what you eat, how you travel, how much electricity you use, and other actions you take on a daily basis all contribute to the state of our planet today, as well as its future.   One action we urge you to take immediately, though, is changing how you shop. While buying more stuff isn't all that eco-friendly to begin with (non-necessities, at least), it's an inescapable fact that we all need certain things to simply live our lives.   For many of us, one of those things is luggage. If you travel at all, you need something to carry your stuff in — the thing is, a lot of luggage isn't made sustainably. So how can we shop for our necessary luggage in the best way possible? What is the most eco-friendly way to buy our bags?  

What to look for in eco-friendly luggage

  The term "eco-friendly" is kind of an umbrella term — there are a lot of things to consider when shopping with the environment in mind. So it's vital to scrutinize the facts before you click "add to cart."   Not only should construction materials be taken into account when shopping for your luggage (which is what most buyers will probably look to first), you'll also want to inform yourself on where the product was made, who made it (and the treatment of those people).   Here's a breakdown of the boxes your eco-friendly luggage choice should tick:   Materials: Your best option here is going to be buying something that is manufactured with recyclable materials. Keep an eye out for luggage that is constructed from PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the thermoplastic polymer which is also used for plastic bottles. It's known to be really flexible, which helps to protect it from surface damage and cracking while also being highly recyclable.   Transparency: Give your business to a brand that is open with their consumers about how their products are made, where they are made, and the people who make them. Are these workers being paid fair wages? Are there warehouses, factories, and various other work environments safe for their employees? These are questions you'll definitely want to ask yourself throughout this process. (Companies like Everlane even have dedicated pages to their warehouses in an effort to be more transparent about their manufacturing processes.)   Packing materials: What is you're luggage going to be shipped in? Some retailers, while offering an ultimately eco-conscious product, don't ship those products in recyclable packaging. This information can be harder to find, but it's worth looking into. This helpful report from the Green Business Bureau lays out some of the best environmentally friendly packaging materials that can be used in place of wasteful, single-use options.   Your personal preferences: Lastly, you should also be getting luggage that you actually like — something you'll easily be able to carry around an airport. This is where things like style, quality, durability, size, number of compartments, built-in locks, luggage "genre" (a wheeled roller, backpack, or large tote), and more come into play. Really think about the role your luggage needs to fill and how it will fit into your specific lifestyle. Don't waste precious resources on something you don't love or won't use.   All of this doesn't necessarily mean you should go throw out your old, non-sustainably made suitcase right now. While that's an understandable first reaction to this information, it's actually more eco-friendly to use what you already have while it's still in serviceable shape — you should only pick up a new, ethically made bag if you actually need a replacement, or didn't have one to start with.   Remember, in general, buying more stuff is not always an eco-friendly action, whether said purchase is made sustainably or not. It still costs materials to create those products that you're inundating yourself with, and carbon emissions only increase when they're loaded onto the truck to be shipped to you.  

Alternatives to throwing away your old luggage

  If you do happen to have some used luggage that you're looking to offload, there are way more ethical ways to dispose of it than just leaving it on the curb (please, do not do that).   Here are some alternatives to sending your old luggage to the landfill:   1.     Donate it. You can always take a trip to your nearest Goodwill, but also consider doing some research about local clothing and hard goods dropoffs in your local area. A lot of community centers, municipal buildings, places of worship, travel agencies, and more have programs that send your used items to people who could use it. You can also send your stuff to Suitcases For Kids — an organization that donates luggage to foster children that move from home to home on a regular basis.   2.     Repurpose it. If your luggage is no longer fit for travel but isn't totally unusable, keep it and use it for extra storage in a closet or under your bed (it looks way tidier than putting your things in trash bags or assembling it into a terrifying Jenga tower of randomness). If your retired luggage happens to look vintage and chic, you can repurpose it as decorative accent storage instead of shoving it into a dark corner where no one can see it.   3.     A designated recycling service. If you opt to send your old suitcase into the next life instead of those other options, make sure you do it the right way. Plenty of cities and residential areas offer free-of-charge curbside pickup for bulky items to be recycled, like this one that's exclusive to San Francisco. And, while pricey, you can also make use of TerraCycle's Zero Waste Box, which lets you ship your luggage to be recycled if you aren't fortunate enough to have a local pickup program.   At the end of the day, thrifting consigned luggage instead of buying something completely new is a good way to save materials and extend the life cycle of whatever you purchase. It's usually really easy to find good, secondhand stuff in local thrift shops or on sites like eBay and depop.  

So, what's the best eco-friendly luggage option?

  A lot of brands out there claim to be sustainable, but in reality, they barely scratch the surface of true eco-friendliness (some can't even treat their own employees the right way) — so it's vital that we make sure we are supporting sustainable luggage production by giving our money to those companies that are exemplifying what "eco-friendly" can truly mean.   Here are our picks for the best eco-friendly luggage:

We are a wasteful society. Looking at plastic bag consumption alone, Americans use around 14,000,000,000 plastic bags per year, which in turn require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. According to Waste Management, only 1% of those plastic bags are returned for recycling — the rest end up in landfills or as litter. (Side note: Please use reusable shopping bags.)   It's a hard pill to swallow, sure, but the truth is that we have a lot of work to do when it comes to living more eco-conscious lifestyles. While some of the changes needed aren't completely in our control and need to happen at government levels, there are plenty of small edits that we can apply to our personal habits that have the potential to do some good for our Earth.   It goes beyond recycling your water bottles and soda cans the ethical way — what you eat, how you travel, how much electricity you use, and other actions you take on a daily basis all contribute to the state of our planet today, as well as its future.   One action we urge you to take immediately, though, is changing how you shop. While buying more stuff isn't all that eco-friendly to begin with (non-necessities, at least), it's an inescapable fact that we all need certain things to simply live our lives.   For many of us, one of those things is luggage. If you travel at all, you need something to carry your stuff in — the thing is, a lot of luggage isn't made sustainably. So how can we shop for our necessary luggage in the best way possible? What is the most eco-friendly way to buy our bags?  

What to look for in eco-friendly luggage

  The term "eco-friendly" is kind of an umbrella term — there are a lot of things to consider when shopping with the environment in mind. So it's vital to scrutinize the facts before you click "add to cart."   Not only should construction materials be taken into account when shopping for your luggage (which is what most buyers will probably look to first), you'll also want to inform yourself on where the product was made, who made it (and the treatment of those people).   Here's a breakdown of the boxes your eco-friendly luggage choice should tick:   Materials: Your best option here is going to be buying something that is manufactured with recyclable materials. Keep an eye out for luggage that is constructed from PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the thermoplastic polymer which is also used for plastic bottles. It's known to be really flexible, which helps to protect it from surface damage and cracking while also being highly recyclable.   Transparency: Give your business to a brand that is open with their consumers about how their products are made, where they are made, and the people who make them. Are these workers being paid fair wages? Are there warehouses, factories, and various other work environments safe for their employees? These are questions you'll definitely want to ask yourself throughout this process. (Companies like Everlane even have dedicated pages to their warehouses in an effort to be more transparent about their manufacturing processes.)   Packing materials: What is you're luggage going to be shipped in? Some retailers, while offering an ultimately eco-conscious product, don't ship those products in recyclable packaging. This information can be harder to find, but it's worth looking into. This helpful report from the Green Business Bureau lays out some of the best environmentally friendly packaging materials that can be used in place of wasteful, single-use options.   Your personal preferences: Lastly, you should also be getting luggage that you actually like — something you'll easily be able to carry around an airport. This is where things like style, quality, durability, size, number of compartments, built-in locks, luggage "genre" (a wheeled roller, backpack, or large tote), and more come into play. Really think about the role your luggage needs to fill and how it will fit into your specific lifestyle. Don't waste precious resources on something you don't love or won't use.   All of this doesn't necessarily mean you should go throw out your old, non-sustainably made suitcase right now. While that's an understandable first reaction to this information, it's actually more eco-friendly to use what you already have while it's still in serviceable shape — you should only pick up a new, ethically made bag if you actually need a replacement, or didn't have one to start with.   Remember, in general, buying more stuff is not always an eco-friendly action, whether said purchase is made sustainably or not. It still costs materials to create those products that you're inundating yourself with, and carbon emissions only increase when they're loaded onto the truck to be shipped to you.  

Alternatives to throwing away your old luggage

  If you do happen to have some used luggage that you're looking to offload, there are way more ethical ways to dispose of it than just leaving it on the curb (please, do not do that).   Here are some alternatives to sending your old luggage to the landfill:   1.     Donate it. You can always take a trip to your nearest Goodwill, but also consider doing some research about local clothing and hard goods dropoffs in your local area. A lot of community centers, municipal buildings, places of worship, travel agencies, and more have programs that send your used items to people who could use it. You can also send your stuff to Suitcases For Kids — an organization that donates luggage to foster children that move from home to home on a regular basis.   2.     Repurpose it. If your luggage is no longer fit for travel but isn't totally unusable, keep it and use it for extra storage in a closet or under your bed (it looks way tidier than putting your things in trash bags or assembling it into a terrifying Jenga tower of randomness). If your retired luggage happens to look vintage and chic, you can repurpose it as decorative accent storage instead of shoving it into a dark corner where no one can see it.   3.     A designated recycling service. If you opt to send your old suitcase into the next life instead of those other options, make sure you do it the right way. Plenty of cities and residential areas offer free-of-charge curbside pickup for bulky items to be recycled, like this one that's exclusive to San Francisco. And, while pricey, you can also make use of TerraCycle's Zero Waste Box, which lets you ship your luggage to be recycled if you aren't fortunate enough to have a local pickup program.   At the end of the day, thrifting consigned luggage instead of buying something completely new is a good way to save materials and extend the life cycle of whatever you purchase. It's usually really easy to find good, secondhand stuff in local thrift shops or on sites like eBay and depop.  

So, what's the best eco-friendly luggage option?

  A lot of brands out there claim to be sustainable, but in reality, they barely scratch the surface of true eco-friendliness (some can't even treat their own employees the right way) — so it's vital that we make sure we are supporting sustainable luggage production by giving our money to those companies that are exemplifying what "eco-friendly" can truly mean.   Here are our picks for the best eco-friendly luggage:

Recently, e-cigarette companies, such as JUUL, have come under fire for their harmful effects on human health. However, new information has come to light about the environmental impacts of e-cigarette products. Specifically, the waste they create once they are disposed of.   Nicotine has always been considered hazardous waste. A single JUUL pod’s nicotine content is equivalent to a pack of cigarettes, so disposing of this hazardous substance is a major issue. Regular cigarette buds are already damaging the environment. They can be seen polluting the streets of major cities or washing up on the shore of a beach. The disposal of cigarettes often leads to the deterioration of human health as well as the pollution of waterways and soil toxicity. However, because of how old the product is, there are programs in place for the proper recycling of cigarette buds and the disposal of the trace amounts of nicotine that they carry. Vaping, however, is still relatively new, and companies have failed to create a process to collect the waste their products create. Because of the unique composition of an e-cigarette, each individual part must be disposed of separately. The Lithium battery that powers the vape is a hazardous material. Usually, batteries can be disposed of at a local Best Buy or Home Depot so that the lithium content does not cause harm to waste workers or factories. However, these stores cannot accept vape batteries because they are connected to the rest of the product, and separating a vape from its battery is very dangerous. Because of this, vapes are shipped to a factory in Arizona where they are separated and broken down properly. Meanwhile, the plastic pods are sent to a special recycling plant in Colorado where the trace amounts of nicotine in the pod are broken down so that the plastic can be recycled without contaminating anything else. Even if a pod is used to its full capacity, it can still contain amounts of nicotine. If a pod is not properly disposed of, the trace amounts of nicotine can leak into groundwater and make it unsafe for consumption.   Outside companies have come up with ways to safely dispose of e-cigarette waste, however, these methods have not been widely used. Companies such as TerraCycle have created “Zero Waste Boxes” where users can buy a box and ship their e-cigarette waste to them for proper disposal. This seems like a great idea until you look at the price tag. Throwing a used pod on the floor is free; for one small shipping box, the sender will have to drop $104.00 (not including service fees). Taking into consideration that most vape users are teenagers and young adults who do not have a lot of money, this method for disposal is not practical. However, it is currently the only commercialized method for proper e-cigarette disposal.   The number of pods and amount of e-waste humans have created from these products is overwhelming the environment and causing unneeded pollution. The best way to fix this problem would be for the e-cigarette companies to come up with a unified method of disposal for their products. This system would have to be efficient and easy to access so that people are inclined to take care of their waste properly. Vaping is a relatively new industry, so it is important to put these systems into place now so that users can get accustomed to the process and no further waste is created.

GU Energy Labs, a leading sports nutrition brand, and recycling company TerraCycle® announces that through the Performance Nutrition Recycling Program they have successfully recycled over one million pieces of performance nutrition packaging waste. “In 1993, we pioneered the Energy Gel and revolutionized the way athletes fuel by using single serve, portable packets. While we love seeing the ways our products help athletes achieve more, there is nothing more deflating than seeing spent gel packets on the road or trail during a ride or run,” said Celia Santi, Senior Brand Experience Manager at GU Energy Labs. “This is where TerraCycle comes in to help divert waste from landfills. In 2020, GU Energy Labs, and all of their over 50 event partners, are taking a significant step towards diverting even more waste by pledging to collect and recycle all wrappers used during races. “We are thrilled that our partners are joining in our commitment to keep waste out of the landfill,” said Santi, “and we are looking forward to getting to two million pieces more quickly!” Initially launched in March 2015, the Performance Nutrition Recycling Program asked athletes to send all single-serve sports nutrition packaging, regardless of brand, to TerraCycle to be recycled for free. This includes gel, chews, stroopwafel, and drink packets. As the program matured, individuals were also given the option to drop-off their empty performance nutrition packaging at a number of participating run, bike, and outdoor shops throughout the United States. Four years later, the partnership has successfully diverted over one-million pieces of packaging waste from the landfill and is still collecting. Once collected, the plastic packaging waste is converted into raw material that is used in plastic products such shipping pallets, bike racks, park benches, and recycling bins. “For the last four years, the Performance Nutrition Recycling Program has offered the active environmentalist a way to responsibly dispose of the endurance foods they love, minus the guilt over the waste generated from the individually-wrapped nutrition packets,” said TerraCycle CEO and Founder, Tom Szaky. “By participating in this program, GU athletes have successfully diverted over one million performance nutrition packets from landfills – this is truly a win for our shared environment.” In addition, with every shipment of packaging waste sent to TerraCycle through the Performance Nutrition Recycling Program, collectors earned points that are available for donation to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice. The Performance Nutrition Recycling Program is ongoing and open to any interested individual, school, office, or community organization.

They might not be as noticeable as coffee cups or plastic bags, but when it comes to trash in the city of St. John's, cigarette butts are a huge problem, according to one litter prevention group.   According to a report from the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board for 2016-17, there were an estimated 66 million cigarette butts littered around the province.   Each of those filters is made of tiny strands of plastic that pose a danger to wildlife, especially when they break down in a marine environment.   The not-for-profit organization Clean St. John's is currently working on a way to turn those numbers around — and turn all those discarded butts into something useful.   The group is in the process of securing funding to buy 25 cigarette butt recycling receptacles that would be installed downtown, in popular smoking hot spots like George Street, and busy pedestrian areas along Duckworth Street and Water Street.   "Our goal is to see cigarette butt receptacles the same as you would see a garbage container, so people would become aware that cigarette butts are litter and they should be disposed of properly," said Karen Hickman, executive director of Clean St. John's.   The slim receptacles can be fixed to buildings or poles, and the butts would be collected once a week, dried and then sent in bulk to a company called TerraCycle in New Jersey.   "They take whatever tobacco is left in the cigarette and they use that for compost, and then the rest of the cigarette is used for plastic lumber. So plastic for park benches, things like that, as well as pallets," she told The St. John's Morning Show.   "That's sort of just as exciting as [getting] cigarettes off the ground, knowing that they could be recycled into other materials."  

'Your butt would look good in this'

    Hickman said there would be no cost to send the butts to TerraCycle, as the company provides prepaid shipping labels that can be used for loads up to 30 kilograms.   The target start date for the six-month pilot project is July 1. Each receptacle will be branded with the Clean St. John's logo and the slogan, "Your Butt Would Look Good in This."   Hickman said Clean St. John's has a limited budget, but if the pilot project is successful she hopes the city will take over and put money into expanding the program to other areas where butts tend to be discarded, such as bus shelters.

Are you recycling your office supplies? Now you can!   Save your used office supplies and recycle them on designated days.   On March 24 and 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., students, faculty and staff can drop off their ink and toner cartridges/drum units/writing supplies/batteries at the designated station in the Agora. Writing supplies include pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, and so on.   Ink and toner cartridges can take 450 to 1,000 years to decompose. Similar to the other office supplies listed, when cartridges are sent to the landfill they leach into soil and nearby waterways. Many of the materials found in cartridges and other office supplies can be recycled.   These materials will be recycled into new products courtesy of Staples and Terra Cycle. The collected items are "mechanically and/or manually separated into metals, fibers, and plastics. Metals are melted so they may be recycled. The fibers (such as paper or wood-based products) are recycled or composted. The plastics undergo extrusion and pelletization to be molded into new recycled plastic products."   While recycling is an important way to divert waste, always consider where you can reduce your purchase and use of these items first.   Electronic waste is not accepted at this event. If you have electronics you need to recycle, please submit a work order to have them picked up.   Questions can be emailed to coordinator.sustainability@lakeheadu.ca.  

Dyper, an eco-friendly diaper service, has introduced the first compostable diaper offered in the industry. The Redyper composting program in the US allows for existing and new subscribers to return their soiled-diapers for composting.   Though composting diapers at home has always been possible, Redyper allows families to skip the DIY and help ensure that their used diapers don’t add to the more than 20 billion diapers filling landfills in the US yearly. All products are made from responsibly sourced materials that are free of harmful chemicals, prints, and scents.   Dyper subscribers that opt-in to the Redyper program are provided with bags and a specially designed box engineered to the strictest United Nations Haz Mat shipping standards. When the box is full, subscribers can download a prepaid shipping label from the Redyper Composting Program page found on partner TerraCycle’s website for return of their soiled diapers for composting.   The waste composted through this program will be used in specialized applications, such as for vegetation in highway medians.  

Here are some examples of what can be done to help the planet   This is a message for a whom it may concern (which should be everybody):   There are a lot of concerns for the world around us and, though the many years behind us and within our reach have been spent trying to spread the word to ptotect our home, there are still corporations and people out there that are still so careless about protecting the planet that you'd think they were deliberately forcing a recreation of "Wall-E" to happen sooner rather than later.   When I was younger, I would eat canned foods and, instead of throwing them away, I would clean them up and use it to collect rain water with the intention of future use without having to waste water in the house. Though it was an amateur attempt that didn't really lead to much, it could be the start of one way to save up on water to help the planet. Rain water is fresh from the sky and, thus, isn't contaminated by waste or salts, so a project leading to a similar feat would prove to be beneficial.       One crazy idea I've had in my past involved the use of a generator that could be powered by exercise (or, in the case of the original idea, sweat) in order to provide power without wasting too much of the electricity we usually use. Although it was chimerical due to it coming from the mind or a middle school child who enjoyed playing "DDR Supernova 2", the idea of using the energy of multiple people to benefit the world seem like it could work in one degree or another. Taking walks to travel has proven to be beneficial for a long time and Nickelodeon has even done an annual event on Earth Day where they're not airing any shows for a few hours so that it would give the viewing demographic a chance to go outside and play. Providing places and opportunities for this sort of activity would help save a lot of electricity, especially since there are those in power who think that the efforts of certain activists shouldn't be taken seriously because they produce content on the Internet.         For as long as we can remember, the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling has been stressed more and more over the years. However, not a lot of people know exactly what to do besides just sorting their scraps (and there are people who failed to do so anyway). Terracycle (for one) was on to something when they turned empty snack containers into bags and other stuff for school while also donating profits to charity. However, it doesn't have to just to be big organizations that can accomplish something similar. Plastics, papers, etc. could be used in crafted products for all ages to make things useful for the environment such as watering cans, worm composts, etc. or even other tasks to give them another purpose (I actually tied the pages of my class lab manual together with bits of the plastic the manual came in as a resourceful tactic).     Why am I mentioning ideas that small amounts of people can do? Because if a small amount of people take action to help the planet, the amount of contributors will increase and, hopefully, it'll reach the higher-ups of the country or the world itself. As much as it's nice to hear the (dangerously) occasional higher-up make a big deal about taking care of the world, I, for one, would like to hear about them putting their money where their mouths are and influence others to care about the only planet we have. Sure, we may be young and we might not all have political occupations, but, as Mr. Beast has proven, we can use our skills and modern resources to help the planet in any way possible.  

Students at Edwards Elementary School have been collecting their snack wrappers for 13 weeks and have already filled one TerraCycle Zero Waste Box that will be recycled and turned into a variety of new products, such as park benches, bike racks, shipping pallets and recycling bins — and avoiding the local landfill.   The students, led by the school’s Green Team, are working to refill another TerraCycle Box.   “It teaches young people that they can make a difference with the tiniest of change,” said Allison Burgund, the owner of Fill & Refill in Edwards who funded the TerraCycle boxes at the local elementary school.   According to the school’s Green Team, students have collected more than 25 pounds of wrappers so far. In the first five weeks, the school collected 2,222 wrappers — about 444 per week. In 13 weeks, the Green Team has collected over 5,000 wrappers.   Edwards Elementary has blue bins in each of its classrooms where students know to throw snack wrappers, a hard-to-recycle product, according to TerraCycle. The school’s Green Team collects those bins and puts them in the lobby where the main box is. Students filled the first TerraCycle box before Christmas and is filling up its second.   Burgund also added a TerraCycle box in the teacher’s lounge for coffee pods. At her shop in Edwards, where she offers refillable daily-use, organic products, the mother of two also added a TerraCycle box for recycling razor blades.   “The kids killed it,” she said. “It shows that they really want to make a difference.”  

 

For more information about Fill & Refill in Edwards, visit http://www.fillandrefill.com. For more information about TerraCycle, a company focused on the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, visit http://www.TerraCycle.com.