America Recycles Day is Friday, Nov. 15. This is a nationwide program organized by Keep America Beautiful to help Americans learn to recycle correctly.   The Case Western Reserve University Office of Energy & Sustainability will help the campus community participate in America Recycles Day by collecting hard-to-recycle items Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Tinkham Veale University Center atrium.   At the event, members of the community can recycle end-of-life shoes, small electronics and more. Individuals can bring the following to be recycled Friday:  

• Cell phones and small electronics
• Small broken electronics less than 10 lbs (this includes small broken appliances, though individuals are asked to shake out the crumbs and coffee grounds first)
• Plastic cosmetic containers and tubes (get more information about what is accepted)
• Political yard signs
• Broken string lights (holiday lights)

  Shoes will go to TerraCycle, while all other items will go to the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District’s drop-off site. County residents also can drop-off items at the site during posted office hours.   Find events, drop-off locations and a recycling pledge on the America Recycles Day website.   Learn more about recycling on campus on the CWRU Office of Energy & Sustainability’s website.

Having 57 Refinery29 editors collectively test 392 products for our annual Beauty Innovator Awards means we can wholeheartedly recommend the 102 we've determined to be the best of the best this year.   Admittedly, it also means we — like many beauty editors who swipe, swatch, and spritz for a living — are responsible for a shocking amount of waste. The majority of the estimated 120 billion units of cosmetics packaging created per year will ultimately end up in the ocean or landfills — and, as professional guinea pigs, we go through more of it than anyone.   So this year, as the beauty industry came to terms with its plastic problem, so did we — starting with a new partnership with TerraCycle. The waste-management company, which specializes in recycling hard-to-process beauty packaging like mascara tubes and shampoo bottle caps, collected our empty products at the end of our awards testing cycle — plus all the tubes, tubs, and jars our staff have gone through since then.   But making our rigorous testing process more environmentally conscious was just the beginning. We also wanted to highlight the brands leading the charge with a new category: The Sustainability Shop. In it, you'll find brands who are innovating with better and more conscious manufacturing methods, cleaner ingredients, and earth-friendly packaging — without compromising on efficacy or style. And moving forward, we are committed to highlighting more sustainable brands throughout our beauty coverage.   We tapped Sophia Berrios, marketing and e-commerce manager for TerraCycle and Zero Waste, to weigh in on her favorite products from our brand-new eco-friendly category. Click ahead to learn why these products are taking home the gold and the green this year.   At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission. Check out the rest of the 2019 Beauty Innovator Award winners.  

Bausch + Lomb has partnered with TerraCycle to donate custom training modules made from recycled contact lenses to the Guide Dog Foundation.   TerraCycle, which specializes in repurposing hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, will create benches, tables, waste stations and an agility ramp made from used contact lens materials collected through Bausch + Lomb’s ONE by ONE Recycling Program, according to a press release.   The headquarters of the Guide Dog Foundation in Smithtown, New York, will receive the training modules, which will be used to train guide dogs for blind or visually impaired individuals.   “At Bausch + Lomb our mission is to help people see better to live better by delivering critical resources and advancements that help improve vision health,” Joe Gordon, U.S. president, Bausch + Lomb, said in the release. “We are proud to further build upon the ONE by ONE Recycling Program with TerraCycle in providing this donation to the Guide Dog Foundation — an initiative that not only supports the health of our environment, but also provides the precious gift of sight through the training they provide guide dogs for those who are blind or visually impaired.”   The ONE by ONE program encourages contact lens wearers to bring their used lenses and packaging to participating eye care professionals’ offices for recycling. More information can be found at www.bauschrecycles.com.  

Watermelon Music and The D’Addario Company would like to give out free strings for guitars, bass guitars, mandolins or ukuleles. Local musicians may simply bring in a stringed instrument from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, with at least two non-perishable food items, and the staff will install a brand new set of D’Addario strings and tune and polish the instrument (The limit is limit two instruments per household). All food received will be donated to Davis Community Meals, helping people in need during the holiday season. Any extra donations will be both accepted and appreciated.       For more information or to volunteer to help restring instruments, call Watermelon Music at 530-758-4010 or email themelonball@watermelonmusic.com.

The Fairfield Library will be “talking trash” on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m.   For those who wonder whether a household item can be recycled and how, here’s their chance to get an overview of local options as Marg Dwyer, an executive committee member of the Southeast Iowa Sierra Club, will provide a status report and then explain Fairfield residents’ options for recycling locally thru Waste Management, Connelly Recycling, and Terra Cycle.   Recycling programs in the United States have undergone many changes, from pre-1992 curbside sorting, to offshore shipping, to China’s banned imports of foreign garbage. The industry has to reconsider its approach:   • Economics: When is recycling profitable? • Infrastructure: What technologies must be implemented? • Consumer packaging: What new regulations are proposed?

Global health and hygiene company RB, maker of popular consumer brands including Mucinex and Enfamil, has announced its partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle to offer consumers a simple and completely free way to recycle their consumer goods packaging.   The RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Program will accept packaging waste from all brands of vitamins and supplements, upper respiratory, sexual health & well-being, as well as infant formula & child nutrition, personal care and foot care.   The Healthy You, Healthy Planet™ partnership with TerraCycle to recycle all health and nutrition packaging is the next step in achieving RB’s global commitments to support a more sustainable future, which also includes reducing product packaging and eliminating waste through innovation.   Through the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Programme, packaging waste from the following categories will be recycled:  

• Vitamins, minerals and supplements packaging (Ex: MegaRed & Airborne): blister packs, tubes, bottles, cans, boxes, caps and lids
• Sexual health and well-being packaging (Ex: K-Y & Durex): tubes, bottles, wrappers, cans, boxes, caps and lids
• Cough, cold, flu, sore throat, and nasal care packaging (Ex. Mucinex & Delsym): bottles, tubes, spray bottles, blister packs, caps and lids
• Infant formula and child nutrition packaging (Ex: Enfamil): tubs, bottles, wrappers, cans, boxes, cap, and lids
• Personal care and foot care packaging: tubes, bottles, caps, lids, and other plastic packaging

  From vitamin bottles and caps to infant formula tubs, TerraCycle will clean and melt the collected product packaging into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.   “At TerraCycle, our mission has always been to ‘Eliminate the Idea of Waste’ and its recycling initiatives like the RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Programme that drive awareness of single use packaging epidemic. These programmes elicit positive change in the consumer and ultimately lead to the preservation of our environment for future generations to come,” said Tom Szaky, TerraCycle CEO. “Since our founding, TerraCycle has made it our objective to recycle the unrecyclable, while diverting waste from landfills and local communities. It’s partnerships like the one we enjoy with RB that truly make a difference and make it possible.”   The RB Health & Nutrition Recycling Programme is open to any interested individual, school, daycare, fitness facility, healthcare office, office, or community organization. To learn more about RB’s global commitment to support a more sustainable future visit www.rb.com/US. For more information on TerraCycle’s innovative recycling programmes, visit www.terracycle.com.

In the wake of climate change and the pollution crisis, Burt's Bee partnered with TerraCycle to launch a national recycling initiative titled the 'Recycle On Us' program. This program is completely free to consumers and allows them to recycle all Burt's Bees personal care, lip care, and beauty care packaging to TerraCycle to recycle. Once the packaging is collected, it's cleaned and melted and turned into new products. “Sustainability is one of Burt’s Bees’ core values,” explains Paula Alexander, Director of Sustainable Business and Innovation. “Burt’s Bees strives to formulate with natural ingredients and design our packaging with mindful materials, such as post-consumer recycled content, but we don’t stop there. Now, through our partnership with TerraCycle, we can not only minimize the material used to create our packaging but through nationwide recycling access, minimize or even eliminate used packaging entering the waste stream.” The Burt’s Bees Recycle On Us program is available to individuals, schools, offices, and community organizations.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is recognizing 10 recycling programs from a mix of businesses, schools, nonprofits and local governments with the 2019 Wisconsin Recycling Excellence Awards. In honor of America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, the DNR is recognizing four entities for “overall operations of a recycling program,” four entities for “special projects and initiatives” and two entities for program “innovation.” “It is exciting to see communities and businesses find new ways to reduce waste and recycle,” DNR Waste and Materials Management Program Director Joe Van Rossum said. “We want to promote these efforts and share how we divert materials from landfills in Wisconsin.” The Overall Program Awards recognize efforts that are robust and continually improving while demonstrating a commitment to improving the overall recycling or diversion program.

• 7 Rivers Recycling in Onalaska developed methods to enable the recycling of old mattresses. 7RR deconstructs the mattresses primarily for the steel, foam and wood. The company smelts the steel for other steel products, makes the foam into carpet backings and grinds the wood into wood mulch for a variety of uses. The company estimates they will recycle more than 12,000 mattresses this year.
• The Purdy Elementary School Green Team in Fort Atkinson is made up of teachers and students in fourth and fifth grades. They are working hard to reduce waste from their school destined for the landfill. While caring for nearby Brietzke Educational Wetland, they recycle trash and compost organic materials. They are also working on ending the single-use plastic problem, recycling milk cartons and many other classroom initiatives.
• The city of New Richmond went through a comprehensive update of its residential recycling services, which the city had not revisited since 1996. In 2018, the city began roundtable discussions with recycling contractors and utilized an online and paper survey to solicit input from the community. The analysis led to a conversion to automated single-stream recycling. The city also works with TerraCycle to recycle cigarette filters in its downtown district.
• University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has a long history of waste reduction, recycling and sustainability. UWSP was the first UW campus to have recycling chutes in all residential buildings and offer composting in every academic building on campus. The school also vermicomposts--using worms to digest food waste and produce nutrient-rich castings, which are spread as a soil supplement on campus gardens. Other waste diversion initiatives include a student-run food pantry, elimination of plastic straws and the University Surplus reuse program.

Projects and Initiatives Awards recognize specific projects that increase materials recycled or diverted through a particular action or project.

• Aldo Leopold Elementary School in Madison created and maintains a waste reduction and recycling program in their cafeteria that focuses on easy waste reduction techniques to divert waste and promote sustainability. By merely educating students on how and why to recycle milk cartons and sort and stack the food trays, lunch waste volume has been reduced by about 75%.
• Alliant Energy developed a waste management and recycling program for its construction of the West Riverside Energy Center (WREC) near Beloit. The program manages tons of materials generated during construction at the 90-acre project site and includes an active training component and collaboration with local organizations. As of July 2019, their data shows that 87% of waste generated from the WREC project site has been diverted from the landfill.
• Digital Bridge, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit, collects and refurbishes business computers and redistributes the devices to low-income individuals and nonprofits. The company has redistributed over 1,000 computers. Digital Bridge is providing access to affordable technology as well as setting up computer labs for communities that need them.
• Edgar School District science teachers from the middle and high schools created a step-by-step plan to enhance their recycling program. Working with administration and maintenance, the number and sizes of recycling bins were evaluated and increased. Staff also focused on better placement of the recycling containers for easier access and proper use. The district put training in place and adopted a goal of an effective district-wide program that “reduces, reuses and recycles while minimizing the footprint our community leaves.”

According to the Green Restaurant Association, the average dining destination creates 100,000 pounds of garbage per year. Restaurateurs can divert 90% of that from the landfill with the proper recycling and composting program, the organization says, but Rhodora has taken the concept even further, completely eliminating all waste from its operations.   And to be clear, that means everything. No single-use plastics, no products or packaging that can’t be recycled, upcycled, or composted, and no trash in the kitchen, the dining room…or in the bathroom. Wines are natural and low-intervention, from small farms, and the menu – inspired by the conservas tapas bars of the Iberian Peninsula – is short and sweet, just tinned fish and seafood, pickles and charcuterie, cheeses and simple salads, with ice cream for dessert.   Rhodora is the work of the Oberon Group, a local restaurant group with a focus on community and sustainability, and though it’s the first zero-waste bar in Brooklyn, and likely the first in the US as a whole, it’s not the first in the world. The UK’s Silo, which opened in Brighton in 2014 and relocated to London just this fall, served as an inspiration, and the chef there helped the Rhodora team navigate through unfamiliar waters.   As Grub Street reports, they sought out cheeses sans wax rinds, breads that could be delivered by bike, and oysters that would come in a closed-loop delivery system – i.e., in packaging that goes back to the supplier to be reused. There’s a composter for food scraps, and as for that bathroom issue, there’s TerraCycle, a New Jersey recycling company that handles hazardous waste – one of their collection boxes has been installed in the facilities.  

To read the full story, visit https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/rhodora-brooklyn-waste-free-wine-bar.

It seems like manufacturers rush us through the year. Just after school is out, we are treated to back-to-school advertising. In August, Halloween is already all over the stores. Before Halloween is past, we are rushed right past Thanksgiving to Christmas.   Personally, as soon as Halloween ends, I think of it as the season of giving. There is no better area to demonstrate the feeling of “neighbors helping neighbors.”   That has been the motto of the Item Appeal, a nonprofit near-and-dear to my heart, where volunteers ensure that every penny raised during the year (most of it in November and December) goes back to the community to help those in need. Often, we see people who previously needed help getting back on their feet and giving back. The Appeal volunteers are the best around. We may be biased, but we don’t think so!   You need look no further than this year’s George Bailey award winners to see those who care about their neighbors. Alan Gage and David Goodale, in addition to their work with the Elks, run chicken shoots almost every weekend in the spring and fall to help great causes. Last weekend, it was the Clinton Adult Learning Center. Families who have lost everything in a fire, and people suffering great illnesses, have all benefited from the duo’s zaniness at these events. Fellow honoree, Cid DeLeo, has shown a love for Clinton, and its people, all her life. She will share a stage with the Chicken Shoot Guys.   Also being honored that night will be Thomas Haemer, who has helped out all over the community, from Gael Force’s FIRST robotics team to the Clinton Historical Society. He will be honored with a newly-minted Lifetime Achievement Award because we honestly cannot think of enough ways to honor those who promote doing good in this community.   Speaking of doing good, last week’s Item featured Clinton High School’s new food pantry for students in need. Organizer Rose Solar told us that, after the story ran, three residents stopped in and dropped off big bags of groceries.   Over the weekend, the Knights of Columbus gave away winter coats for children and adults in an annual event that keeps giving. The group has already agreed to help another coat giveaway, sponsored by the Thomas J. Serewicz, Sr. Foundation so, hopefully, any leftover coats will find those who really need them.   In this issue of The Item, A. Anthony Garreffi kicks off the campaign associated with his second in the “I Caught Santa” series. Last year, the first book, which dealt with issues of homelessness, helped raise $500 for WHEAT. This year, with a book called “Respect Your Toys,” Garreffi is committed to raising $750, plus a $250 donation from Avidia Bank, to WHEAT, while also working with the Hasbro Toy/Terracycle recycling program to collect broken toys so they can be fully recycled.   November is a hairy month for many police officers and firefighters, who give up their razors for a month while collecting money for their favorite charities, like Cops for Kids with Cancer. Many of these stations will also host Toys for Tots collections, after collecting surplus Halloween candy for veterans’ care packages.   We have food drives at many of the local schools, the diaper pantry serving area mothers and so many other people looking to make a difference in their communities. It is overwhelming to see the need in our communities. However, the residents always seem ready to help.   Throughout the season of giving, The Item will try to shine a spotlight on some of these efforts. Because none of us can help everyone, but if all of us can help some, we can make a real difference. Figure out how you want to help and jump in.   Jan Gottesman is managing editor of The Item. She can be reached at clintonitem@yahoo.com.