Depending on your local recycling center, you can’t toss your toothbrush into the recycling bin. Well you can, but you’ll just be adding trash for the workers to pick out. And you shouldn’t throw your toothpaste tube in the bin either. But you can mail them to a specialized recycling center for free, with a program from Colgate and TerraCycle.

After a rather unpredictable and fickle summer, the promise of autumn is just around the corner! Cooler weather, more layers of clothes and new possibilities abound as time spent both indoors and outside with friends and family equals more reasons to get together. But with more activities, such as school, sports games/practices and community events, there are more opportunities for messes. And with more messes, there’s more waste. As the weather turns and changes, honor the planet with these eco-friendly ways to enjoy the season.

Cigarette butts are the world’s most littered item with nearly 4.5 trillion being tossed each year and last year in the U.S., it is estimated 1.69 billion pounds of butts ended up as toxic waste. Since 2012, when TerraCycle launched its first cigarette recycling program, it has worked with municipalities across the U.S. and abroad to collect hundreds of millions of butts around the world. In 2017, in the U.S. alone, TerraCycle collected tens of millions of cigarette butts from over 50 cities and 6 months into 2018, is poised to exceed those numbers.

As consumers, let’s decrease our eco-footprint to further push for sustainability. There’s a whole ~planet~ and ~society~ to consider each time we make a purchase, which means you should be shopping considerate retailers whenever possible. Some best practices that go a long way:

• Shop eco-conscious packaging
• Look for naturally-derived ingredients
• Use paraben-free products and formulas

Once you’ve got your medicine cabinet overhauled with sustainably sourced products, the next step is to recycle recycle recycle. According to TerraCycle, beauty and personal care products account for 1/3 of the landfill. It’s unreal. Shampoo and conditioner bottles, hairspray cans, face wash, deodorant, nail polish, shaving cream – all the bottles from these personal care products and more can be recycled, and part of updating your beauty routine includes being mindful for waste production and disposal.

To find out whether your local recycler actually processes toothpaste tubes, you'd have to call them to find out. If you are committed to recycling your toothpaste tubes, are willing to cut and scrape them after use and your local waste management company still won't take them, you do have at least one option: Recycling organization Terracycle has partnered with Colgate-Palmolive to recycle toothpaste tubes (and other oralcare products) free of charge.

ShopRite and Colgate-Palmolive are staging a contest to underscore the importance of water preservation while brushing. The "Save Water Challenge" will award two Northeastern schools with lumber made from recycled materials to create an outdoor garden — encompassing up to 12 garden beds, one gazebo, one picnic table and one flat bench. Schools enlist students and other constituents to visit a promotional page within recycling company TerraCycle's website and pledge to conserve water by turning off their faucet while brushing their teeth. The prize goes to the two schools that earn the most pledges from July 8 to Sept. 30.

As battery engineering and technology continue to evolve, the safety of battery recycling is top of mind for many recycling companies. According to Andrew Weins, chief operating officer of JDog Junk Removal & Hauling Unlimited, looking back 20 years, landfills used to take all kinds of materials including batteries, and there really was no process or safety protocol in place for how to handle their proper disposal.

Medical waste (in the form of used sharps) has become the latest difficult-to-recycle recycling program at TerraCycle, as the company continues to add waste streams to its product list. Utilizing EPA approved sterilization technology, the company has developed a system that provides contaminant exposure protection and high-efficiency material recovery.

Public recycling may not have caught up, but most kitchen waste is technically recyclable. An effective solution for your discarded kitchen items, even in an uncertain recycling system, is TerraCycle’s Kitchen Separation - Zero Waste Box. We can recycle any non-recyclable and non-organic waste that is generated in the kitchen, including food packaging, storage, appliances and cleaning supplies.

o Waste Pet Food

Buying zero waste dog and cat food can be a challenge. I’ve been to several health food stores that offer pet food in bulk, but I have to say, it’s pretty rare (but if you find it, stock up!). Should you be unable to find kibble in bulk, your next best options are to make your own (who’s brave?) or buy a product that comes in recyclable packaging — not technically zero, but not very wasteful either. Here are a few options that do:

• Guardian Pet Food Company offers a mail-in solution for recycling through TerraCycle. A number of other brands have started doing so as well.
• Open Farm also offers a mail-in recycling option.
• Wet food comes in steel cans which are easily recycled in the U.S. But keep in mind that they are often lined with BPA.