What goes around comes around, according to the old saying. And in the case of the circular economy, that's certainly true. The circular economy takes a different approach to the take-make-dispose model of consumption to which many have become accustomed. By reusing and recycling as much as possible, plus repurposing and selling on items that have outlived their initial use, the circular economy is creating jobs and generating economic activity, while easing some pressures on the environment.   It's an approach based on "designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems," in the words of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The idea is gaining momentum and truly hitting the mainstream as a growing number of household-name brands adopt circular methods and develop products with circularity built in.   Organizations around the world are creating new platforms to support circular innovation. For instance, the World Economic Forum's Scale360° Playbook initiative brings together technologists, researchers, entrepreneurs and governments to develop new products and solutions, maximize resources and rethink value chains. Additionally, emerging circular innovators from around the world can connect and work together in sharing ideas and solutions through UpLink, the Forum's open innovation platform. Here are four examples of the circular innovation that could be coming to a store near you.  

Recycling Incentives: Thousand Fell

  Thousand Fell is already making a name for itself as an environmentally conscious manufacturer with shoes made from sustainable materials such as coconut husk and sugar cane, and even recycled plastic bottles,   Now, in partnership with TerraCycle and UPS, the maker has launched a special recycling incentive. Customers can return old pairs of Thousand Fell shoes back to the manufacturer. Thousand Fell will then recycle the returned footwear and send customers $20 that can be used toward a new pair of shoes.    

A Big Brand Selling Goods Second-Hand: IKEA

  Visitors to the Swedish town of Eskilstuna, about 100km outside of the capital Stockholm, could visit a 1,000-year-old stone covered with Viking runes and pictures. They could also visit IKEA's first-ever second-hand store. The shop will feature gently used IKEA furniture as part of its efforts to reach its 2030 climate targets.   Head of sustainability at the Scandinavian furniture giant Jonas Carlehed told Reuters earlier this year that: "We are making a huge readjustment, maybe the biggest IKEA has ever made, and one of the keys to reaching [the company's 2030 climate targets] is to manage to help our customers prolong the life of their products."   The company has also recently started a buy-back scheme for customers – it gives vouchers in exchange for the return of unwanted furniture and other items. That scheme has, however, been suspended in some locations because of ongoing pandemic-related restrictions.  

Re-usable Fast Food Packaging: Burger King

  Takeaway food is big business -- but the packaging for those meals poses a sustainability challenge.   Global takeaway brand Burger King has unveiled a solution in the form of reusable packaging intended to reduce the amount of waste it generates. Customers in New York, Tokyo, and Portland, Oregon will soon be able to buy burgers and drinks in reusable packaging.   The plan, one in place for next year, features a small deposit charged initially and then refunded when the customer returns with the boxes and cups, which are taken away for cleaning and processing via the zero-waste e-commerce system Loop.  

Shoes You Don’t Own: Adidas

  Sportswear multinational Adidas has a range of footwear designed with recycling in mind. Its UltraBoost DNA Loop shoes are made from just one material – thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). No glue is used in its manufacture, instead, it is assembled using high temperatures.   On its website, Adidas describes the UltraBoost Loop as the shoes customers will never own, but will instead return once they are finished with them.   "If the end can become the beginning, we can help keep products in play and waste out of landfill," the company says.   Reposted with permission from World Economic Forum.  

With the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers were hungry for kitchen tools and gadgets that were innovative, functional and also appealing as they stocked their kitchens to keep up with all of the home cooking they were doing.   Even before the pandemic, the majority of consumers committed to healthier ways of eating and prepping fresh ingredients at home. Vendors stepped up to the plate to offer consumers solutions to meet their needs and to elevate the at-home experience. Moving & Shaking

• Bradshaw Home appointed Scott Henrikson as svp/international.
• Cangshan Cutlery Company named Rob Walling vp/sales.
• Regal Ware appointed Andrew Mielke to the post of global sourcing director.
• Wüsthof appointed Bridget DeGroot as vp/finance at Wüsthof USA. Todd Myers, vp/sales, left the company after 22 years.
• Coravin appointed Christopher Ladd as its CEO and Jeff Lasher as chief financial officer.
• Widgeteer named Jennifer Zadoff as its new director of sales operations.
• J.K. Adams named Donna Cross as its new assistant sales manager. Cross will be the face of specialty retail operations.
• Maverick named John Evans national sales manager for housewares accounts, selected hardware accounts and buying groups.

  Brand News

• Oxo, a division of Helen of Troy, celebrated its 30th anniversary and joined 1% for the Planet. The company committed to donate 1% of its annual sales toward environmental causes.
• Rubbermaid partnered with international recycling provider, TerraCycle, to make all brands of well-used food storage containers recyclable in the U.S. and Canada.
• Regal Ware finalized the acquisition of the Espro brand of premium coffee and tea presses and accessories.
• Prepara and Catamount Glassware signed a licensing and distribution agreement.
• Core Home acquired UK-based gift and pet brands, W+W and Wild and Woofy, subsidiaries of design-led lifestyle conglomerate Wild+Wolf. The company also signed an exclusive licensing deal with French Bull on an assortment of hydration and kitchenware products.
• Kuhn Rikon USA was named the exclusive distributor of Betty Bossi products in North America.
• Cangshan Cutlery Company entered into a licensing deal with Bonnier Corp., publisher of Saveur magazine, as it expands its Saveur Selects licensing program.
• Robinson Home Products inked a licensing agreement with ViacomCBS for the Nickelodeon properties SpongeBob SquarePants, JoJo Siwa and Paw Patrol.
• Wüsthof unveiled its first e-commerce website store along with a refreshed brand identity and the expansion of its Crafter line of cutlery.
• Ginsu entered into a licensing agreement with Brand Partners Group to develop a line of kitchen gadgets under the Ginsu brand.
• Scanpan USA was named the exclusive U.S. distributor of Sumikama Cutlery, a manufacturer of steel kitchen knives, located in Seki City, Japan.

  Product Pipeline

• Dexas debuted the Prep-Tech Cutting Board, which has a tech slot that can hold a variety of tablets, pads and smart phones.
• Rubbermaid, a division of Newell Brands, introduced Brilliance Glass food storage and EasyFindLids food storage containers with SilverShield for antimicrobial product protection.
• Centurion Global debuted its new Collapse-It Steamers food storage collection exclusively on QVC.
• Prepara released the Latchlok storage system that features a unique sliding latch and venting system.
• GreenPan, a subsidiary of The Cookware Company, released the Chop & Grill by GreenPan line of cutlery.
• Kyocera launched InnovationBlack ceramic knives, which the company said features a fusion of ceramic materials.
• Epicurean partnered with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation on a new licensed collection of cutting boards and kitchen tools, sold exclusively at Crate & Barrel.
• UT Brands, home to Funwares, KidsFunwares and Barbuzzo, reorganized its portfolio of brands to capitalize on the shifting consumer interest in giftable home goods.
• Maverick released its smart-enabled Stake wireless probe thermometer.
• Hammer Stahl, a brand of Heritage Steel, debuted a new 6-piece BBQ cutlery collection and knife sharpening system.
• Kai USA introduced the Shun Classic Blond line of cutlery
• J.K. Adams retooled its facilities to produce full face shields in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• GIR produced a reloadable silicone mask to help stop the spread the COVID-19 virus.
• GelPro created face shields for health care providers to use when working with possible and known coronavirus patients.

FAIRFIELD — A group called TerraCycle Fairfield is trying to make recycling as easy as possible.  

The group began in 2019 as a project of the Sustainable Living Coalition, and in 2020 it has partnered with Fairfield Interact, the youth arm of Rotary, to carry on its mission and even expand its services. TerraCycle first public venture involved placing recycling bins inside the entrance to Everybody’s Whole Foods.

 

What’s noteworthy about these bins is that they accept items apart from the usual plastic, glass and tin that are picked up twice a week by Waste Management. These bins accept batteries, razors, light bulbs, beauty and health products and “e-waste” such as computers and tablets, among other things.

 

Drew Schoenfeld, who co-founded the organization while working as an intern for the Sustainable Living Coalition last year, said the bins have been a huge success over the past year and a half.

 

“Since our start, we’ve received about 5,000 beauty and health products and a couple thousand pounds of batteries,” Schoenfeld said.

 

Stuart Valentine, board chairman of the Sustainable Living Coalition, was the person who got the ball rolling on creating TerraCycle Fairfield, inspired by the New Jersey business TerraCycle that specializes in hard-to-recycle materials. Schoenfeld helped carry out the organization’s initial projects like placing the bins in Everybody’s and later a set of bins in the Fairfield Public Library, though those bins are not currently active because the library is closed.

  In more recent months, the original cardboard bins at Everybody’s have been replaced by bins with a sleek and colorful design and made entirely from recycled materials.  

“They have an eye-catching appeal to them,” Schoenfeld said. “We really want them to capture people’s attention. And these will last much longer, because the old cardboard ones had to be cycled out every year.”

 

Schoenfeld has spent the entire pandemic in Florida, but he continues to manage the organization’s recycling efforts from afar. Luckily, he’s got some help. The Interactors have stepped up to perform the necessary manual labor, such as emptying the bins at Everybody’s.

 

Interact Vice President Amiritha Kumar, a senior at Fairfield High School, said her club encourages young people to be more responsible global citizens. The group raises money for an international project and various local projects every year.

 

“We’ve baked cookies for the soup kitchen, donated to Heifer International, and the Ottumwa Crisis Center,” Kumar said.

 

Interact’s involvement with TerraCycle started under its previous president, Lulu Miller, because TerraCycle needed volunteers to maintain its recycling boxes. Later, Interact helped TerraCycle expand its reach into the Fairfield Public Library. Today, Kumar has taken on the role of coordinating efforts between Interact and TerraCycle.

 

Kumar said two to three Interactors take turns each week emptying the boxes and packaging the contents of each bin into a sealed box, which is then sent to different locations. For instance, e-waste goes to Goodwill, light bulbs and batteries go to Connelly’s, and the rest of the items are shipped to the larger TerraCycle organization by Stuart Valentine.

  This past summer, Kumar spearheaded a new service for TerraCycle, a free pickup recycling program for people who are unable to leave their homes. The program is just in its infancy and is small at the moment, with just a few people having signed up. Kumar is the only one doing the pickups, but she hopes that the service will grow over time and more volunteers from Interact will be involved.  

Anyone who would like to receive this free service is invited to contact TerraCycle Fairfield at terracycletown@gmail.com and write “Collection Program” in the subject line.

 

Schoenfeld said more programs are coming down the pike for TerraCycle, such as a plan to distribute compostable takeout containers and coffee cups to restaurants around town to replace their Styrofoam cups. He said the goal is to make recycling as easy as possible and to make a “zero-waste lifestyle” something a Fairfield resident can really do.

Why Savannah is an unexpected center for natural, sustainable innovation. There are no weeping willows in Savannah. The swooping, bending branches that tunnel the streets are mostly oak, draped in swaths of Spanish moss. Before I moved here—a few months after turning 30, searching for somewhere that wasn’t Los Angeles—I always pictured them as weeping willows. I pictured the cliché, prim and proper women of the South, too, complexions perfected with foundation thicker than a slice of Paula Deen’s famous Brown Sugar Bacon. Would I—a bare-faced beauty journalist from California by way of New Jersey, who’s all but given up cosmetics in an effort to lower my body’s chemical burden—fit in? I pictured the over-the-top politeness (my Southern mother-in-law once sent me a thank you note for a thank you note) and my propensity for four-letter words. I pictured living in a state that came dangerously close to outlawing abortion last year and feeling powerless.   Savannah was my husband’s idea. He went to college in the city twenty-some years ago and loved it; I was skeptical but easily persuaded. I mean, I was ready to leave L.A. I wanted a place to slow down and write a book and afford a front yard. So I packed my things and said my goodbyes—to friends, sure, but also to the Moon Juice on Melrose Place, the Detox Market on 3rd, the Korean spa on Vermont. I doubted Savannah, Georgia could satisfy my craving for clean beauty and cutting-edge wellness in quite the same way.   I was wrong about it all, from the willows to the wellness scene.   I knew it the moment Rose-Marie Swift—65-year-old founder of RMS Beauty, pioneer of the non-toxic movement, professional astrologer—opened the door of her remodeled brownstone in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District. “Honey, L.A.’s not my thing, and my company’s never run out of New York, ever,” Swift told me when we talked pre-pandemic, as she ushered me inside for lunch. “I love it here.”   Swift is from Canada, although she’s traveled all over—Paris, London, Los Angeles, Miami—working as a makeup artist. “I lived in Berlin and Hamburg, I was there when the wall came down,” she recalled, pulling extra-large soup bowls from her kitchen cabinet. “Then, you know, I got sick.”   The story is the stuff of industry legend, but she rehashed the highlights as she heated the broth. After falling ill, Swift had a hair, blood, and urine analysis done. “When I got the tests back they said, ‘Do you work in the cosmetic industry?’ I said, ‘Holy shit, how do you know that?’” The chemicals in her body were more commonly found in beauty products. Swift started researching the toxic effects of conventional cosmetics and launched beautytruth.com in 2004—before the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, before Goop, before anyone, really, was talking about it.   The founder didn’t settle into Savannah until after she launched RMS Beauty, one of the first organic makeup brands (and maybe the first to actually work). It’s headquartered just across the Savannah River and over the Talmadge Bridge, in Charleston, South Carolina, and not necessarily by choice. “When I started my company, I couldn’t find a lab—no one wanted to do organic,” she said. “It was too time consuming, it was a pain in the ass, nobody knew how.” Swift had her own starting formulas, chemists wanted to change them, she wouldn’t allow it. The only lab that would take on RMS Beauty, Swift’s way, was in Charleston.   Today, Swift goes back and forth between New York and Savannah because “it’s easier to get down here than the Hamptons on a summer day, and I wouldn’t want to be sitting in the Hamptons seeing all the same people.” Besides, “all my friends from New York say, ‘It’s a little bit of Europe down here.’” (That comes courtesy of the 18th century city plan from Englishman and Georgia founder James Oglethorpe. The original design is still intact, for the most part.) Savannah’s only downside? According to Swift, “They don’t get the concept of vegetables. At all.”   It’s true: In the time I’ve lived here, I’ve objectively eaten too many fried oyster po’boys from The Grey Market, and sadly, Swift’s home-cooked meal of mixed salad and quinoa chicken soup—the former drizzled with apple cider vinegar and ice-pressed olive oil, all organic—isn't available on UberEats. That’s not to say Savannah hasn’t staked a claim in the wellness space, though. In fact, it’s done so in a way no other industry hotspot has, thanks to the state’s native yaupon plant.   Stepping into Yaupon Teahouse & Apothecary, a modern café-meets-beauty boutique on Abercorn Street, feels a little like stepping back into Silver Lake. The difference? The edgy L.A. neighborhood probably hasn’t heard of yaupon yet. “This plant is our hero, our heroine,” Lou Thomann, the company’s co-founder, tells Vogue. Everything in the shop is made with yaupon. There’s yaupon-infused face oil on the shelves, yaupon-infused kombucha on tap, and yaupon herbal smokes for sale. Thomann has been working with the herb for nearly a decade. What is yaupon, exactly? “It was the most sacred plant in North America, and no one knows anything about it,” Thomann starts. What is known of its history is fascinating: The plant is local to the southeast, and the area’s Indigenous tribes discovered countless uses for it—it’s an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory, it has cardiovascular-protective and neuroprotective properties, it helps heal wounds and increase stamina. But mostly, yaupon has a lot of caffeine, which made it a valuable item to trade in the 18th century.   When Oglethorpe settled Savannah, he did so with permission and guidance from the chief of the Yamacraw tribe, Tomochichi (apparently, the two often drank yaupon tea together). This opened up the opportunity for Native people to trade with England. “One theory is that because it was gaining so much popularity, the East India Tea Company felt threatened,” Thomann explains of yaupon’s slip into obscurity. “It could be the first case of corporate espionage.” British botanist William Aiton was asked to create a Linnaean classification for yaupon. He chose Ilex vomitoria—roughly translated, “makes you vomit.” It doesn’t, but the name served a purpose: Yaupon fell out of favor.   At the same time, “the Native American population was pushed westward, so they were taken out of the natural range where yaupon grows,” Thomann explains. “The continuity of the knowledge of the plant, we broke it.” Today, Thomann and his wife and co-founder, Lori Judge (who has Osage ancestry and is “a natural healer,” says Thomann), aim to restore yaupon’s reputation and bring its medicine to the masses. The couple owns a yaupon farm 25 minutes outside of Savannah where they grow, wild-harvest, and process the plant themselves.   Of course, yaupon makes an excellent coffee alternative, but its skin care benefits are what I’m really after. Aside from the de-puffing power of caffeine, the plant contains saponins, known for their calming and protecting properties. Topical yaupon can also help combat acne, although no one knows why, yet. Thomann has accepted a USDA grant to study yaupon’s therapeutic value, and says “the chemistry is really validating all of the ancient, traditional, medicinal uses.”   While I may not know how it works, I do know this: It works. At least, for me. I’ve been slathering on the Yaupon Daily Facial Oil for weeks—an herbal infusion in jojoba and hempseed oils, among others—and may never love another oil again.   Visitors can stock up on yaupon skin care at the Teahouse, or head to the Polished Beauty Lounge on Whitaker to experience its signature yaupon facial (ask for Kathryn). While there, why not pop into Bluemercury on Broughton Street? The downtown boutique offers clean, natural products from RMS Beauty and One Love Organics, another southern institution.   One Love Organics holds a special place in my heart and also my bathroom shelf, and has for years. When the brand invited me to visit its spa on St. Simons Island, about an hour down the marsh-lined coast from Savannah, my initial response was yes, of course. And then: One Love Organics—the decade-old originator of organic, ECOCERT, effective skin care—is based here?   “I’m from here, and when I say here, I mean Jesup, which is 60 miles inland,” Suzanne LeRoux, the company’s founder, tells me in a lilting accent, blonde bob bouncing. She looks every inch the sweet Southern lady, and she is—but LeRoux is also strong-willed and whip-smart, with a fine-tuned bullshit detector. She studied law in Texas; she had no intention of launching a beauty brand, especially not an environmentally-conscious one.   “I didn’t get into this because I was some ‘green’ person, that never crossed my mind,” LeRoux says. “It was the health of my skin.” The stress of law school was splashed across her face, and in the process of self-soothing with DIYs, she found her passion: organic ingredients, filler-free formulations, and sustainable packaging. After the birth of her sons, LeRoux’s husband encouraged her to start a skin care company in lieu of practicing law. LeRoux never really liked law, anyway.   “When we first started this 10 years ago, people thought we lost our mahhhnds,” LeRoux laughs. “They were like, ‘Why would you do green beauty?’ That wasn’t even a thing back then.” Doubt came from all directions, but mostly, as with Swift, from manufacturers. “I went to a really big lab out here, and they wanted to edit all my formulas for cost.” She met with others; the feedback was the same. Unwilling to compromise, she decided to manufacture the line herself. (See? Strong-willed, no bullshit.)   Today, LeRoux owns the only ECOCERT-licensed facility in Georgia, a small factory on the Golden Isles where the One Love team formulates, produces, and packs all of the company’s products. (The license ensures the ingredients are certified natural and organic, and the inventory is created, from start to finish, with the environment in mind.) For a time, local customers “used to pop in and buy product,” LeRoux says, as if stopping by a manufacturing facility were the most natural thing in the world. But One Love Organics has grown significantly since 2010 and moved its factory to accommodate, which inspired the opening of the One Love Organics Spa on St. Simons last year. The Spa may be my favorite place in the state. It’s part boutique, part office, part facial oasis with a dedicated aesthetician (ask for the Detox + Glow treatment). There’s a very Instagrammable neon sign at the entrance reminding you to “Love Your Skin,” and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water. “If it’s a beautiful day, I’ll go to the beach and pull up my laptop and research sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid,” says LeRoux.   Potential PR firms have broached the subject of relocation in the past—“They thought it might hurt [to be here], like, ‘What does somebody in Georgia know?’”—but the founder has never wanted to move to a major market. For LeRoux, it’s not about chasing the “clean beauty” trend, it’s about perfecting the craft. “So many brands will fall by the wayside, and I’ll still be making my products,” she says.   The same could be said for RMS Beauty and Yaupon Teahouse, really. In the past 10 years, the three have cemented their status as industry innovators, unintentionally turning the city into a clean beauty capital. The Savannah College of Art and Design—SCAD, for short—wants to keep it that way.   The university introduced the Business of Beauty and Fragrance B.F.A. program last year, and tapped former Estée Lauder executive director Meloney Moore to teach. “It is one of the fastest growing programs at the college,” Moore tells me over coffee at Art’s Café on Bull Street, a SCAD staple. “I started and we had seven students in the major—we have 80, as of today.” As the beauty business continues to boom, the program will likely grow in popularity. (Moore says she has high school students asking for admissions advice on Instagram, some even sending her PowerPoint presentations for consideration.) While the program doesn’t specifically focus on “clean” beauty, sustainability is integrated into each class—on that front, Moore has even consulted with Rose-Marie Swift. “The students are very focused on it, very environmentally-conscious,” the professor says, detailing some promising projects: “They’ll say, ‘We’re going to work with TerraCycle to do this program,’ or, ‘We’re going to retain the consumer by asking them to mail back their bottles to refill and give them a discount.’”   That last one, no doubt, was inspired by a field trip to Salacia Salts, a shop founded by a SCAD graduate and one of Moore’s favorite spots in Savannah. Its bath and body care line features local ingredients—Atlantic sea salt, crushed pecan scrubs, exfoliating grits—packaged in reusable glass containers or recyclable cardboard. The store even has a bulk bar where customers can stock up on bath salts and facial cleansers, as well as a community space for classes.   To Jennifer Tinsley, founder of natural beauty brand FIELD and a 1996 graduate of SCAD, it’s these in-person experiences that will drive clean beauty forward in smaller Southern communities. “There is always online shopping, but the experience of trying out products and the educational component of brick and mortar shopping just can’t be replaced,” she says. “I am constantly amazed by customers coming into the store who are really concerned with personal care product ingredients, and are making a conscious decision to make the switch.” FIELD’s offerings are now available online at Urban Outfitters and American Eagle, but it’s the shop in Augusta, Georgia—complete with an event space for how-to workshops and a future refill station—that fuels growth. “My customers don’t just want beauty products; they are shopping at FIELD because it aligns with their lifestyle,” Tinsley says.   That lifestyle, increasingly, is one of simplicity—one that looks to do more with less. RMS Beauty’s entire range relies on a single star ingredient: cold centrifuge coconut oil. After 10 years, One Love Organics still offers only 18 SKUs. FIELD has three. “I think there’s a realization that we’ve got to get back to the roots, the origin,” as Thomann says. “I like to tell people, it’s an old Southern expression, ‘Yaupon is real as dirt.’ You can’t get any more real.”   Even in my months as a Savannian, I feel it. I’ve yet to unpack my (bursting) box of supplements; I’ve been sipping on yaupon tea with honey, and that feels like enough. My face is glowing—from the increased humidity, I’m sure, but also from paring back on beauty products. Yes, I’m still eating too many fried oysters, but there’s always an organic, simple salad waiting for me at Swift’s. (She promised.) It’s nothing like I pictured, and it’s hard to explain… but there’s something about Savannah that calls for fewer, better, cleaner things. No pretense, no extras, no excess.   “I see it in the students here,” agrees Moore. “That authenticity and simplicity and respect for what’s good and right is influencing the trends in our industry. It brings me back to the reason I fell in love with beauty to begin with.”

Why Savannah is an unexpected center for natural, sustainable innovation. There are no weeping willows in Savannah. The swooping, bending branches that tunnel the streets are mostly oak, draped in swaths of Spanish moss. Before I moved here—a few months after turning 30, searching for somewhere that wasn’t Los Angeles—I always pictured them as weeping willows. I pictured the cliché, prim and proper women of the South, too, complexions perfected with foundation thicker than a slice of Paula Deen’s famous Brown Sugar Bacon. Would I—a bare-faced beauty journalist from California by way of New Jersey, who’s all but given up cosmetics in an effort to lower my body’s chemical burden—fit in? I pictured the over-the-top politeness (my Southern mother-in-law once sent me a thank you note for a thank you note) and my propensity for four-letter words. I pictured living in a state that came dangerously close to outlawing abortion last year and feeling powerless.   Savannah was my husband’s idea. He went to college in the city twenty-some years ago and loved it; I was skeptical but easily persuaded. I mean, I was ready to leave L.A. I wanted a place to slow down and write a book and afford a front yard. So I packed my things and said my goodbyes—to friends, sure, but also to the Moon Juice on Melrose Place, the Detox Market on 3rd, the Korean spa on Vermont. I doubted Savannah, Georgia could satisfy my craving for clean beauty and cutting-edge wellness in quite the same way.   I was wrong about it all, from the willows to the wellness scene.   I knew it the moment Rose-Marie Swift—65-year-old founder of RMS Beauty, pioneer of the non-toxic movement, professional astrologer—opened the door of her remodeled brownstone in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District. “Honey, L.A.’s not my thing, and my company’s never run out of New York, ever,” Swift told me when we talked pre-pandemic, as she ushered me inside for lunch. “I love it here.”   Swift is from Canada, although she’s traveled all over—Paris, London, Los Angeles, Miami—working as a makeup artist. “I lived in Berlin and Hamburg, I was there when the wall came down,” she recalled, pulling extra-large soup bowls from her kitchen cabinet. “Then, you know, I got sick.”   The story is the stuff of industry legend, but she rehashed the highlights as she heated the broth. After falling ill, Swift had a hair, blood, and urine analysis done. “When I got the tests back they said, ‘Do you work in the cosmetic industry?’ I said, ‘Holy shit, how do you know that?’” The chemicals in her body were more commonly found in beauty products. Swift started researching the toxic effects of conventional cosmetics and launched beautytruth.com in 2004—before the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, before Goop, before anyone, really, was talking about it.   The founder didn’t settle into Savannah until after she launched RMS Beauty, one of the first organic makeup brands (and maybe the first to actually work). It’s headquartered just across the Savannah River and over the Talmadge Bridge, in Charleston, South Carolina, and not necessarily by choice. “When I started my company, I couldn’t find a lab—no one wanted to do organic,” she said. “It was too time consuming, it was a pain in the ass, nobody knew how.” Swift had her own starting formulas, chemists wanted to change them, she wouldn’t allow it. The only lab that would take on RMS Beauty, Swift’s way, was in Charleston.   Today, Swift goes back and forth between New York and Savannah because “it’s easier to get down here than the Hamptons on a summer day, and I wouldn’t want to be sitting in the Hamptons seeing all the same people.” Besides, “all my friends from New York say, ‘It’s a little bit of Europe down here.’” (That comes courtesy of the 18th century city plan from Englishman and Georgia founder James Oglethorpe. The original design is still intact, for the most part.) Savannah’s only downside? According to Swift, “They don’t get the concept of vegetables. At all.”   It’s true: In the time I’ve lived here, I’ve objectively eaten too many fried oyster po’boys from The Grey Market, and sadly, Swift’s home-cooked meal of mixed salad and quinoa chicken soup—the former drizzled with apple cider vinegar and ice-pressed olive oil, all organic—isn't available on UberEats. That’s not to say Savannah hasn’t staked a claim in the wellness space, though. In fact, it’s done so in a way no other industry hotspot has, thanks to the state’s native yaupon plant.   Stepping into Yaupon Teahouse & Apothecary, a modern café-meets-beauty boutique on Abercorn Street, feels a little like stepping back into Silver Lake. The difference? The edgy L.A. neighborhood probably hasn’t heard of yaupon yet. “This plant is our hero, our heroine,” Lou Thomann, the company’s co-founder, tells Vogue. Everything in the shop is made with yaupon. There’s yaupon-infused face oil on the shelves, yaupon-infused kombucha on tap, and yaupon herbal smokes for sale. Thomann has been working with the herb for nearly a decade.       What is yaupon, exactly? “It was the most sacred plant in North America, and no one knows anything about it,” Thomann starts. What is known of its history is fascinating: The plant is local to the southeast, and the area’s Indigenous tribes discovered countless uses for it—it’s an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory, it has cardiovascular-protective and neuroprotective properties, it helps heal wounds and increase stamina. But mostly, yaupon has a lot of caffeine, which made it a valuable item to trade in the 18th century.   When Oglethorpe settled Savannah, he did so with permission and guidance from the chief of the Yamacraw tribe, Tomochichi (apparently, the two often drank yaupon tea together). This opened up the opportunity for Native people to trade with England. “One theory is that because it was gaining so much popularity, the East India Tea Company felt threatened,” Thomann explains of yaupon’s slip into obscurity. “It could be the first case of corporate espionage.” British botanist William Aiton was asked to create a Linnaean classification for yaupon. He chose Ilex vomitoria—roughly translated, “makes you vomit.” It doesn’t, but the name served a purpose: Yaupon fell out of favor.   At the same time, “the Native American population was pushed westward, so they were taken out of the natural range where yaupon grows,” Thomann explains. “The continuity of the knowledge of the plant, we broke it.” Today, Thomann and his wife and co-founder, Lori Judge (who has Osage ancestry and is “a natural healer,” says Thomann), aim to restore yaupon’s reputation and bring its medicine to the masses. The couple owns a yaupon farm 25 minutes outside of Savannah where they grow, wild-harvest, and process the plant themselves.   Of course, yaupon makes an excellent coffee alternative, but its skin care benefits are what I’m really after. Aside from the de-puffing power of caffeine, the plant contains saponins, known for their calming and protecting properties. Topical yaupon can also help combat acne, although no one knows why, yet. Thomann has accepted a USDA grant to study yaupon’s therapeutic value, and says “the chemistry is really validating all of the ancient, traditional, medicinal uses.”   While I may not know how it works, I do know this: It works. At least, for me. I’ve been slathering on the Yaupon Daily Facial Oil for weeks—an herbal infusion in jojoba and hempseed oils, among others—and may never love another oil again.   Visitors can stock up on yaupon skin care at the Teahouse, or head to the Polished Beauty Lounge on Whitaker to experience its signature yaupon facial (ask for Kathryn). While there, why not pop into Bluemercury on Broughton Street? The downtown boutique offers clean, natural products from RMS Beauty and One Love Organics, another southern institution.   One Love Organics holds a special place in my heart and also my bathroom shelf, and has for years. When the brand invited me to visit its spa on St. Simons Island, about an hour down the marsh-lined coast from Savannah, my initial response was yes, of course. And then: One Love Organics—the decade-old originator of organic, ECOCERT, effective skin care—is based here?   “I’m from here, and when I say here, I mean Jesup, which is 60 miles inland,” Suzanne LeRoux, the company’s founder, tells me in a lilting accent, blonde bob bouncing. She looks every inch the sweet Southern lady, and she is—but LeRoux is also strong-willed and whip-smart, with a fine-tuned bullshit detector. She studied law in Texas; she had no intention of launching a beauty brand, especially not an environmentally-conscious one.   “I didn’t get into this because I was some ‘green’ person, that never crossed my mind,” LeRoux says. “It was the health of my skin.” The stress of law school was splashed across her face, and in the process of self-soothing with DIYs, she found her passion: organic ingredients, filler-free formulations, and sustainable packaging. After the birth of her sons, LeRoux’s husband encouraged her to start a skin care company in lieu of practicing law. LeRoux never really liked law, anyway.   “When we first started this 10 years ago, people thought we lost our mahhhnds,” LeRoux laughs. “They were like, ‘Why would you do green beauty?’ That wasn’t even a thing back then.” Doubt came from all directions, but mostly, as with Swift, from manufacturers. “I went to a really big lab out here, and they wanted to edit all my formulas for cost.” She met with others; the feedback was the same. Unwilling to compromise, she decided to manufacture the line herself. (See? Strong-willed, no bullshit.)   Today, LeRoux owns the only ECOCERT-licensed facility in Georgia, a small factory on the Golden Isles where the One Love team formulates, produces, and packs all of the company’s products. (The license ensures the ingredients are certified natural and organic, and the inventory is created, from start to finish, with the environment in mind.) For a time, local customers “used to pop in and buy product,” LeRoux says, as if stopping by a manufacturing facility were the most natural thing in the world. But One Love Organics has grown significantly since 2010 and moved its factory to accommodate, which inspired the opening of the One Love Organics Spa on St. Simons last year.       The Spa may be my favorite place in the state. It’s part boutique, part office, part facial oasis with a dedicated aesthetician (ask for the Detox + Glow treatment). There’s a very Instagrammable neon sign at the entrance reminding you to “Love Your Skin,” and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water. “If it’s a beautiful day, I’ll go to the beach and pull up my laptop and research sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid,” says LeRoux.   Potential PR firms have broached the subject of relocation in the past—“They thought it might hurt [to be here], like, ‘What does somebody in Georgia know?’”—but the founder has never wanted to move to a major market. For LeRoux, it’s not about chasing the “clean beauty” trend, it’s about perfecting the craft. “So many brands will fall by the wayside, and I’ll still be making my products,” she says.   The same could be said for RMS Beauty and Yaupon Teahouse, really. In the past 10 years, the three have cemented their status as industry innovators, unintentionally turning the city into a clean beauty capital. The Savannah College of Art and Design—SCAD, for short—wants to keep it that way.   The university introduced the Business of Beauty and Fragrance B.F.A. program last year, and tapped former Estée Lauder executive director Meloney Moore to teach. “It is one of the fastest growing programs at the college,” Moore tells me over coffee at Art’s Café on Bull Street, a SCAD staple. “I started and we had seven students in the major—we have 80, as of today.” As the beauty business continues to boom, the program will likely grow in popularity. (Moore says she has high school students asking for admissions advice on Instagram, some even sending her PowerPoint presentations for consideration.)       While the program doesn’t specifically focus on “clean” beauty, sustainability is integrated into each class—on that front, Moore has even consulted with Rose-Marie Swift. “The students are very focused on it, very environmentally-conscious,” the professor says, detailing some promising projects: “They’ll say, ‘We’re going to work with TerraCycle to do this program,’ or, ‘We’re going to retain the consumer by asking them to mail back their bottles to refill and give them a discount.’”   That last one, no doubt, was inspired by a field trip to Salacia Salts, a shop founded by a SCAD graduate and one of Moore’s favorite spots in Savannah. Its bath and body care line features local ingredients—Atlantic sea salt, crushed pecan scrubs, exfoliating grits—packaged in reusable glass containers or recyclable cardboard. The store even has a bulk bar where customers can stock up on bath salts and facial cleansers, as well as a community space for classes.   To Jennifer Tinsley, founder of natural beauty brand FIELD and a 1996 graduate of SCAD, it’s these in-person experiences that will drive clean beauty forward in smaller Southern communities. “There is always online shopping, but the experience of trying out products and the educational component of brick and mortar shopping just can’t be replaced,” she says. “I am constantly amazed by customers coming into the store who are really concerned with personal care product ingredients, and are making a conscious decision to make the switch.” FIELD’s offerings are now available online at Urban Outfitters and American Eagle, but it’s the shop in Augusta, Georgia—complete with an event space for how-to workshops and a future refill station—that fuels growth. “My customers don’t just want beauty products; they are shopping at FIELD because it aligns with their lifestyle,” Tinsley says.   That lifestyle, increasingly, is one of simplicity—one that looks to do more with less. RMS Beauty’s entire range relies on a single star ingredient: cold centrifuge coconut oil. After 10 years, One Love Organics still offers only 18 SKUs. FIELD has three. “I think there’s a realization that we’ve got to get back to the roots, the origin,” as Thomann says. “I like to tell people, it’s an old Southern expression, ‘Yaupon is real as dirt.’ You can’t get any more real.”   Even in my months as a Savannian, I feel it. I’ve yet to unpack my (bursting) box of supplements; I’ve been sipping on yaupon tea with honey, and that feels like enough. My face is glowing—from the increased humidity, I’m sure, but also from paring back on beauty products. Yes, I’m still eating too many fried oysters, but there’s always an organic, simple salad waiting for me at Swift’s. (She promised.) It’s nothing like I pictured, and it’s hard to explain… but there’s something about Savannah that calls for fewer, better, cleaner things. No pretense, no extras, no excess.   “I see it in the students here,” agrees Moore. “That authenticity and simplicity and respect for what’s good and right is influencing the trends in our industry. It brings me back to the reason I fell in love with beauty to begin with.”

Recycling isn’t the same as it used to be. A few years ago, China accepted much of the world’s plastic, textile, and paper recycling. But in 2018, China tightened restrictions on what it would accept due to the high level of contaminated material sent by the U.S.   Now, it’s time for the United States to take responsibility to recycle these streams of waste domestically in order to improve the “materials security” of the nation. That means keeping and processing more recyclable material inside the U.S., which will also reduce the carbon footprint of the current approach to recycling.   In the United States, plastic recycling is becoming a challenge, especially number 5 plastics. We’ve collected a few solutions to help you keep these plastics out of the landfills.  

What Are Number 5 Plastics?

  The recycling symbol on the bottom of a plastic product does not necessarily indicate that the item can be recycled. That number surrounded by chasing arrows is a resin identification code and tells users what kind of plastic they’re holding.   The number 5 with the recycling symbol indicates polypropylene, often just shortened to PP.   This plastic type is particularly hard and heat resistant. It’s often used in prescription medicine bottles, yogurt cups, hummus tubs, single-use cutlery, and some packaging for personal care products like deodorant, lotion, or shampoo. Lids of single-use drink bottles are often also made of number 5 plastic as well as a great deal of single-use laboratory and medical supplies at hospitals, clinics, and labs.   Number 5 plastics were widely accepted in both curbside and drop-off recycling centers before China’s National Sword policy was introduced in 2018. That is when China stopped accepting our plastic waste for recycling.  

Recycling Mail-in Programs

  Currently, there a few mail-in options for recycling polypropylene. Do check with your local solid waste district to check local options in your region before going to this effort and expense.  

Gimme 5 Program

  The Gimme 5 program is run by Preserve, a company that makes fully recycled plastic home and kitchen goods. Formerly, Preserve offered recycling drop-off locations for polypropylene at Whole Foods stores but discontinued the program in 2019. A limited number of stores still accept plastic “disposable” cutlery only. Preserve now asks interested recyclers to mail in their number five plastics. They welcome medicine bottles, yogurt containers, hummus tubs, and more. Preserve also closes the lifecycle loop with their mail-in toothbrush takeback program.   Note: During the COVID-19 crisis, Preserve has had to temporarily pause their mail-in recycling program and toothbrush takeback program. See what kinds of number 5 plastics they accept and save your plastics to mail in when pandemic restrictions have lifted.  

Matthew 25: Ministries

  The international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization Mathew 25: Ministries accepts clean, empty pill bottles. They welcome prescription medicine bottles as well as small pill bottles that may be too small to recycle curbside. The ministry reuses bottles in countries where such supplies are limited and recycle those they cannot use.  

TerraCycle

  The giant in recycling the unrecyclable arena is TerraCycle. This company’s motto is “eliminating the idea of waste” and they have programs that allow you to recycle almost any type of waste.   TerraCycle does not have a recycling program specifically for number 5 plastics, so you’ll have to hunt around their website for the best solution. There are free recycling programs as well as Zero Waste Boxes, which can be filled with plastic and mailed to Terracycle, that you must pay for. If the bulk of your number 5 plastics come from a specific brand, check to see if there is a Terracycle brigade program available that allows you to recycle the products for free.   Simply keeping plastics separate makes a big difference to the success of the recycling process. Consider ordering a kitchen separation box or boxes for specific items like personal care products, plastic packaging, or vitamin bottles (which also accepts additional medicine packaging) for a not-so-small fee.  

Keeping Number 5 Plastics Out of the Trash

  We’re experiencing a plastics crisis in the United States and around the world. We encourage you to do what you can to eliminate plastic waste. One good place to start is to avoid plastics, like polypropylene, that can’t be recycled in your normal curbside or drop-off location.   If possible, skip the plastic and buy your yogurt in bulk or in glass containers — or make your own! Order a three-month supply of medicine instead of one, cutting down on packaging while saving a trip to the pharmacy.   You might also consider, Loop, a TerraCycle company that delivers household products and food in reusable containers. When your goods are used up, you send the container back, and they send you a new one. A zero-waste loop! Loop isn’t in every U.S. state yet, but it’s expanding and still adding countries.   Additionally, look for ways to reuse or upcycle your plastic containers. We love the idea of making suncatchers out of clear lids and playing a plastic bottle bowling game. Your number 5 plastic yogurt containers also just make great organizers!   It’s also a good idea to contact the manufacturer of your favorite product and ask them to come up with more earth-friendly packaging.

Whenever someone offers me a drink of unfiltered tap water, I flinch just a little. My tongue still remembers the overwhelming taste and odor of chlorine from the treated Lake Erie water I drank growing up.   For decades, I’ve used a Brita pitcher to filter tap water for drinking and making tea. Now, we keep a large pitcher in the fridge for filling aluminum water bottles before hiking or running errands in the summer heat. We keep adding to our water-bottle collection so there are extras for the dogs and guests, too.   Every time I go grocery shopping, I notice other customers loading their carts up with bottled water. I’ve bought bottled water before, but only for emergency provisions in case of a blizzard or other natural disaster. I often wonder why people spend their hard-earned money on water in single-use plastic bottles.   According to How Stuff Works, a family of four should drink about two gallons of water a day. If they drink bottled water that costs $6 per case, the annual cost could be more than $3,000. In comparison, if the same family drank filtered tap water instead, they would spend less than $250 on pitchers, filters, reusable water bottles, and water for the entire family for a year.   Curious about what’s actually in that bottled water you’ve been drinking?   Consumer Reports publishes a list of water-quality reports that includes more than 120 brands. Costco’s Kirkland Signature water comes from Niagara.   On the other hand, most drinking water (about 10.5 million gallons a day) for the city of Wenatchee, the East Wenatchee Water District, and Chelan County PUD comes from the Eastbank Aquifer, just north of Rocky Reach Dam. The aquifer naturally filters water from the Columbia River and stores it underground. Chlorine, which protects against potential bacteria, is all that’s used to treat the water.   For me, a filtration pitcher has been most important for improving the taste and removing calcium from hard water. I never worried too much about the safety of tap water; local water providers send out annual reports showing how they measure up to federal standards for drinking water.   For the first quarter of 2019, both Wenatchee and East Wenatchee met federal standards. Of the 14 contaminants found in both cities’ water, however, eight exceeded the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Health Guidelines. While those don’t necessarily pose any health risks, the good news for me is that activated-carbon filters like Brita’s can remove at least five of those contaminants.   Reverse-osmosis filtration systems can remove most contaminants and are available locally from companies such as Central Washington Water. These can be installed under your kitchen sink, so there’s no extra work for you.   Worried about the garbage that comes from filtering water at home? Once you’ve collected at least five pounds worth of Brita filters, you can send them off to TerraCycle to be recycled.   So, what’s in your water bottle?   Betsy Dudash is a landscape horticulturist and designer. She is the board treasurer of Sustainable Wenatchee, a nonprofit that promotes a culture of environmental stewardship and social sustainability in the Wenatchee Valley.      

Getting ready for a move is never easy. You have to rent a truck or hire a moving company. If you’re moving items from multiple homes to a single home, you need to organize a time and place, and path for the day of the move. Hardest of all, you need to figure out what you want to keep and what you’re willing to let go of prior to the move. In this way, moving often involves a lot more waste than you might imagine, but there are a number of eco-friendly movers and waste-saving options that can help make it an easier and greener process.   What is eco-friendly moving?   Moving is not an eco-friendly process by design. Moving boxes are cardboard and are therefore recyclable, but bubble wrap sure isn’t and neither are most plastic bags. On top of that, moving trucks use a lot of gasoline. And while these things are almost certainly necessary for some heavy or long-distance moves, there are plenty of moving companies and procedures designed to cut down on environmental impact during this process.  

Who are eco movers?

  Eco movers are eco-friendly moving companies who aim to cut down on the more wasteful aspects of the moving process. Some things to look for when choosing a moving company is one that works to eliminate waste, take more efficient routes, and moves you in fewer trips. Green moving companies may also use trucks that run on biofuel rather than gasoline, and set up clients with reusable moving boxes so that they don’t have to worry about collecting cardboard or buying more plastic storage bins.   There are plenty of eco-friendly moving companies across the U.S. For example, Eco Movers out of Seattle uses reusable moving boxes recycled packing materials.   Gentle Giant in Somerville, Mass. reuses and recycles moving boxes and packing supplies whenever possible, uses biodegradable foam peanuts and oxo-biodegradable bubble wrap, and uses FSC-certified products.   Rabbit Movers in New York City is powered by biodiesel fuel, uses reusable bins, and wraps your fragile items in biodegradable bubble wrap.   All of these companies will help you make a reduced impact with your move while also assisting with some of the heavier lifting you otherwise might have had to rope your friends into.  

What are some ways to make my move more eco-friendly?

  Besides hiring a green moving company, there are a number of ways to make your individual move more eco-friendly. Some of these are as simple as making the move in fewer trips — an easy trick if you happen to rent a larger truck or if you save the bulk of your boxes for moving day. Some people might opt for more trips to save on effort, but one big trip will save you way more in gas and time than you might realize.   Packing things in recyclable cardboard boxes is a great place to start, but even these containers should only be used if you have exhausted other options. For example, you could pack quite a lot of your stuff (clothes, plates, cups, silverware, collectibles, books, and the like) in containers you already have. Perhaps you have a bunch of extra plastic storage bins you have been waiting to use, or some old suitcases, duffel bags, or reusable grocery bags. All of these items are perfect for carting things to your new place, and they won’t cost you a dime.   You can also rent reusable and durable plastic bins from national companies like U-Haul, which help reduce the need for any single-use boxes on moving day.   Cardboard boxes are still a viable option though. After all, you can’t fit everything you own in your five or six suitcases. You can get these boxes used from supermarkets, chain pharmacies, or other retail stores, and most will give you them for free just to take them off their hands. If you know you’re going to be moving ahead of time, begin collecting these boxes here and there. That way you won’t be forced to buy any when the time comes.   Polystyrene packing peanuts, bubble wrap, plastic wrapping — these things are all best avoided when it comes to wrapping your fragile items. Try to use old newspapers, paperwork you were going to get rid of, sheets, pillowcases, or clothing, instead. These items are either recyclable or washable, and they will probably protect your stuff better than that toxic polystyrene crap you get at office supply stores.  

How do I know what to get rid of before a move?

  Even if you’re being careful about your environmental impact, chances are good that you’ve accumulated a lot of stuff in your lifetime. Sorting through all that while you’re packing can feel a bit overwhelming for several reasons. Many keepsakes we hold onto have special meaning attached to them. Even when we try to downsize, we still like to hold onto those special knick-knacks, baubles, pieces of clothing, stuffed animals, and things that are dear to our hearts.  

How do I get rid of things I don’t want to keep?

  For everything you want to keep, there are bound to be tons of things you’re willing to part with. Recycle these things, donate them, do anything you can that does not end up with your old stuff rotting in a landfill somewhere. Start by dividing things into a donate pile and a recycle pile. Now, there are bound to be some things that you cannot save, cannot donate, and cannot recycle. With these, make a toss pile, but do try to make that pile as small as it can be.   Any unwanted items that are still in good condition can be donated to a variety of national organizations, as well as local thrift shops (though always check to make sure the shop doesn't landfill items that don't get sold), charities, schools, libraries, and animal shelters.   Recycling is a bit more complicated, especially when it comes to old electronics, but you can always call your local municipal sanitation or recycling center to see what items they take. If they are less than helpful, check out websites like TerraCycle to recycle typically non-recyclable items. You might find some things you were ready to trash are actually recyclable.

We hear all the time about recycling plastic bottles and aluminum cans, but what about some of the lesser mentioned items? In response to reader queries, we’ve assembled a list of some odd items that may have you saying, “Wow, you can recycle that?”

Blue Jeans

You know the regular routine. When you no longer need, like, or fit into your jeans, you can always donate them to a charitable resale organization like Goodwill or The Salvation Army. You’ve heard it a million times, so let’s not make it a million-and-one. We’re actually talking about physically recycling your jeans. After all, some clothes are just too far worn or damaged to head to a resale shop and deserve a proper [recycling] burial. Enter pioneering companies like Blue Jeans Go Green and Bonded Logic, which manufacture insulation products from recycled denim and cotton fibers. Blue Jeans Go Green offers a variety of denim recycling options through selected retailer dropoff locations, mail-in programs, and denim drives.

Automotive Fluids

Are you a DIYer when it comes to car care? Many of the fluids that power your car are actually recyclable once you change them out, most notably used motor oil and antifreeze. Used motor oil can be re-refined into brand-new products that can go back into your car, recycled into clean lubricants, or burned as fuel. As long as the used oil hasn’t been contaminated with other fluids, most oil change service companies or auto parts stores accept used motor oil for recycling from the public. Used antifreeze can also be recycled by filtering out contaminants such as lead, then restoring the original properties through stabilizing additives. The recycled product is not only excellent quality, but it can also be less expensive to purchase and has a smaller carbon footprint. Antifreeze should never be left out or dumped as its sweet taste can poison animals and children.

Snack Wrappers, Drink Pouches, & Chip Bags

Any idea what material candy wrappers, drink pouches, and chip bags are made of? If you answered “no,” you’re not alone as this is a common question we get asked a lot. This confusion is usually what makes these wrappers and bags so difficult to recycle. These items tend to be made of mixed materials, making the recovery of useful plastics and other materials difficult and expensive. In other words, most recyclers don’t want to touch the stuff! But TerraCycle, a company dedicated to eliminating the idea of waste, has a recycling solution. You can recycle wrappers from candy, chips, granola bars, gum, and other snacks through their Candy and Snack Wrappers Zero Waste Box. Just order the box, save up your empty snack wrappers, and send it back to TerraCycle with the prepaid return label. Note that there is a fee for this recycling solution. (Check TerraCycle’s free recycling solutions for other waste streams.)

Cooking Oil

Cooking oil recycling has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years as its value to the biofuel industry has increased. While it may seem natural to pour your leftover cooking oil and grease down the drain, it can actually be harmful to wildlife and the environment and damage your pipes and local sewage systems. In fact, cooking oil and kitchen grease in our plumbing is the No. 1 cause of stopped-up sewer pipes. Commercial facilities already contribute substantial amounts of used oil to alternative fuel programs, but there are household cooking oil recycling programs as well. Make a designated waste oil container, label it, and add to it each time there is leftover oil from your cooking. Then search for a local recycling location with Earth911 Recycling Search or contact local restaurants to see if they accept the cooking oil for recycling.

Six-Pack Beverage Rings

Those plastic six-pack beverage rings have definitely received their share of criticism over the years. Like so many plastic packaging materials, they are often disposed of carelessly, polluting public spaces and waterways and endangering wildlife. The rings are made of plastic #4 (LDPE) and can be recycled in programs that accept low-density polyethylene resin. If your curbside recycling program is limited to plastics #1 and #2 or limits the types of LDPE accepted, consider getting a group collection together and participating in the Hi-Cone Ring Leader Recycling Program. Hi-Cone’s Ringleader program will accept the six-pack rings in large quantities for recycling through various school programs, as well as through the mail. The company has worked with more than 12,000 schools and groups to collected and recycle the used rings.

Gift Cards, Hotel Key Cards, & Other Plastic Cards

A five-minute clean-out of your wallet, purse, or junk drawer is likely to yield a lot of plastic, from used gift cards to old library cards. Insignificant as they may seem, those cards are typically made of a plastic resin called polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is infinitely recyclable. Yet it’s most often landfilled, contributing to more than 75 million pounds of PVC entering the waste stream each year. Although you likely can’t recycle these cards in your curbside bin, TerraCycle offers a solution for recycling these items with its Plastic Cards Zero Waste Box. Note that there is a fee for this recycling solution. (Check TerraCycle’s free recycling solutions for other waste streams.)

Tennis Balls

Rebounces accepts old tennis balls for recycling and refurbishing. Those brightly colored tennis balls should still be of reasonable quality, and you should wait until you’ve saved up a large amount.

Ski Equipment

When your skis just aren’t cutting (or carving) it anymore, consider recycling them instead of tossing them. Vermont-based Green Mountain Ski Furniture will convert your old skis into a custom chair, bench, table, rack, or another custom-built piece. What a great way to preserve those memories! Custom orders typically take 10 to 14 weeks for completion.

How to dispose of razor blades – In most instances, it is okay to dispose of razor blades with your household trash.  However, you must take special safety measures into account to prevent injury to yourself or others.  Always check with your local municipality prior to disposal.   For this guide, we will cover some safe ways to prep your used razor blades for disposal along with places that can take your used blades should local laws prohibit household disposal.   Let’s take a look:   Note: Modern razor systems like those from Gillette or Schick, specifically disposable (hence the name) and cartridge razors can be thrown into the trash.  For additional safety, wrap the head of the razor in paper and staple shut.  

5 WAYS TO DISPOSE OF RAZOR BLADES

  Here’s how you can get rid of your used razor blades:  

1. SHOULD YOU TRASH’EM OR RECYCLE’EM?

  In most cases, razor blades should be safely disposed of in the trash rather than recycled.   But to ensure compliance and safety, always check with state and local guidelines.   To help you find accurate and relevant results, try searching in your preferred search engine the following:  

• Sharps disposal in [INSERT STATE or CITY]
• Razor blade disposal in [INSERT STATE or CITY]

  To give you an example of what to look for, this is what I found for New York, LA, and Wisconsin:  

• NYS Sharps Disposal
• NYC Sharps Disposal
• LA Sharps Disposal
• Wisconsin

  For NYC they go so far as to explicitly state that sharps/razor blades are thrown away “in a leak-proof, puncture-resistant container” with regular household trash.   We will touch on some solutions to ensure safe disposal in just a minute.   Interesting Fact: In 1990 the EPA estimated that Americans throw away 2 billion disposable razors and blades each year (source – page 11).  

2. CHECK YOUR LOCAL PHARMACY OR MEDICAL CENTER

  If you are hesitant about throwing used razor blades into the trash, then check with your local pharmacy, doctor’s office, or medical center.   Many, if not all of them should have a sharps disposal container for needle disposal.  Here you can simply ask if you can throw out your used razor blades – which they likely won’t have an issue with.   Again, just like city and state disposal guidance, some medical centers may actually encourage that you drop off your razor blades on your next medical visit as we found here.  

3. SHARPS COLLECTION DRIVE

  Some areas of the country may hold sharps or medical waste disposal drives regularly.  Again, a quick online search here may find some local results in your area that are worth checking out.   For example, here’s the collection schedule for Rockland County.  

4. PRIVATE COMPANY RECYCLING PROGRAM

  Some companies such as Gillette and BIC contract with the private recycling company TerraCycle where you can dispose of their used blades.   Depending on where you live, you may have a drop-off center not too far away:       If you don’t find anything nearby, then you can pay to have a box sent to you and dispose of your blades.  What’s unique about this company when compared to others is that the razor blades are recycled rather than completely disposed of.   You can learn more about TerraCycle here.  

5. WALL DISPOSAL INTO YOUR MEDICINE CABINET

  Some older homes or apartments will have a blade disposal slot in the back of the medicine cabinet.  Should your medicine cabinet have this, then you can simply slide the used blades into this slot.   However, if you ever do a bathroom renovation project or need to call a plumber just make sure that they are aware of this prior to doing any work to prevent accidental injury.   Should the disposed blades need to be removed, a good trick is to use a magnet or broom to pick them up rather than individually by hand.  Just make sure you wear appropriate safety gear as the blades will likely be rusty and still sharp.  

5 WAYS TO PREP SAFETY RAZOR BLADES FOR DISPOSAL

  Here are a few ways you store your used blades and prep them for safe disposal:  

1. WRAP THEM IN THE PAPER THEY ORIGINALLY CAME IN

    When you get a fresh set of blades, they will come individually wrapped.  Rather than throwing out that paper, hold onto it for disposal once your blade has started to dull.   Once wrapped into the paper, just take a piece of scotch tape or masking tape and go around it once to ensure that the blade doesn’t slide out:         While this method isn’t the safest, it is one that can work in a quick pinch, especially if you don’t have an empty container handy.  

2. BLADE BANKS ARE SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR THIS PURPOSE

      Many razor blade brands make disposable containers that can safely store your used razor blades.  They feature a thin slot on the top of the container and can hold 100+ razor blades before they are full:         You can pick up a blade bank for less than $10 online.    

3. REPURPOSE AN OLD CONTAINER

  If you have children in your household or have children that visit often, then consider using an old medicine bottle or prescription pill bottle that has a child safety cap:       Many of these containers are wide enough to fit a razor blade with no issue.  Should the bottle be a bit more narrow, then you can simply snap the razor blade in half (make sure to wrap it in paper first), and then it should be able to fit easily.   Another DIY solution is taking an old plastic peanut butter jar and cutting a slit in the top and gluing the lid to the jar.   Other ideas of containers that can be used include the following:  

• Altoids tin
• Shaving cream tub (like a Taylor of Old Bond Street type)
• Soda can
• Soup can

    Generally, it’s best to avoid glass as it could break if thrown into the trash can.  

4. YOUR RAZOR BLADES MAY HAVE COME WITH A BLADE BANK

    Some razor brands will ship their blades in a small plastic container that fits about 10 blades (pictured above).   On the back of these containers, there is a thin plastic slot that you can slide used razor blades into.  Once fully loaded with your used blades, you can safely dispose of them.  If you want to be extra safe, put a piece of tape over the opening so no blades can slide out.  

5. REGARDLESS OF DISPOSAL METHOD – LABEL CLEARLY

  Whether you bring your used razor blades to a special disposal facility or they are thrown out with your household trash – make sure that you clearly put a label on the container by stating “SHARPS” or “USED RAZOR BLADES” with a bold permanent marker.  

WRAPPING IT ALL UP

  Shaving is fun, however, disposal of the blades must be done responsibly.   I hope that this article was helpful in providing some guidance so that you prevent injury to yourself and others.