In Muncar, on the coast of East Java, Indonesia, fishers still make their living the traditional way, launching from the shore in the hand-painted boats they have used for generations. But that doesn’t mean that this harbor town is untouched by time. Plastic waste is mounting on the riverbanks and in the waters around Muncar. Some probably lurks within the fish brought ashore on the boats. Muncar is the second-largest fishing port in Indonesia, but it has barely a semblance of a waste management infrastructure. Dorothea Wiplinger, the sustainability manager for Austrian plastics maker Borealis, was on the ground in Muncar recently studying the problem. She says nearly 90% the garbage, mostly organic waste, that local inhabitants generate is either dumped haphazardly or burned. “You cannot see the sand anymore because the beaches are just full of waste. And then the high tide takes the waste away,” she says. “The people there don’t have any other choice.”

For more than 30 years, Burt’s Bees has been committed to protecting the beauty, wisdom and power of nature. And now, through the Burt’s Bees Recycle On Us program, consumers can recycle any and all Burt’s Bees packaging nationwide.

How often do you consider the values behind the brands you support? With April being Earth Month, I feel like now is the perfect time to talk about companies that do good. I always gravitate toward products that are made with natural ingredients, and have been making a conscious effort to support companies with sustainable business practices. Tom’s of Maine is one of my favorite brands that seems to do things right, and I am very excited to announce my new partnership with them as part of the Tom’s of Maine Goodness Circle! As part of this group, I look forward to sharing news about Tom’s of Main initiatives and new product launches with you. This post is sponsored by Tom’s of Maine. However, all opinions and enthusiasm about this brand are my own.

Twinlab, a provider of health and wellness products, is giving consumers a free way to recycle all brands of supplement and vitamin packaging. Through Twinlab’s Supplement the Earth Recycling Program, managed by international recycling company TerraCycle, consumers can now send in all brands of empty supplement and vitamin packages for processing, to be repurposed and used again.

Birdsong Brewing’s love of sustainable practices is no secret. The brewery installed solar panels on the roof earlier this year, and their longtime environmental stewardship also takes the form of cleaning up creeks and working with local farmers.

Lauren Singer is an advocate for the zero-waste movement who leads by example—and by very engaging videos (“DIY deodorant,” “What do you do about toilet paper?”). She herself has only generated a single Mason jar of garbage in the past five years. She also manages to waste very little time: At only 26, the New York University grad (environmental studies) is the founder/owner of Brooklyn’s Package Free Shop, purveyors of plastic-free living essentials; The Simply Co., chemical-free bulk laundry soap sold in refillable glass containers; and the blog/YouTube channel Trash Is for Tossers. Size up the contents of your garbage bags and consider ways to cut down. For instance, is your recycling bin brimming with plastic takeout food cartons? If that’s the case, come up with an alternative: start bringing your own reusable containers to your to-go source; better yet, vow to cook big batches of food on Sunday that can take you through the week. Singer, of course, advocates for recycling but doing it conscientiously—”it still uses tremendous amounts of energy.” Anything that’s still should be donated rather than tossed. As for wasteful but unavoidable items, such as contact lens solution plastic bottles, Singer notes that TerraCycle of NJ “will recycle anything—even diapers and cigarettes”—and the company’s many free programs help make this viable for individuals and communities.

Charlotte, North Carolina's Birdsong Brewing Co. has announced the release of a new Gose beer called Sunshine Gose, which will release at an Earth Day party at the brewery on April 21. The seasonal release comes just in time for spring, and according to a release from Birdsong "the beer is crisp, clean and tart and reminiscent of a healthy dose of sunshine. Made with local lemon oil, Sunshine Gose is bright and refreshing with a note of salinity, lemon zest and a very sessionable 4.7% ABV and 20 IBUs." The beer will be available through June 16 in 4-packs of 16-ounce cans wherever Birdsong's beers are available. The full release from the brewery is below.

For over thirty years, Burt’s Bees has been committed to protecting the beauty, wisdom and power of nature—and now, through the Burt’s Bees Recycle On Us program, their consumers can recycle any and all Burt’s Bees packaging, nationwide. In partnership with TerraCycle®, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams, the program allows anyone to recycle their product packaging through a free mail-in program, regardless of any regional recycling limitations.

Change can be good for San Francisco. The City’s green building codes are creating more energy efficient buildings, solar-ready roofs and electric-vehicle charging stations. But many residents of San Francisco’s high-rise apartments are still expected to sort and haul their trash to different locations in garages and basements. It’s inconvenient, confusing and sometimes impossible. Although almost all apartment buildings in The City compost, according to recycling provider Recology, San Franciscans generally have trouble finding the green bins. Last week, I had dinner with a friend who assured me she had to toss her leftovers in the garbage. Often, this means property managers have hidden the bins behind a locked door or left them unused and unloved in a random alley.