Rising nationalism, international tensions, runaway climate change. It’s tempting to despair of humanity at the start of 2017. Instead of giving up, though, the people below are working to improve the world around them, whether through entrepreneurship, art, innovation or acts of personal courage. They’re just a small sample of some of the 3,000 participants who will converge on Davos for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting this year, under the theme of Responsive and Responsible Leadership. Collectively, they might make you feel a little less bleak about the future. Tom Szaky This man wants you to recycle everything. I mean everything: cigarette butts, diapers, toothbrushes. He’s the founder and CEO of Terracycle, a social enterprise that uses new technology to "up-cycle" waste into products, turning foil drink pouches into slouch bags, among other feats. His work has galvanized nearly 64 million people around the world into recycling action and offers an alternative business model at a time when research suggests there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050.

FALLBROOK – The Fallbrook Beautification Alliance (FBA) introduces cigarette butt recycling to Fallbrook with the installation of its first TerraCycle cigarette receptacle. The test unit has been installed near a bench along the beautiful Pico Promenade, where discarded cigarette butts were littering the path and potentially washing into the watershed.

It’s a new year, and I know it sounds so cliche, but it’s a great time to start fresh, make some resolutions and work on improving certain areas of your life. This year, I will be working more on self-care. As a stay-at-home Mom to two toddlers, age 3.5 and almost 2, self-care is something I have let slide for quite a while now. When you’re wrapped up in all of the day-to-day activities of your kids, it can be hard to find the time or energy to take care of yourself too, but it’s so important. If you’re like me, you probably expend all of your energy taking care of everyone else, and just feel completely zapped by the end of the day. There are a few things you can do for yourself throughout the day, however, that will greatly improve how you feel.   Make the Switch to Natural Products – Self-care really starts with what we put in and on our bodies. Tom’s of Maine natural deodorant contains no aluminum, artificial fragrances or preservatives and no petrochemicals, and offers clinically proven, 24-hour odor protection using odor-fighting hops, the mineral zinc and only natural fragrances.   Tom’s of Maine also has fully recyclable packaging through local municipalities or the TerraCycle Tom’s of Maine Natural Care Brigade. I think it’s so great that they not only offer natural products, but packaging that can be easily recycled too. If that wasn’t enough, they also give 10% of their profits back to helping people and the planet!

Topics like natural resource depletion, climate change, landfill waste, and water contamination are often presented with a side of "fire and brimstone," causing them to seem negative and inaccessible. However, a touch of mindfulness can make sustainable living much more accessible. Establishing a practice of mindfulness, the process of being more present and aware of your thinking and emotions, is one of the best things you can do for the planet (and your own well-being). Here's why making an effort to tune in and connect with your day-to-day experiences can help you become a more effective steward of the environment.

1. Increased productivity can reduce your carbon footprint.

In the workplace, in the classroom, and at home, we are expected to wear many hats and constantly "do more." Mindfulness helps us gain clarity on what's actually important and what we have the ability to do, resulting in increased productivity and a better use of time and resources. This may translate to a reduction in carbon emissions from less time spent driving, less food waste due to better budgeting, and more free time to learn about sustainable best practices for the home.

2. Thoughtful decision making may lead to more sustainable purchasing habits.

Our culture of convenience trains us to look for things outside of ourselves (i.e., products and services) to solve problems. In the food industry, for example, pre-chopped produce, meal delivery services, and healthy snack subscriptions serve as more convenient ways to obtain quality foods. However, many of these items also come paired with excessive packaging and high carbon emissions from transportation. Remaining conscious of what's happening inside your head while shopping is key to making a personal connection to your purchases, spending better, and supporting ethical manufacturers.

3. Decluttering your mind can help you find solutions for physical clutter.

Mindfulness practices often require us to create a routine around letting go. By doing away with what no longer serves you, you part ways with the material possessions that make you feel blocked or stuck. However, it's important to remember that while they may no longer be useful to you, all items have some sort of intrinsic value. Instead of simply throwing your discarded items in the trash, dispose of them in a more ethical, sustainable manner. Try bringing them to a thrift store, giving them to friends or relatives, or donating them to Goodwill. For those items that are difficult to reuse or recycle, my company, TerraCycle, offers a customizable Zero Waste Box that feeds back raw materials into the value system.

4. Taking in your surroundings creates a greater investment in the environment.

Mindfulness is a heightened way of observing oneself and one's surroundings. Part of that is paying attention to your relationship with your environment and the effect each party has on the others. So stop and smell the roses—literally. Slowing down to take stock of what you have as an individual and as a member of the global community will help you understand the great effects your day-to-day actions (and inactions) can have on the environment. This understanding translates to a moral obligation to protect the earth and move through the world fulfilling your highest potential.

Blister packs, top foil and contact lenses have not been widely recycled…until now. Bausch + Lomb has partnered with TerraCycle for the ONE by ONE Recycling Program so that you and your patients can recycle contact lenses properly. Bausch + Lomb celebrated the launch of the partnership on America Recycles Day in November with a consumer event hosted by Biotrue ONEday at Marshall B. Ketchum University’s Southern California College of Optometry in Anaheim, CA. The recycling program allows contact lenses and packaging to be repurposed, with the goal of reducing landfill waste associated with contact lenses.

Almost everyone knows about recycling paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass. But, what about those potato chip bags, energy bars wrappers, toothpaste tubes and cereal bags? Ask a student at Winnequah School, and you’ll find the answer – recycling those items can mean good money for the school. “We’ve exceeded $1,000 earned for the school through TerraCycle,” said Kathryn Christopherson, parent volunteer organizer. “We did it four years prior to this current year. We raised only $30 the first year, but we were at almost $800 last year.” Money raised through the program is used for a variety of items, from books to microscopes. This is the fifth year for the project. About 1,800 pounds of material has been collected since the beginning. “We’re more than halfway to our weight total from last year (which runs from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31),” Christopherson said. Containers are set up for individual items, but a small group of parent volunteers still needs to meet to sort items. There are five bins at school and 11 at the Monona Public Library. Sally Buffat, interim director at the public library, said the library’s participation is another way to connect with the community. “It helps us partner with the community,” she said. “The space in our cafeteria wasn’t really being used, and this was a great way to use it.” Buffat also said the use of the library as a collection point provides more promotion of the recycling effort with other parts of the community, not just the schools. “The community really comes out for this,” she said. “Monona is really great at this.” There is also a bin at Cousins Subs for potato chip bags. “Our students are having fun and really getting into it,” said Principal Angie Fassl. Parents aren’t the only ones who help collect and sort, though. “Twice a month, some fifth graders help with the boxes and go to the kindergarten rooms to collect the items. It offers them another leadership opportunity,” said Barb Nyenhuis, fifth-grade teacher. Some students even give up their recess to volunteer, she said. “Kids get excited about their role,” Fassl said. Once sorted, items are boxed and shipped to TerraCycle in New Jersey, where they are upcycled or recycled. Each box must weigh at least 14 pounds, but Christopherson said boxes of at least 50 pounds earn the school double points. “There is no way we could do this without the support of everyone,” she said. Nyenhuis said it’s important to remember that not only is this material recycled, it’s stuff that’s not going into the landfills. How much has been saved from the trash? Christopherson said shipments have thus far included 31,800 potato chip bags (420 pounds); 37,500 (75 pounds) of granola or energy bar wrappers; 20,354 (228 pounds) juice pouches; 10,524 (337 pounds) of fruit and veggie pouches; and 6,884 (174 pounds) cereal bags. For more information, call the school at 221-7677 or visit the Winnequah TerraCycle page on Facebook.

This year was one of historic significance. The global community had a front-row seat to developments on the world-stage of international politics, the movements of which have implications for this coming year and all those to follow. More connected by technology than ever, the world’s citizens engaged in discussions of pressing issues like human rights and environmental sustainability, speaking to an increased willingness to convert values into action.   At TerraCycle, 2016 notched a decade and a half of dedication to the circular economy, corporate social responsibility and the renewal of the world’s finite resources.  Through free recycling programs, custom recycling solutions and partnerships with some of the world’s largest companies, TerraCycle so far has engaged more than 60 million people to recycle in 23 countries, diverting nearly 4 billion units of difficult-to-recycle waste from landfills and incinerators and raising $15 million for charity.   Milestones this year include the launch of new programs that marked the first time TerraCycle has recycled in their respective categories. Henkel, a leading global manufacturer of industrial adhesives, including the LOCTITE® brand, became the first company to offer a recycling solution for anaerobic adhesive packaging. The main challenge with recycling the polyethylene [PE] plastic bottles and the reason they are not accepted by the conventional waste management infrastructure is due to the residual adhesive. Learning about the adhesives and how they cure allowed us to develop a solution and recycle this category of material for the first time.   The year also saw us finalize a partnership with SUEZ, one of the largest waste management companies in the world. Through the deal, SUEZ can bring TerraCycle’s consumer-facing programs to its customers in France, the UK, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, and we gain access to perhaps the world’s largest sales force dedicated to the circular economy.   Recyclability is among the top purchase drivers for a range of consumer products, and finding new ways to engage consumers and end-users on our programs adds value for current and potential partners. Instrument string manufacturer D’Addario this year launched their Recycle and Restring events, which bring recycling into local music stores across the country, showing communities what sustainability could do for them. Open Farm’s #RecycleWithOpenFarm contest and Tom’s of Maine’s Green Your School Fund (a nationwide school science competition on which I had the pleasure of judging) were social media activations that demonstrated the power of digital eco-activism and its latent ability to bring people together over sustainability and CSR.   Unprecedented sales in our Zero Waste Box division showed that consumers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for sustainable goods and services, include those which solve for waste. Consumers enjoy the convenience and innovation of this turn-key recycling solution, and some companies (like paper shredders and waste management entities) have begun using the platform to expand their portfolio of services, diversifying their offerings and scaling for growth by piggy-backing on their own route logistics.   As it stands, waste is a negative value commodity: people pay to have it taken away. TerraCycle is in the business of solving for waste by not only capturing this refuse, but bringing value to it so that people will pay for products made out of recycled materials. This year called for a massive expansion of our international sales force to answer a growing demand for circular solutions at all levels of consumption, making for our most profitable yet. The challenge in 2017 will be to continue nurturing this market to ease the strain on the Earth’s resources and move us towards a more sustainable, circular global economy. 

Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health company, has launched a national recycling program to provide Americans with a responsible option for their otherwise non-recyclable contact lenses and blister packs. By partnering with recycling company TerraCycle to create the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE recycling program, Bausch + Lomb gives contact lens wearers the ability to recycle used Biotrue® ONEday brand contact lenses and blister packs, as well as lenses and packs from other Bausch + Lomb brands as well as all other contact lens brands. Contact lenses and blister packs are considered non-recyclable through municipal facilities mainly because they are too small to be captured by standard sorting machinery. Through the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE recycling program, contact lenses and blister packs are now 100% recyclable, providing a nationwide solution to prevent these items from entering the waste stream, at zero cost to the consumer. Once collected, contact lenses and blister packs are separated and cleaned. The metal layers of the blister packs are recycled separately, while the contact lenses and plastic blister pack components are melted into plastic that can be remolded to make recycled products. For every pound of accepted Biotrue® ONEday and other Bausch + Lomb brand packaging sent through this program a $1 donation will be made to Optometry Giving Sight, a global fundraising initiative that targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision. “Bausch + Lomb is continuously striving to become a more environmentally sustainable company in order to preserve not only the well-being of our patients, but also of our environment,” says Guy Guglielmino, vice president of marketing, vision care, Bausch + Lomb. “With the launch of our Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE recycling program, we are asking people to join us to take ONE small step each day to help the environment, so that together we can create a significant positive impact.” The Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE recycling program is open to any interested individual, eye care professional or organization. To learn more about participating in the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE recycling program, please visit http://www.terracycle.com /bauschrecycles.

Dive Brief:

• A new study from Loyola University Chicago has found that cigarette butts are still the most common type of litter found at local beaches even though lakefront smoking has been banned since 2007, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
• The study analyzed data from cleanup efforts that occurred between April and October from 2003 to 2014. During that time, more than 57,000 pieces of litter were counted at Ohio Street Beach and nearly 42% of that was cigarette butts. This data was similar to other beaches, though food-related waste was more predominant at some locations.
• This study also found that beaches had more litter in the fall than during the summer, a sign that municipal cleaning efforts are effective during summer months. Community groups and volunteers have been holding events to keep the beaches clean and catalog data on litter for 25 years.

Dive Insight: These results follow the recent news of a Rochester Institute of Technology study that found nearly 22 million pounds of plastic waste in the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan was estimated to have the highest amount of plastic and cities such as Chicago were found to be playing a role in contributing to this problem. Based on previous research about litter along Chicago's beaches on Lake Michigan, the overall amount of waste — including cigarette butts — may be decreasing, though far too much is still ending up in the water. As noted by one of the study's co-authors, cigarette butts or food-related waste are easy to pick up and this problem should not be too difficult to solve. The Alliance for the Great Lakes and Chicago Park District launched a pilot program earlier this year where smokers could "vote" for various questions by placing their cigarette butts in special receptacles. This concept has also proven popular in Baltimore and many other cities. TerraCycle's Cigarette Waste Recycling Program is facilitating the work in many of these cities and has reportedly processed more than 69 million tons of cigarette butt waste from thousands of locations so far. While the rate of smoking among U.S. adults continues to decline, these butts remain a small but toxic part of the waste stream that can be recycled if collected properly.

  TerraCycle's national programs repurpose and recycle non-recyclable waste materials, such as cigarette butts, snack packaging and beauty products, etc.   TerraCycle China joins Colgate-Palmolive Company in announcing the Colgate Oral Care National Recycling Program -- This is an inaugural recycling program created by TerraCycle and Colgate in China. These non-recyclable oral care products and packaging waste, can now be professionally recycled nationally. This program also offers volunteers the opportunity to participate in environmental protection and make their contribution through their actions. TerraCycle's national programs repurpose and recycle non-recyclable waste materials, such as cigarette butts, snack packaging and beauty products, etc. Local collection teams need to register on the TerraCycle website as members and sign up programs (Limited participating locations) of various waste streams, such as toothpaste packaging, toothbrushes, mouthwash bottles or floss containers. Participation is free and all shipping costs are paid. Recycling could be simple and easy. "We are excited to extend our recycling outreach through our local partnership with Colgate-Palmolive in China," said Tom Szaky, Founder and Global CEO of TerraCycle. "TerraCycle's recycling programs powerfully engage consumers, using contests and incentive schemes, in promoting awareness about reducing, upcycling and recycling. With Colgate's commitment and support, consumers are now empowered to cleanly and safely repurpose or recycle oral care products, like Colgate® toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes." "Colgate has been committed to supporting the communities we serve and to respecting the world around us." Said Arvind Sachdev, Vice President & General Manager, Colgate-Palmolive Greater China. "TerraCycle's recycling programs are great community initiatives that we are proud to partner in. They offer an innovative way for Colgate to support local communities and for consumers to positively impact the environment. Through this, consumers can now recycle oral care items that are not accepted in traditional recycling channels. Through encouraging consumers to practice recycling in this program, we believe we will communicate the program mission 'Smile Rebuilds Future' to more and more people." "This is part of a global partnership between Colgate and TerraCycle and has been successfully implemented across five countries. TerraCycle has started its operation in China in 2016." Said Connie Leung, General Manager-Greater China of TerraCycle. "There have been many dedicated environmental NGOs playing a leading role in guiding the community to sort and recycle, but there is still massive quantities of unrecyclable waste that are being sent to landfill and incineration each year. Now with this Recycling Program, there is a significant opportunity for collectors to put oral care waste to productive use and have a positive impact on our environment."