Holiday travel may take a toll on your old suitcases, but don’t give up on them yet. With some creativity, they can still be useful.   Dear Recyclebank: What is the best way to dispose of, or repurpose, broken luggage? –Rachel G. Dear Rachel: Years of travelling can take a toll on your suitcases, no matter how well constructed they are. This wear and tear can become especially noticeable around the holidays — after numerous trips to see loved ones, you just may find yourself with an unusable bag that’s beyond repair. When your luggage is way past its expiration date and can’t be used at home anymore, it’s time to consider your recycling options. While you can’t throw a giant piece of luggage in your curbside recycling bin as-is, suitcases and other bags often contain useful material that can be recycled. Between fabric, metal zippers, plastic handles, and rubber wheels, different components can be given new life if properly separated. If you feel comfortable disassembling the separate parts, feel free to separate the bag into more easily recyclable bits. This route will take some research, though, as you’ll need to confirm that all the materials you salvage are accepted by your local facility, and in that form. If you’re not comfortable acting as a luggage surgeon, you may be able to recycle your suitcase without taking it apart first. Many cities have special curbside recycling pickup for large items, whether it’s a designated day set by the city or a date set by you, by contacting the handler directly. If this is an option in your area, it’s worth investigating. Another convenient way to send luggage in for recycling is to order the appropriate Zero Waste Box from TerraCycle. However, as this is a relatively expensive option, you may want to work with your friends and family to gather all of your old bags and fund a box purchase together. Of course, if you're luggage isn't unusable, consider donating it. Beyond Goodwill, you may want to look into donating to shelters, or check out Suitcases For Kids, which helps get suitcases to foster children, who may move often. And as you plan your travel, keep your eyes peeled — travel agencies sometimes run luggage drives, too.

Consumers increasingly want to patronize the types of companies that demonstrate an alignment with their personal values. This marketplace shift can be largely attributed to consumers of Millennial age, who are now the nation’s largest living generation and make up a quarter of the entire U.S. population. Shaping the economy with an influential $200 billion in annual buying power, Millennials demand a degree of “like-mindedness” from their preferred manufacturers and major brands, namely around things like corporate social and environmental responsibility. But how is the consumer informed of those values? When it comes to communicating an alignment with personal values, it doesn’t get more personal than social media. Today, two-thirds of Millennials, the most technologically inclined generation in history, currently use social media to engage around CSR issues. For major purpose-driven brands and organizations, social media is an invaluable tool for reaching conscious consumers (including the more than nine-in-10 Millennials reporting a willingness to switch brands to one associated with a cause) with targeted, effective social campaigns. REI, for example, inspired over 6 million consumers to #OptOutside this past Black Friday (up from 1.4 million last year) with its second annual hashtag-driven campaign calling upon consumers to go outside instead of shopping. The company kicked off 2015’s inaugural campaign by closing all of its locations (and going offline) on Black Friday and giving consumers access to REI’s Explore the Outdoors platform — a search tool with BatchGeo-like functionality allowing consumers to find outdoor activities near them. Simple and powerful, this campaign “walks the walk” to reach conscious consumers who will not only buy products from REI, but who align with their social values, growing beyond the brand into sort of a social media movement all its own. At my company, TerraCycle, we too have continually seen the value social media can bring to our partners’, and our own, sustainability and eco-activism efforts. This past spring, TerraCycle and Open Farm celebrated Earth Month with the #RecycleWithOpenFarm social media contest. The contest engaged customers on the recyclability of Open Farm packaging by calling upon pet owners to snap a pic of their pups recycling and entering the photo using the #RecycleWithOpenFarm hashtag on Instagram for a chance to win a three-month supply of Open Farm pet food. The series of entries were so overwhelming, we rolled out a second phase to the contest, #RescueWithOpenFarm. This time, the prize was a donation of pet food to the animal shelter of the winner’s choice, also highlighting the brand’s commitment to animal welfare. This kind of engagement is invaluable for companies seeking to raise awareness to their eco-conscious and cause-driven missions in a competitive marketplace where social responsibility has become the baseline, rather than an aspect that automatically adds value. It is a testament to the power and effectiveness of eco-activism on social media, and that consumers are receptive when their favorite socially responsible brands engage with them in educative, informative ways. Creating transparency and relating purpose to consumers, social media is a powerful tool in its ability to tell a brand’s story in real-time, allowing consumers to have open conversations about the social responsibility records of those brands, and other salient subjects in sustainability.

Does your company need a zero-waste solution for safety equipment and protective gear? Use the Zero Waste Box to recycle safety products such as masks, disposable garments, gloves, hair nets and shoe covers. Ship your recycled waste to TerraCycle. The collected waste is mechanically and/or manually separated into fibers and plastics. The fibers are recycled or composted, and the plastics undergo extrusion and pelletization to be molded into new recycled plastic products.

Holiday preparations often bring to mind shopping, wrapping gifts and parties against a backdrop of twinkling lights and whimsical decorations. Understandably, the holidays are also a time that we experience a degree of stress, which may cause us to prioritize convenience over eco-consciousness. Demands on our time and resources put pressure on us year round, so when the Fall and Winter months creep up, thinking about the environment and ways to scale back on potentially wasteful holiday plans can be difficult. With less than a week left before the holiday, keeping it green may seem like a daunting task. But not only can you get it all done without sacrificing your traditions, setting intentions can help you balance out the last-minute holiday frenzy.

Make a list and set a time limit

Whether you are heading out to the supermarket, to the shopping mall or to the local brick-and-mortar shop, the longer you stay in there, the more likely you are to buy things you don’t need. Planning is everything. Writing out a list and crafting up a game plan for your shopping route may seem like a waste when it’s crunch-time. But this exercise in mindfulness will give you clarity, resulting in increased productivity and a better use of that time.

Bring your own bag to the store

Think about the last time you went holiday shopping: remember all the bags you brought home? The thicker, sturdier shopping bags you get from clothing and household appliance retailer can be great for reuse (i.e. toting around all those holiday gifts!), but once they’ve outlived their purpose, this type of plastic often ends up in landfills. Try to bring your own canvas or nylon tote bag to toss your purchases in, and if you do end up collecting a few shopping bags, recycle them.

Try your hand at some DIY projects

In these final hours, getting some time for yourself may seem impossible. Keep your head on straight with some of TerraCycle’s holiday DIYs, which include some pretty decorations and bows that will “Wow” guests and the recipients of your thoughtful gifts. Find more options for homemade holiday gifts in our list here.

Buy gifts for use, not for the “big reveal”

Speaking of gifts, one of the most common qualifiers for not being “done” with holiday preparations is that you have not finished getting your gifts in order for friends, family and other loved ones. While you scurry to cross the last names of your list, consider these findings from a recent review of research on the psychology of giving and receiving gifts: one of the biggest mistakes gift givers make is focusing too much on the moment when the recipient will open the gift, instead of how they will use it in real life.

Keep food and alcohol more eco-friendly

Try to opt for local farms, artisan producers, wineries and breweries when planning meals and fixings, as this supports small business and sustainable practices and scales back on transportation and shipping costs. Try to stay away from convenience foods that come with excess packaging. And this may seem obvious, but the more you cook and prepare your own foods (around the holidays and year-round), the better it is for the environment. Connecting with your food in this way gives you a more accurate idea of what you actually need in regards to entertaining and/or household meal-planning. This cuts down on food waste, which goes beyond wasting money and food that could feed others; food waste in the landfill will release methane, a greenhouse gas, into the air during decomposition. Give the gift of healthy foods for those on your list that love to eat! 

Wrap gifts sustainably

As mentioned in a previous blog, if every American family wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. Wrapping gifts with stuff you already have is a challenge of creativity and resourcefulness, and can present some surprising opportunities for recycling and reuse. For example, wrap and tie a scarf that’s part of your gift around a smaller item to make one gift out of two.

Prepare end-of-holiday solutions ahead of time

One of the hardest parts of the holiday is when it’s over: cleaning up, putting away, boxing things and wrapping leftovers. Make plans for each aspect of your holiday celebrations so that you know exactly how to wrap gifts in a sustainable way, instead of going the route of convenience with linear solutions. Unwrapping presents will often result in a flurry of bows, ribbon, wrapping paper, gift bags and tissue paper. Open carefully and save what you can to keep these items for next year. Note that many municipal programs do accept wrapping paper for recycling along with regular paper, with the exception of foil wrapping paper or paper with any metallic pieces or flecks. For things you can no longer use or recycle through your curbside collections, TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Bags boast an assortment of custom waste solutions for the home and office, including the Kitchen Separation Bag, which allows you to recycle things like party supplies, dining disposables (if you happened to use them) and more.

Toys! Toys! Toys! Tis the season for more toys, new toys, old toys and sadly broken toys. Whatever can be done with the old and broken toys? Ideally reuse or recycling the toys. In Otsego County, the Recycling Program bins are for containers, papers, glass jars and bottles, metal cans, aluminum trays and plastic bottles. Hard plastic toys are not recyclable in this program for Otsego County. So what can you do? Here are some creative suggestions: • Toys that are in good condition can be donated to Salvation Army or Goodwill to receive a receipt for a tax-deduction. • Gentle used toys can be donated to local daycares, preschools or churches. • Broken toys can be fixed at home by contacting the manufacture such as Lego and Little Tikes for replacement parts. Or This Old Toy (www.thisoldtoy.com/repair) or Randy’s Toy Shop (www.randystoyshop.com) are examples of places toys can be sent to for repair. • Contact companies such as TerraCycle to send broken and old plastic toys to. They may be able to be used in upcycling projects, like park benches.

Holiday preparations often bring to mind shopping, wrapping gifts and parties against a backdrop of twinkling lights and whimsical decorations. Understandably, the holidays are also a time that we experience a degree of stress, which may cause us to prioritize convenience over eco-consciousness. Demands on our time and resources put pressure on us year round, so when the Fall and Winter months creep up, thinking about the environment and ways to scale back on potentially wasteful holiday plans can be difficult. With less than a week left before the holiday, keeping it green may seem like a daunting task. But not only can you get it all done without sacrificing your traditions, setting intentions can help you balance out the last-minute holiday frenzy.

Try your hand at some DIY projects

In these final hours, getting some time for yourself may seem impossible. Keep your head on straight with some of TerraCycle’s holiday DIYs, which include some pretty decorations and bows that will “Wow” guests and the recipients of your thoughtful gifts. Find more options for homemade holiday gifts in our list here.

Buy gifts for use, not for the “big reveal”

Speaking of gifts, one of the most common qualifiers for not being “done” with holiday preparations is that you have not finished getting your gifts in order for friends, family and other loved ones. While you scurry to cross the last names of your list, consider these findings from a recent review of research on the psychology of giving and receiving gifts: one of the biggest mistakes gift givers make is focusing too much on the moment when the recipient will open the gift, instead of how they will use it in real life.

Try your hand at some DIY projects

In these final hours, getting some time for yourself may seem impossible. Keep your head on straight with some of TerraCycle’s holiday DIYs, which include some pretty decorations and bows that will “Wow” guests and the recipients of your thoughtful gifts. Find more options for homemade holiday gifts in our list here.

Buy gifts for use, not for the “big reveal”

Speaking of gifts, one of the most common qualifiers for not being “done” with holiday preparations is that you have not finished getting your gifts in order for friends, family and other loved ones. While you scurry to cross the last names of your list, consider these findings from a recent review of research on the psychology of giving and receiving gifts: one of the biggest mistakes gift givers make is focusing too much on the moment when the recipient will open the gift, instead of how they will use it in real life. Unwrapping presents will often result in a flurry of bows, ribbon, wrapping paper, gift bags and tissue paper. Open carefully and save what you can to keep these items for next year. Note that many municipal programs do accept wrapping paper for recycling along with regular paper, with the exception of foil wrapping paper or paper with any metallic pieces or flecks. For things you can no longer use or recycle through your curbside collections, TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Bags boast an assortment of custom waste solutions for the home and office, including the Kitchen Separation Bag, which allows you to recycle things like party supplies, dining disposables (if you happened to use them) and more.

Toys! Toys! Toys! Tis the season for more toys, new toys, old toys and sadly broken toys. Whatever can be done with the old and broken toys? Ideally reuse or recycling the toys. In Otsego County, the Recycling Program bins are for containers, papers, glass jars and bottles, metal cans, aluminum trays and plastic bottles. Hard plastic toys are not recyclable in this program for Otsego County. So what can you do? Here are some creative suggestions: • Toys that are in good condition can be donated to Salvation Army or Goodwill to receive a receipt for a tax-deduction. • Gentle used toys can be donated to local daycares, preschools or churches. • Broken toys can be fixed at home by contacting the manufacture such as Lego and Little Tikes for replacement parts. Or This Old Toy (www.thisoldtoy.com/repair) or Randy’s Toy Shop (www.randystoyshop.com) are examples of places toys can be sent to for repair. • Contact companies such as TerraCycle to send broken and old plastic toys to. They may be able to be used in upcycling projects, like park benches.

Contact lenses and blister packaging can now be recycled through a new program from Bausch + Lomb that also donates to blindness-prevention group for each pound recycled. read…Global eye health company Bausch + Lomb 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, and lenses and packs from other Bausch + Lomb brands, as well as all other contact lens brands. Contact lenses and blister packaging can now be recycled through a new program from Bausch + Lomb that also donates to blindness-prevention group for each pound recycled. 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.

Contact lenses and blister packaging can now be recycled through a new program from Bausch + Lomb that also donates to blindness-prevention group for each pound recycled. read…Global eye health company Bausch + Lomb 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, and lenses and packs from other Bausch + Lomb brands, as well as all other contact lens brands. Contact lenses and blister packaging can now be recycled through a new program from Bausch + Lomb that also donates to blindness-prevention group for each pound recycled. 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.

Did you know? Normally, used blister packs, top foil and contact lenses are not recyclable locally. Usually they are filtered out and sent to landfills instead. But if you're a wearer, there's great news: The new Bausch + Lomb #OneByOne recycling program lets you recycle your used lenses, blister packs and top foil, free of charge. And that's true whether you wear Bausch + Lomb Biotrue Oneday lenses, other Bausch + Lomb brands or any other contact lens brand. If keeping Mother Earth cleaner isn't enough motivation for you, for all recycled materials received, Bausch + Lomb is donating to the eye care charitable organization Optometry Giving Sight. The program was developed in partnership with TerraCycle, a company that collects and repurposes hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste. How does it work? Simply place your used blister packs, top foil and contact lenses into a small cardboard box. When the box is full, print a free One by One shipping label, available at BauschRecycles.com. Take the box to a UPS location or ship it from your home or office. That's all you have to do! (Note: Don't include the outer boxes of your contact lens packaging. These can be placed with other cardboard that you normally recycle locally.)