Cigarette butts are probably the grossest thing that you just see all over the place, and it probably should not surprise you to learn that they are also a very problematic pollutant. Citylab has an interesting profile one one company, TerraCycle, which has developed a way to recycle discarded butts and turn them into plastic. "There's nobody else who has been recycling cigarette filters," says the company's global vice president of research and development.

Increasingly, researchers are realizing that cigarettes are as much an environmental problem as they are a health issue. Walk along a beach or around a busy city and you step on a lot of cigarette butts, thrown carelessly to the ground. By one estimate, up to 6 trillion cigarette butts get flicked onto the ground and into the global environment every year. They’re one of the most common forms of the world’s litter, making up 25 to 50 percent of all trash collected from roads and streets.

The Alliance for the Great Lakes and Chicago Park District are launching a pilot program intended to reduce cigarette butt littering on beaches using dual-purpose "voting boxes." The boxes serve as butt receptacles by acting as a ballot box in which smokers drop their "vote" into one of two compartments in support of or against something fun that involves rivalry. For instance, they will vote for one of two competing sports teams, or deep dish pizzas vs. Chicago-style hot dogs.

Tom Szaky, co-founder and CEO of TerraCycle, will be the keynote speaker for the Center for Sustainability (CfS) and Business Innovation Group’s 2016 Sustainability and Entrepreneur Lecture Series on Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. Szaky’s company, TerraCycle, is an international leader in the collection and repurposing of post-consumer waste. On a yearly basis in more than 23 countries, the company collects and repurposes billions of pieces of waste. TerraCycle generates millions of dollars of donations for schools and charities in the process.

There is a growing awareness in the business community that the circular economy is not only here to stay, but will continue to gain traction in the coming years, according to new research by GreenBiz and UPS. But the need for a defensible business case is the biggest barrier standing in the way. The report, "The Growth of the Circular Economy," surveyed members of the GreenBiz Intelligence Panel to gain a greater understanding of key aspects and concepts associated with the circular economy and to identify trends that will help define success for this developing system of commerce.

Consider it a polling place and ashtray rolled into one. The Alliance for the Great Lakes is working with the Chicago Park District to bring "voting" boxes to Chicago beaches this summer in a pilot program designed to curb cigarette littering, said Jennifer Caddick, alliance engagement director. The custom-made rectangular boxes, which have been used in London and more recently in Boston since last month, will ask smokers a question that could be focused on the never-ending sports rivalry of Cubs vs. Sox or the food fight between deep dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs. Smokers would "vote" by putting their cigarette butts into a hole so they fall into one of two compartments.

Dear Recyclebank: I was just wondering if deodorant containers are recyclable? I use a gel deodorant that comes in a tall rectangular shaped tube with a screw on the bottom to push the product up. It appears to be made entirely of plastic. I always throw them in the trash when empty. –Earl B. Dear Earl: Standard deodorant containers are generally made of plastics like polyethylene and polypropylene, which in and of themselves are recyclable in many areas.

Whole Blends promises to provide hair care that really cares. They have crafted a signature blend of select ingredients combined with sensorial fragrances chosen to care for hair. These select ingredients & unique fragrances are blended into each or out nurturing & gentle formulas which help restore the health & natural beauty of hair with every use.

The global recycling infrastructure today is a mess. While countries like Austria and Germany boast recycling rates in excess of 60 per cent, other equally developed countries continue to lag far behind. The US, for instance, continues to suffer from the same stagnant recycling rates that have plagued it for years. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, from 2012 to 2013 the US’s recycling rate actually went down from 34.5 per cent to 34.3 per cent.

Let's sort this out. Here in the Bay Area, we're all doing a pretty good job with recycling the basics: bottles, cans, paper. Kudos to us! But when it comes to that pizza box, your broken bathroom mirror or a mysterious lipstick container with plastic/metallic casing and residue of Ravishing Rose, our environmentally responsible brains start to hurt.