If you’re hoping to donate your child’s car seat or crib this year, many thrift stores and retailers likely won’t take it. But throwing it away may not be the best option, either.   Some Chicago-area parents say they’ve been struggling to get rid of unneeded car seats and other children’s items because of COVID-19. Most resale shops have for years limited what children’s items they’ll take, but even after reopening in recent weeks, many also have limited donations because of staff shortages.   Trashing children’s gear can harm the environment, but to limit face-to-face contact, corporations such as Walmart and Target have canceled their trade-in programs, which had allowed people to exchange car seats for a credit, discount or upgraded product.   “It stinks (the programs) are closed,” said Tory Andrews, 34, a parent from the Northwest Side who has been trying to give away her child’s car seat. “I don’t understand why they are closed, but the pandemic is affecting nearly everything.”   Donnika Jones-Hamlin, 39, a mother from Willow Springs, has been trying to get rid of her twins’ car seats for more than four months. The process has been very frustrating, she said in a Facebook message.   “This is crazy, as mothers are still having babies,” she said. “There are women in need and I have (items) to give and I can’t. Doesn’t make sense.” Thrift stores such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army also won’t take car seats, cribs or baby walkers because reselling those products could violate the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s standards. If those items are expired or were compromised in an accident, it could put future users at risk, said Dan Michael, Goodwill’s vice president of stores and donations.   “Because we have no way of knowing the history of that particular item, we don’t accept them, we don’t sell them,” Michael said.     Target and Walmart previously hosted car seat trade-in events with the help of TerraCycle, a global sustainability company that helps salvage hard-to-recycle waste. In its most recent event with the organization last year, Walmart recycled more than 8 million pounds of car seats in just a few days, said Brett Stevens, TerraCycle’s global vice president of materials sales and procurement.   “It goes to show there is some pent-up demand for this recycling solution because people feel bad about putting what is essentially a 15-pound, on average, item into the garbage,” Stevens said.   Retailers primarily hosted trade-in programs for promotional reasons, because trashed car seats can harm the environment, Stevens said. The events have “a significant cost” to disassemble the plastic and metal parts to recycle them.   “Sustainability is critically important now as recycling is really seeing a decline, but as we see, COVID kind of takes precedence over all of that,” Stevens added. He said businesses are “now more focused on keeping employees safe, keeping the lights on (and) keeping shelves stocked.”   Some parents have turned to Facebook’s Marketplace to sell or give away car seats and other materials, while others plan to gift them to family members or friends. But selling them directly raises other COVID-19 concerns.   Maria Calderon, 24, has been trying for weeks to sell her son’s outgrown car seat. The Cicero resident thinks she might be having difficulty because people are having financial troubles and are afraid to come into contact with sellers given the coronavirus.   “I haven’t had any luck,” Calderon said in a Facebook message. “Because of COVID I lost my job and I can’t afford to buy (my son) another one until I sell this one.”   Some business and service organizations have also been unable to take donations because of staffing issues.   Cradles to Crayons, a service group that collects donated children’s items and distributes them to communities in need, ceased taking volunteers and donations from March through June after COVID-19 hit, according to Executive Director Shoshana Buchholz-Miller.   Kris Over delivers boxes with mostly socks, pajamas and underwear to the Cradles to Crayons warehouse on July 30, 2020. (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune)   “Even now, with some volunteers back, we are accepting gently-used products but we have such a high volume of products that we’re getting,” Buchholz-Miller said. “We just don’t have enough people.”   Eric Pelz, 39, of Portage Park, earlier this year tried to donate his family’s baby crib to organizations including Cradles to Crayons. But Pelz, who is a father of three boys, said he had to throw the “perfectly good” crib away after workers told him they couldn’t take it because of short staffing.   “That was painful to my heart,” Pelz said.   With closures and other donation issues during the pandemic, the best ways to get rid of items like a car seat may be just to disassemble the material to recycle the metal and plastic parts or wait until retailers reinstate trade-in programs, which likely won’t be until 2021, according to Stevens.   “What you’re seeing is a temporary delay in these types of programs,” Stevens said. “I think that will change after there’s a vaccine for COVID. I would expect at that point that you’ll start to see more regular ramp up of these programs.”  

What is Upcycling?

  Upcycling is the process of turning something that might be thrown away (waste material or unwanted products) into something new. Many of us do some form of upcycling as we go about our days. We turn glass containers into flower vases or soap dispensers.  We may use an old colander for planting flowers or use old shirts to clean our home. All of these are forms of upcycling.  It is a  great way to re-use these items and keep them out of the trash.        

Unique Businesses

  Some businesses have even picked up on the upcycling vibe and have started to turn some surprising things, into unique, and pretty amazing, products. We thought we’d give you a brief round-up of some of the companies that stuck out to us.  

• Terracycle creates park benches, backpacks, gardening supplies, and many other products out of waste products that tend to be difficult, or nearly impossible to recycle, like ocean plastic.
• Preserve manufacturer’s toothbrushes, kitchen items (storage containers, measuring cups), shaving products, and other items by collecting recyclable plastic materials such as yogurt containers, lip balm tubes, and even Brita water filtration systems.
• Looptworks creates backpacks, duffle bags, apparel, and much more out of high-quality materials from manufacturers. Examples include old airline seat covers, skis and other textiles.
• Alchemy Goods creates a variety of bags, wallets, belts, and other items from blown-out inner tubes from bicycles and billboard vinyl.
• Sword & Plough turns surplus military supplies like uniforms, tents, and even sleeping bag covers into handbags, totes, and jewelry.
• Upcycle It Now turns textiles headed for the landfill into masks, dog coats, lunch bags, wallets, sunglasses cases, and reusable bags.
• Vélosophy has taken Nespresso pods (300 of them) and turned them into a bicycle, fit for urban bicycling.
• Project Repeat helps people turn their old t-shirts into quilts. Individuals send them their old t-shirts, and they handle the rest.
• Recycled Firefighter utilizes old fire hoses to manufacture durable wallets, backpacks, and belts.
• Laura Zabo gives old tires and inner tubes new life by turning them into jewelry, belts, and flip flops.
• Green Guru Gear makes bike gear, bags, wallets, and backpacks out of bicycle tubes, tents, wetsuits and climbing gear.
• MapleXO upcycles skateboards into jewelry, bottle openers, spatulas, whisks, and other accessories.

  This is only a sampling of the businesses out there that are demonstrating their creativity, and care for our planet, by upcycling items into something new. We know there are more out there, and we’d like to know about them!

Do You have a Favorite?

If you have a favorite upcycle-worthy company, email us at cultureclub@intivix.com or tag us on social media, and let us know. We’d love to put together a round two article featuring businesses submitted by our followers.

What is Upcycling?

Upcycling is the process of turning something that might be thrown away (waste material or unwanted products) into something new. Many of us do some form of upcycling as we go about our days. We turn glass containers into flower vases or soap dispensers.  We may use an old colander for planting flowers or use old shirts to clean our home. All of these are forms of upcycling.  It is a  great way to re-use these items and keep them out of the trash.        

Unique Businesses

  Some businesses have even picked up on the upcycling vibe and have started to turn some surprising things, into unique, and pretty amazing, products. We thought we’d give you a brief round-up of some of the companies that stuck out to us.  

• Terracycle creates park benches, backpacks, gardening supplies, and many other products out of waste products that tend to be difficult, or nearly impossible to recycle, like ocean plastic.
• Preserve manufacturer’s toothbrushes, kitchen items (storage containers, measuring cups), shaving products, and other items by collecting recyclable plastic materials such as yogurt containers, lip balm tubes, and even Brita water filtration systems.
• Looptworks creates backpacks, duffle bags, apparel, and much more out of high-quality materials from manufacturers. Examples include old airline seat covers, skis and other textiles.
• Alchemy Goods creates a variety of bags, wallets, belts, and other items from blown-out inner tubes from bicycles and billboard vinyl.
• Sword & Plough turns surplus military supplies like uniforms, tents, and even sleeping bag covers into handbags, totes, and jewelry.
• Upcycle It Now turns textiles headed for the landfill into masks, dog coats, lunch bags, wallets, sunglasses cases, and reusable bags.
• Vélosophy has taken Nespresso pods (300 of them) and turned them into a bicycle, fit for urban bicycling.
• Project Repeat helps people turn their old t-shirts into quilts. Individuals send them their old t-shirts, and they handle the rest.
• Recycled Firefighter utilizes old fire hoses to manufacture durable wallets, backpacks, and belts.
• Laura Zabo gives old tires and inner tubes new life by turning them into jewelry, belts, and flip flops.
• Green Guru Gear makes bike gear, bags, wallets, and backpacks out of bicycle tubes, tents, wetsuits and climbing gear.
• MapleXO upcycles skateboards into jewelry, bottle openers, spatulas, whisks, and other accessories.

  This is only a sampling of the businesses out there that are demonstrating their creativity, and care for our planet, by upcycling items into something new. We know there are more out there, and we’d like to know about them!

Do You have a Favorite?

If you have a favorite upcycle-worthy company, email us at cultureclub@intivix.com or tag us on social media, and let us know. We’d love to put together a round two article featuring businesses submitted by our followers.

 

The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas launched a pilot project for recycling surgical face masks to keep them out of landfills. This is one of the first recycling programs for personal protective equipment (PPE) in the hospitality industry, according to the resort. Covid-19 forced the resort to close temporarily. Last month the Venetian Resort reopened with measures in place that included additional team member training on safety and sanitation protocols, adding thermal scanners, and providing PPE for all team members. Guests also receive kits that contain face masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes. Working in partnership with the waste management company TerraCycle, the Venetian Resort started collecting discarded masks onsite. The masks are then delivered to a recycling facility that separates and shreds them, producing a crumb-like raw material, according to the project partners. That material can then be used to make products like railroad ties, composite decking, and composite lumber for shipping pallets, TerraCycle explained. Prior to the face mask recycling pilot, the Venetian Resort already had a trash-sorting initiative in place onsite designed to divert 27 types of items that the hospitality company said would otherwise become landfill. “Through this program, between 55 to 60% of waste is diverted from local landfills, a number that far surpasses the national average of 32% or the state average of 23%,” according to the Venetian Resort, which is a Las Vegas Sands property.

Over the past half-decade, the beauty industry has evolved into a more-is-more mentality.  Whether your a beauty junkie or not, your bathroom cabinets might be filled with tons of products you don’t even remember buying.  Shampoos, lotions, haircare, and makeup are all products that need to be recycled, and more often than not these items are not recycled properly. Cosmetic packagings are made of various types of materials which make this process incredibly tricky and most of these items end up contributing significantly to the evergrowing landfills across the nation. Here are 5 cosmetic brands that are working hard to reuse plastic and reduce waste, and also offer their customers some great free incentives.

Working with TerraCycle, The Las Vegas Sans. Corp. resort said it’s the first Las Vegas-based property to develop such a program.   SEATTLE (Waste 360): Surgical face masks used by guests and staff at The Venetian in Las Vegas will be recycled in a newly launched program.   Working with TerraCycle, The Las Vegas Sans. Corp. resort said it’s the first Las Vegas-based property to develop such a program.   The masks recycled from The Venetian will be collected, separated, shredded, and turned into a raw material that can be used to make products such as composite lumber for shipping pallet, railroad ties and composite decking.   The Venetian has been separating masks from other waste since its reopening on June 4 as part of its Sands ECO360 initiative.   Surgical masks are not currently recycled through mainstream or curbside recycling programs because the recycling process is so complex. The masks are composed of various materials that need to be sorted and separated before recycling — including a metal nose strip, which requires a magnet to separate it.   Courtesy: www.waste360.com  

By moving away from disposable packaging, companies can address the global problem of plastic waste. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, only about 9 percent of the 9.9 billion tons of plastic generated globally since the 1950s has been recycled. And almost half^PDF of the plastic waste poisoning marine life, contaminating food, and clogging waterways and sewers comes from consumer packaging. As citizens and governments wake up to this plastic pollution problem, they’re turning to business to solve it. In response, companies are trying to craft new approaches to plastic, whether reducing overpackaging or rolling out biodegradable materials made of seaweed and cornstarch. But one solution — the reuse and refill business model — stands out for its potential to shift consumer behaviors while unlocking new revenue streams and cost savings for companies. It’s easy to see why cheap, sturdy, and lightweight plastic quickly became a convenient, even innovative, packaging option for consumers. The popularity of plastic skyrocketed in developed countries in the 1970s after the invention of the polyethylene shopping bag. Within two decades, plastic packaging had flooded the world; consider how, in developing countries, companies have marketed items as varied as shampoo and hot sauce in tiny single-use sachets. Products in cheap, throwaway packaging solved immediate consumer problems — for example, by offering unbeatable value pricing to millions of low-income consumers — but created a long-term health and environmental disaster. Now, businesses such as Chilean startup Algramo, literally meaning “by the gram,” are tackling the crisis by offering the same value to consumers, but in reusable containers. Algramo makes products including rice, detergent, and other everyday staples available in small, affordable quantities via smart vending machines and reusable containers. Its bottles are equipped with RFID tags that allow consumers to earn discount credits with each use, incentivizing them to refill rather than throw away the containers. Flush with funding from Closed Loop Partners, Algramo is set to introduce this innovation in the U.S., too. It has good reason to do so: On a per capita basis, North America, Japan, and Europe generate the most plastic waste. Algramo is in good company. As part of the New Plastics Economy initiative, launched two years ago by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the U.N. Environment Programme, more than 400 organizations have set concrete targets toward reducing plastic use by 2025. Many of those companies, both startups and established brands, are testing reuse and refill solutions. Their motivations aren’t strictly altruistic: The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates a US$10 billion business opportunity in converting even 20 percent of global plastic packaging to a reusable model.  

Fisher House recently announced partnership with TerraCycle, Gillette and CVS Pharmacy for a new razor recycling initiative. Not only will they aim to make a positive impact on the environment, but serve military families while they do it.   "How it works is that you collect all your shave products. The boxes, cartridges and the razors. Keep them until the end of August and mail them to TerraCycle," said Michelle Baldanza, Vice President of Communications for Fisher House Foundation. CVS is providing the free shipping label for those participating. She continued, "The most weight that's sent to them by state per capita – the winner of that - will get a playground for their Fisher House."   In the press release for the initiative, TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky said, "We are happy to align with these forward-thinking companies to give communities the opportunity to engage around a free, easy recycling solution that supports veterans and their families." Fisher House Foundation is proud to partner with other nonprofits and organizations to continue to serve military families.   This initiative is open to anyone who wants to participate. It also creates a unique opportunity for military bases to get involved and create friendly competition with their neighboring states. Should a state win that already has a playground for their Fisher House, another project of similar value will be approved. If for some reason there is not a Fisher House in the state that wins, one within the closest geographic proximity will be chosen instead.   Most Fisher Houses are located near major medical or VA facilities and are completely free for troops and their families to stay at while a loved one is receiving treatment. Fisher House Foundation now boasts 88 comfort homes for military families. They are breaking ground on a new home in Kansas City in a few months and opening one in New Orleans at the end of the year. The comfort homes are scattered across the United States, with a few in Europe.   The Landstuhl Fisher House in Germany is a vital house as it is next to the medical facility that troops injured in combat go through for treatment. "They started it just after a bombing in the 90s and finished it just before 9/11. The timing was really incredible that it happened right before the surge," Baldanza shared.   Each Fisher House is between 5,000 to 16,800 square feet in size. There are up to 21 suites and are all professional furnished and decorated. Each can also accommodate between 16 to 42 family members. The homes are gifted to either the DOD or VA when they are completed.   "For 16 years we've had four star charity ratings. Between 93 percent to 95 percent of what we bring in goes right back into the Fisher Houses. They know what we do goes to the service members, families and veterans," Baldanza explained. Fisher House also boasts an A+ grade from Charity Watch.   According to their website, Fisher House served over 32,000 families in 2019 alone. They've also given $25 million in scholarships to military children and given out over 70,000 airline tickets with their Hero Miles program. When an injured service member is receiving treatment and there is no Fisher House, they put their families in nearby hotels with their Hotels for Heroes program.   Baldanza expressed that Fisher House Foundation is only a part of the puzzle of support that cares for veterans and their families – it takes a village. This is one of the main reasons that they continually build partnerships, like the recent one with TerraCycle, CVS and Gillette. Together, they know they can accomplish so much more for military families.   "There are so many needs that are out there, it's hard to fill them all. We [Fisher House Foundation] try to take care of those basic burdens so that family members can heal with their loved ones and help their loved ones heal too," Baldanza explained. She continued, "We always say 'a family's love is the best medicine' and that's the goal – to keep these families together."   To learn more about Fisher House Foundation or to join in on their latest initiative, click here.

Recycle, reuse, reduce is becoming a popular phrase. What do these words mean and how does one make a difference?   Recycling is defined as the “process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products,” states the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Recycling is an easy step to take in helping sustain the environment for future generations, however, one must recycle right. This means cleaning the item and disposing it in the proper container.   There are several benefits to recycling including: reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills; helping create jobs in the recycling industry; preventing pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials; and saving energy.   In January, Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) and Cooperative Teamwork and Recycling Assistance (CTRA) merged together and formed a new program called Keep Texas Recycling. Additional information can be found at: https://www.ktb.org/keeptexasrecycling.   TerraCycle is a “world leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams” according to their website and they offer multiple programs and services to help eliminate waste. Keep Blanco Beautiful is currently a member of the TerraCycle Cigarette Waste Recycling Program and recycles the butts from the receptacles around the city’s historic district. More information can be found at Terracycle.org.   The definition of reuse is to use a product again for the same purpose it was created for and is usually not altered. A few examples of items to reuse include a washable cup/bottle, plates, utensils, and cloth napkins. Reusable bags are great for shopping at stores and eliminate the waste from plastic bags. “Recycled water generally refers to treated domestic wastewater that is used more than once before it passes back into the water cycle,” states the Wateruse website. Water can also be reused in different ways such as irrigation and rainwater collection. Donating items is also a form of reuse and is beneficial in several ways. These include: preventing usable goods from going into landfills; helping the community and those in need; and tax benefits may be available.   Lastly, reduce is defined as making something smaller or using less which results in a smaller amount of waste. The EPA states the “most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place.”   Reduction has a lot of benefits, such as: sustaining the environment for future generation; preventing pollution; and reducing the amount of waste that will need to be recycled. There are several simple ways to reduce waste like buying products you actually need and continuing to use the item or catching a carpool to work. One should try to purchase products with minimum packaging, but are durable and buy items in bulk. Rechargeable batteries and refurbished electronics are also ways to reduce waste.   A person can reduce the amount of water used daily by simply turning off the water while brushing one’s teeth and taking shorter showers. Opt out of unwanted catalogs and other junk mail; many organizations offer online paperless services. The EPA also recommends to “maintain and repair products, like clothing, tires and appliances, so that they won’t have to be thrown out and replaced as frequently.”   Recycling, reusing, and reducing products can really help make a positive impact on the environment for future generations.