Take a look at your desk. What do you see? Some pens and a few document files? A calculator, chocolate bar or a letter tray? Sticky notes, an index box, a tube of handcream? Are you seeing what we’re seeing? Plastic – a veritable sea of the stuff.

Last year started out poorly for recycling in Philadelphia as the city sent half its recycling to incinerators while it brokered a deal with Waste Management that took effect last June. This year, widespread incineration has stopped, but taxpayers will be coughing up millions more to handle the waste few haulers want to deal with anymore.   In fact, the city is now paying about $106 a ton to dispose of its recycling, up from $78 a ton this time last year, said Scott McGrath, the city’s environmental planner. Two years ago, the city was paying only $5 a ton, still far from the days when recycling was actually a money maker.   In all, taxpayers will pony up $9 million this fiscal year for Waste Management to haul their throwaway plastics, glass bottles, and paper — almost double what the city was paying just a few years ago.     But McGrath said Philadelphia has pledged to continue recycling, and residents say they want it.   “We want to remind everybody, yes we are recycling," McGrath said. "There still seems to be a little confusion about that.”  

How you can help

  McGrath and other industry experts say consumers can play a big role by placing non-recyclable or dirty items in the trash, rather than the blue recycling bins. Indeed, so much of the city’s recycling stream is contaminated by non-recycling items and plastic or paper ruined by food waste or water, that at least a fifth goes to a landfill or is incinerated at a waste-to-energy facility.   McGrath said there is some indication the recycling market could improve by spring, but that’s no sure thing.   The country’s recycling crisis has hit Philadelphia hard, starting in 2018 when China, then the U.S.'s biggest buyer of recyclables, shut off the faucet by demanding loads be nearly pure. Philadelphia, and most U.S. cities, can’t come close to producing pure loads even now. Other countries, such as Vietnam and India, started taking recyclables, but now they too are demanding the same kind of purity.   So American haulers and recycling processors such as West Management have increased rates to make the economics of recycling work.   McGrath said it can be cheaper to produce new plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, than recycle old. That’s because energy prices are so low from a glut of fossil fuel being produced.   The amount of plastics people are tossing in their recycling bins continues to grow, especially plastic takeout bags, McGrath said. The ubiquitous bags handed out by retailers for every purchase no matter how small are not recycled in Philadelphia and most municipalities because of their low value. And they jam recycling machinery.   Philadelphia passed a ban on single-use plastic bags in 2019, but it takes effect in July.   The city is under a five-year contract with Waste Management to provide recycling services at the company’s plant on Bleigh Avenue, where plastics, cardboard, glass, paper and metals are sorted and baled for resale or reuse.   “In general, the markets are not strong for most of those materials,” said John Hambrose, a spokesperson for Waste Management.   McGrath said he believes the city’s recycling stream is getting cleaner, thanks to more aware residents. But the contamination level is still way too high.  

The plastic bag problem

  Brett Stevens, a vice president at TerraCycle, said he agrees with McGrath that markets could see an uptick in demand. TerraCycle, based in Trenton, specializes in recycling products that aren’t typically included in curbside residential pickups, such as plastic bags. The company turns the plastic into pellets used to make new plastic products.   In the past several years, he said, the cost of collecting plastic, sorting it and converting it into pellets outweighed the value. Now, however, he said, entrepreneurs are finding new markets, and new machines that clean and process recyclables are being built.   Among the many ways the company makes money is to pick up plastic bags from retail outlets that provide a recycling bin for consumers.   But some retailers, such as MOM’S Organic Market, which has a store in Center City, are stopping the practice because the cost is too high, or the containers get contaminated. MOM’s had been using TerraCycle to recycle the bags.   MOM’S announced on its website it “will no longer accept plastic bags, snack bags, foil-lined energy bar wrappers, personal health and beauty packaging, Brita/water filters, baby food squeeze packages, and drink packages starting Jan. 1.”   The news was disheartening for residents such as Lisa Wagner, who wrote to Curious Philly, asking about the new MOM’s policy, and saying she is trying to curb use of plastic bags at home. Curious Philly is the Inquirer’s portal that allows readers to ask our reporters questions, and then we hunt down the answers.   “I’ve been hoping to get our building to be more proactive about this but there needs to be someplace to take all of the plastic that we generate,” Wagner wrote. She said the meal delivery services she uses still bring the food in bags.   “My big concern is that other stores ... will follow suit,” Wagner said, calling the plastic bag situation, “a nightmare.”   MOM’s said it was stopping the practice because it could no longer comply with TerraCycle guidelines.   Stevens said contamination levels in collection bins is often high because passersby mistake the bins for trash receptacles.   It now costs retailers money to operate such programs, where once they got industry rebates, he said.   A TerraCycle spokesperson said the company “strives to manage each of our recycling programs within the budget allocated by the program sponsor” but the volume of waste MOM’s was collecting was more than the recycler could support.   Still, Stevens said there’s a growing demand for plastics to make products like engineered outdoor decking. He said the U.S. domestic recycling industry is building more infrastructure but it takes time.   “There is a small recovery coming,” Stevens said. “Recycling has gotten a bit of a bad name because of the China ban. But recycling is not going anywhere."   For a complete list of what’s recyclable curbside in Philadelphia, go to www.philadelphiastreets.com.

It’s that time of year when many of us want to be starting something new—whether it’s a job, workout routine, or getting rid of some household items and making space for bright beginnings. While I’m all for freshening up a living room with a newly acquired rug or standing lamp, there’s never been a more urgent time to conscientiously consider how we buy our goods and what we do with them once their lives are over. That’s why we’ve rounded up New York City’s best options to recycle and dispose of common household goods.   “Keep in mind the waste hierarchy: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle,” says Nicole Grossberg, co-founder of the Zero Waste NYC Workshop Series, held monthly on various topics, all focused on how we can better shift our daily practices to produce less waste. “If you’re going to recycle an item, make sure that you’re recycling properly and not ‘wish cycling’. It counts to go the extra mile to make sure you are disposing of something properly.”   There’s another reason to be proactive about our waste: New York City’s residential recycling rate is just 18%, an abysmal number for a major city. (Seattle and San Francisco’s rates are three times ours.) Until New York does its part to mandate certain recycling programs like food waste, it’s up to us to pick up and recycle the slack.   Organic waste, both food and yard scraps, makes up a third of our city’s waste stream. When left in the trash that’s sent to landfills, the rotting rubbish emits methane, a more noxious greenhouse gas than carbon monoxide.   GrowNYC and their compost drop-off sites are hoping to change that. With over 150 residential food scrap drop-off sites, this is one of the easiest changes you can make in your life when it comes to living greener and disposing of your household waste in a meaningful way.   There’s also a curbside compost collection option if you live in one of these districts where you may have noticed small brown bins next to your regular trash and recycling ones. But the city has yet to make good on its promise to mandate composting, so GrowNYC is the foolproof way to get your compost into the right hands, regardless of where you live in the city. “There’s a gap in the education piece of the brown bins,” says Grossberg, “but the dropoff program is amazing. That’s what I utilize, I make it part of my routine.”   GrowNYC has another great drop-off component, for textiles! They note that “NYC residents discard nearly 200,000 tons of textiles every year, at a cost to taxpayers and our environment.” (One of the reasons why we should only purchase 3 new items of clothing a year.) So while there aren’t as many as drop-off locations for textiles as there are for compost, you’ll find one at each Greenmarket across New York, currently totaling 30 sites. There’s even an option to get a refashionNYC collection bin placed in your office or apartment building (as long as it has ten or more units).   Another local option for getting rid of your clothing, shoes, and accessories is to donate or sell them to second-hand shops like Buffalo Exchange, Housing Works, Beacon’s Closet, or smaller ones in your neighborhood. One important thing to find out before dropping your clothes at these locations is if your items aren’t sold, will they be properly donated to be recycled as textile waste?     The Freecycle Network is a grassroots movement run by volunteers in communities all over the globe, based on the idea that people want to give and receive things for free (from clothing to electronics to art supplies to furniture). There’s a large Brooklyn community that all are welcome to join for free. As you let go of furniture on this site, you may even find your next item here too! “We often forget about the upstream and how things are produced,” says Grosberg. “The production of that item (a couch, for example) is probably using coal and oil in the factory to produce it. You’re affecting the supply chain when you choose to buy used items.”   Other organizations that may provide free pick-up service in your neighborhood are Habitat for Humanity, Housing Works, and The Salvation Army.     Unfortunately, unlike other textiles such as clothing, towels, and linens, most rugs and carpets contain materials that aren’t recyclable or are made of multiple materials that can’t be pulled apart. New York doesn’t have a simple solution for properly recycling rugs yet, but there are a few places to do research if you have a large area rug or wall-to-wall carpet.   Carpet Cycle in New Jersey is finding uses for post-consumer carpets and may be able to pick up your residential carpets. And Earth911 provides more insight into the types of recycling centers that may take carpets or carpet pads.     DonateNYC is my favorite New York City-based tool when it comes to finding places to drop off more miscellaneous items in close proximity to my apartment. Especially for so many of us who don’t have cars, it’s the perfect solution to skipping the movers or renting a truck yourself. They have a directory based on an address you type in of where you can donate or receive pretty much anything from automotive supplies to home appliances to books.   One of its partners, Big Reuse in Brooklyn, will accept donations of appliances and home renovation supplies, and offer a “deconstruction” service whereby professionals will come and dismantle a kitchen or bathroom slated for renovation, often at no or low cost to resell at the shop.   There are also many of DonateNYC’s bins set up in residential and retail buildings. They even host classes multiple times a day all over the city on topics such as mending clothes, write helpful resources, host drop-off days for specialty items, and have developed a new event, ReFashion Week NYC 2020, coming up in February that I’m excited to attend.   For all your old toothpaste tubes and personal care items like toothbrushes, haul them to the Package Free Shop in Williamsburg and Chelsea Market, which use uses TerraCycle. The Park Slope Food Coop accepts a few random items too, like toothpaste and Brita water filters.     There are a couple of easy and responsible ways to get rid of those pesky dead batteries or overused electronics that have probably been hanging around your apartment for some time.   To get rid of batteries and other hazardous waste like paint, hold on to your dead AAs until the city hosts one of its biannual SAFE Disposal events, hosted by NYC’s Department of Sanitation, which happen in the spring and fall. These events accept electronics too.   For electronics recycling year round, a few options include Staples, which accepts all those extra cords, chargers, and cracked tablets you don’t know what to do with. The Package Free Shop in Williamsburg and Chelsea Market uses TerraCycle to collect electronics, too.   You can also ask your employer to sponsor electronics recycling through TerraCycle, so you could bring in home electronics on your morning commute.   While the options for recycling and repurposing goods is expanding, it’s key to keep zero waste as a goal, even if it’s just about making micro improvements to your daily routine. “In general, it’s becoming more of a conversation, even trendy, if you will,” says Grossberg. “That gets me excited. As much as I think we have a long way to go, I’m seeing so much interest. It gives me a lot of hope.”   You can attend the next Zero Waste NYC Workshop on Wednesday, January 22nd at LMHQ in Downtown Manhattan. Click here for tickets.

Last year started out poorly for recycling in Philadelphia as the city sent half its recycling to incinerators while it brokered a deal with Waste Management that took effect last June. This year, widespread incineration has stopped, but taxpayers will be coughing up millions more to handle the waste few haulers want to deal with anymore.   In fact, the city is now paying about $106 a ton to dispose of its recycling, up from $78 a ton this time last year, said Scott McGrath, the city’s environmental planner. Two years ago, the city was paying only $5 a ton, still far from the days when recycling was actually a money maker.   In all, taxpayers will pony up $9 million this fiscal year for Waste Management to haul their throwaway plastics, glass bottles, and paper — almost double what the city was paying just a few years ago.     But McGrath said Philadelphia has pledged to continue recycling, and residents say they want it.   “We want to remind everybody, yes we are recycling," McGrath said. "There still seems to be a little confusion about that.”  

How you can help

  McGrath and other industry experts say consumers can play a big role by placing non-recyclable or dirty items in the trash, rather than the blue recycling bins. Indeed, so much of the city’s recycling stream is contaminated by non-recycling items and plastic or paper ruined by food waste or water, that at least a fifth goes to a landfill or is incinerated at a waste-to-energy facility.   McGrath said there is some indication the recycling market could improve by spring, but that’s no sure thing.   The country’s recycling crisis has hit Philadelphia hard, starting in 2018 when China, then the U.S.'s biggest buyer of recyclables, shut off the faucet by demanding loads be nearly pure. Philadelphia, and most U.S. cities, can’t come close to producing pure loads even now. Other countries, such as Vietnam and India, started taking recyclables, but now they too are demanding the same kind of purity.   So American haulers and recycling processors such as West Management have increased rates to make the economics of recycling work.   McGrath said it can be cheaper to produce new plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, than recycle old. That’s because energy prices are so low from a glut of fossil fuel being produced.   The amount of plastics people are tossing in their recycling bins continues to grow, especially plastic takeout bags, McGrath said. The ubiquitous bags handed out by retailers for every purchase no matter how small are not recycled in Philadelphia and most municipalities because of their low value. And they jam recycling machinery.   Philadelphia passed a ban on single-use plastic bags in 2019, but it takes effect in July.   The city is under a five-year contract with Waste Management to provide recycling services at the company’s plant on Bleigh Avenue, where plastics, cardboard, glass, paper and metals are sorted and baled for resale or reuse.   “In general, the markets are not strong for most of those materials,” said John Hambrose, a spokesperson for Waste Management.   McGrath said he believes the city’s recycling stream is getting cleaner, thanks to more aware residents. But the contamination level is still way too high.  

The plastic bag problem

  Brett Stevens, a vice president at TerraCycle, said he agrees with McGrath that markets could see an uptick in demand. TerraCycle, based in Trenton, specializes in recycling products that aren’t typically included in curbside residential pickups, such as plastic bags. The company turns the plastic into pellets used to make new plastic products.   In the past several years, he said, the cost of collecting plastic, sorting it and converting it into pellets outweighed the value. Now, however, he said, entrepreneurs are finding new markets, and new machines that clean and process recyclables are being built.   Among the many ways the company makes money is to pick up plastic bags from retail outlets that provide a recycling bin for consumers.   But some retailers, such as MOM’S Organic Market, which has a store in Center City, are stopping the practice because the cost is too high, or the containers get contaminated. MOM’s had been using TerraCycle to recycle the bags.   MOM’S announced on its website it “will no longer accept plastic bags, snack bags, foil-lined energy bar wrappers, personal health and beauty packaging, Brita/water filters, baby food squeeze packages, and drink packages starting Jan. 1.”   The news was disheartening for residents such as Lisa Wagner, who wrote to Curious Philly, asking about the new MOM’s policy, and saying she is trying to curb use of plastic bags at home. Curious Philly is the Inquirer’s portal that allows readers to ask our reporters questions, and then we hunt down the answers.   “I’ve been hoping to get our building to be more proactive about this but there needs to be someplace to take all of the plastic that we generate,” Wagner wrote. She said the meal delivery services she uses still bring the food in bags.   “My big concern is that other stores ... will follow suit,” Wagner said, calling the plastic bag situation, “a nightmare.”   MOM’s said it was stopping the practice because it could no longer comply with TerraCycle guidelines.   Stevens said contamination levels in collection bins is often high because passersby mistake the bins for trash receptacles.   It now costs retailers money to operate such programs, where once they got industry rebates, he said.   A TerraCycle spokesperson said the company “strives to manage each of our recycling programs within the budget allocated by the program sponsor” but the volume of waste MOM’s was collecting was more than the recycler could support.   Still, Stevens said there’s a growing demand for plastics to make products like engineered outdoor decking. He said the U.S. domestic recycling industry is building more infrastructure but it takes time.   “There is a small recovery coming,” Stevens said. “Recycling has gotten a bit of a bad name because of the China ban. But recycling is not going anywhere."   For a complete list of what’s recyclable curbside in Philadelphia, go to www.philadelphiastreets.com.

Lillian and Pearl Lassen are chipping in to make their corner of the world a greener place — one potato chip bag at a time.   The mother/daughter duo last year started a grassroots effort in Sandpoint to recycle certain products that are not accepted as part of the curbside blue bin recycling programs seen in towns across the country.   “This is not your traditional recycling program,” Lillian says.   Those who participate in the program can drop certain materials at Winter Ridge Market, 703 Lake Street.   Lillian and her daughter Pearl, 7, made boxes listing the items that are to be placed in the designated containers. They used biodegradable tape and recycled paper to decorate the boxes which are marked for Late July brand potato chips, as well as personal hygiene products made by Toms of Main and Burt’s Bees.   When the boxes are full, the Lassens ship them to TerraCycle, a New Jersey-based firm that collects non-recyclable consumer waste, and then partners with corporate donors or municipalities to turn it into raw material to be used in new products.   TerraCycle recycles virtually anything, from cigarette butts, to used chewing gum to certain plastics that cannot be put in the blue recycling bins, Lassen said.   “I wanted to share activities with her daughter to help benefit others in need and the environment,” she said. “Pearl wanted to cut back on buying products in bags that could not be recycled. The idea is to reduce, recycle and reuse.”   The environmentally conscious duo aims to reduce waste that is thrown out.   “There is just so much was waste in packaging,” Lassen said. “This is an effort to take baby steps to increase awareness and create memories with my daughter.”   Lassen said the program has been a success and she plans to eventually expand the materials that are accepted at Winter Ridge Market.   “The boxes in the store have done really well,” she said. “People are really thankful for the opportunity to recycle (materials) that would otherwise end up in the dump.”

Two Harbors, MN — January 6, 2020 — New year, same mission. Granite Gear rings in 2020 with its fourth class of Grounds Keepers leading the charge in leaving our trails, parks and waterways better. Since 2017, Grounds Keeper members have removed over 10,000 pounds (and counting) of trash from our public lands. In 2020, Granite Gear introduces the Grounds Keepers “Legacy Team” including 11 rockstars from previous Grounds Keeper teams, alongside 19 new team members. This year’s diverse crew of 30 Grounds Keepers will be supported by the following sponsors: Astral , Big Agnes, Food for the Sole, Klean Kanteen, Kula Cloth, Public Lands Coffee, Recover Brand and UCO . Granite Gear is thrilled to see the growing coalition of brands supporting this initiative.   Out of hundreds of applicants, the Grounds Keepers were chosen based on their passion for the outdoors, cleanup goals and outdoor experience. With the collective mission to leave our planet better, the new 2020 team includes: Ari Leach, Ashley Bredemus, Ben Vaughan, Cat Curtis, Cliford Mervil, Daniel White, Danny Murphy, Devin Holmes, Hannah Edstrom, Hatie Parmeter, Jen Potts, Kelsey Semrod, Marlee Jennings, Paul Katz, Reece Thompson, Sarah Wilson, Suzanne Hassanein, Todd Lee and Tyler Lau. The 2020 Legacy Team includes: Alex Wehrle, Andrew Forestell, Britany Freeman, Jenny Bruso, Jen Thiesen, Julie Hukriede, Leland Kolson, Paul Twedt, Seth Orme, Steven Snyder, Sunshine State Seekers.       “Granite Gear is proud and honored to assemble another amazing Grounds Keepers team. The 2020 Grounds Keepers are a diverse group of arse-kickers who are matched only by our kick-arse new and returning sponsors. Trash, get ready to have your arse-kicked (and picked...up),” says Granite Gear’s General Manager, Rob Coughlin.   New for 2020, Grounds Keepers will be encouraged to go a step further in their Leave No Trace efforts and recycle their collected waste streams via TerraCycle 's services. TerraCycle supports the Grounds Keeper passions, goals and mission fully and looks forward to being a resource for Leave No Trace practices.   Visit www.thegroundskeepers.org to learn more about the team and follow along at #TheGroundsKeepers and the Grounds Keepers Instagram . Granite Gear and all brand partners share stories from the Grounds Keepers often. For more information on the Grounds Keepers program, please email Julie Bacon at jbacon@granitegear.com.

When you think of what can be recycled, aluminum cans and newspapers probably come to mind first. But don’t forget about granola bar wrappers, plastic cups, and chip bags.   That garbage can find a second life too, thanks to a group of Bloomington-Normal volunteers who sort, box up, and ship hard-to-recycle items to TerraCycle. They’ve diverted around 100,000 items from the landfill over the past two years—a track record that recently earned those volunteers the Ecology Action Center’s 2019 McLean County Recycling and Waste Reduction Award.   “I found (the award) very surprising,” said TerraCycle volunteer Amie Keeton. “It was nice to have our efforts recognized. And it’s nice to have our name out there and what we’re doing a little bit more.”   You might be surprised at what Bloomington-Normal’s TerraCycle team can accept:  

• Plastic hairspray bottles
• Burt’s Bee products
• Chip or snack bags
• Toothpaste tubes and caps
• Brita or PUR pitches and filters

    See a full list of what they accept. Items can be dropped off 24/7 at St. Luke Union Church in Bloomington (garbage in the back) or at Common Ground Grocery. TerraCycle, a New Jersey-based company with $31.8 million in revenue last year, is one answer to the flood of plastic that comes into our homes but can’t necessarily go out with our weekly curbside single-stream recycling. For years, the U.S. sent much of that plastic trash to China. But China in 2018 cut back almost all imports of trash. A huge market dried up.   TerraCycle, founded in 2001, takes in sorted plastic junk from individuals and volunteer teams (like Bloomington’s) from all over the country. It can turn that plastic into new products, like recycled plastic resin or plastic lumber. Those sending in plastic can earn TerraCycle “points” which are redeemable for charitable gifts, TerraCycle products, or a donation to a school or nonprofit.   St. Luke’s missions committee decides where to donate the local TerraCycle proceeds, Keeton said. So far, the beneficiaries have included the Community Health Care Clinic, Project Oz, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and other nonprofits.   TerraCycle has partnered with several big brands that fund its free recycling programs. The company that owns the Solo plastic cup brand, for example, supports a free recycling program for rigid #6 plastic cups. (That’s one of the items that Bloomington-Normal’s group collects.)   “That’s where TerraCycle fits in,” said Melanie Ziomek, another Bloomington volunteer. “Maybe it’s making the businesses more responsible for what they create. Because there’s more to it than putting a stamp on it that says it’s recyclable. Because in certain communities, you can’t.”   It’s not easy work. Janet Guaderrama is the local TerraCycle sorter-in-chief, putting in at least four or five hours a week. The goal is to label and store everything until they “make weight” and have enough of a given item—like granola bar wrappers or plastic cups—to ship off to TerraCycle.   “Our struggles are always trying to find big enough boxes,” Ziomek said. “We’ve gotten really creative. We’ll put four boxes on top of each other and tape them all together, just so we can fit 40 pounds of chip bags in there."   Ziomek started recycling like this in 2011 out of her garage, later expanding and teaming up with the other TerraCycle volunteers. Her inspiration: She was troubled by how much garbage her family was throwing out at home, and she felt there had to be something they could do to reduce their waste.   “I started to research online, and I found TerraCycle. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, all these things my home ends up throwing away, I can do this,’” Ziomek said.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few years, you’ve probably noticed the rapid growth in the zero-waste movement. Not rapid enough, in my opinion, as we’re still up to our necks in trash, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.   Over the past few years, I’ve been making marginal efforts to reduce my personal footprint, as well as that of my household. I plan on taking those efforts from marginal to concentrated over the next few months. I’ve got mountains to climb still, but with new eco-friendly companies popping up all the time, it’s becoming increasingly easier to live a low-waste lifestyle. The marketplace is filled with new, innovative products created to replace single-use plastics and packaging that end up in landfills and in our oceans.   There are now countless blogs and websites, and the list of eco-influencers is growing daily. I have the pleasure of calling one of them, my friend. I’ve watched her make consistent changes over the last year, small changes that add up to a not-so-small impact. I thought it would be interesting to dig a little deeper into this and share her journey with all of you!     Edie: What made you decide to go plastic-free? What was your why, your turning point?   Ashley: I had started to hear more and more on the news about the effects of plastic in our oceans. At first, I ignored these claims because I assumed my plastic use wasn’t the problem. I figured I lived too far away from oceans and had faith in my community’s recycling program.   But, the news continued to highlight these issues and I eventually came to learn that only 10% of our plastic is actually recycled. My biggest turning point though, was in October 2018 when the UN announced that we only had until 2030 to make a lot of changes to avoid Global Warming from being irreversible.   My son was only 3 months old and I was probably still dealing with some hormonal imbalances at the time, but this news sent me into an anxious spiral with many sleepless nights lying in bed scared for my son's future and feeling completely helpless.   Then I came up with the idea to remove one plastic item from my life each week as my 2019 New Years Resolution and post my changes on my Instagram and Facebook. It would force me to keep going, knowing other people might be paying attention, and I also hoped to make some awareness and hopefully inspire a couple of people to join me in making the same changes.   I knew it was a small step to the action required but it was something and it helped me change my focus to something positive.   E: Did you have an inspiration point? There’s a handful of well-known ‘eco celebrities’ out there — have any of them inspired you to do this?   A: After learning of my New Year’s Resolution, my husband bought me two books (Life Without Plastic, and Give A Sh*t). I used them a lot at the beginning, for inspiration. I only came to learn of some eco celebrities after I was well into my new year's resolution and looked for further inspirations online. Bea Johnson from Zero Waste Home is someone I follow closely now.   E: And what was the easiest transition to make?   A: Deodorant. Now I just mix baking soda with some water and apply it to my underarms. It’s one of the first things I changed, and I still swear by this a year later, which still blows my mind because I bounced around from deodorant to deodorant every few months since puberty.   E: What was the hardest?   A: Toothpaste. I still haven’t found a solution I’m satisfied with, and admittedly sometimes use my husband’s ‘normally packaged’ toothpaste between trying out new waste-free or DIY toothpaste options.   E: What has your biggest overall challenge been on this journey in the last year?   A: Huff! That’s a tough question! But, I guess the toughest thing is that Zero Waste / Plastic Free is starting to trend (so awesome!) which means that it’s now a market to exploit (not so awesome!). There are so many ‘alternate’ products out there, but not all of them are great options and I’ve spent countless hours researching products before going ahead and purchasing them. Then, taking more time to post about the changes online… It was honestly a full-time job! I never expected the whole thing to be so time-consuming.   E: Are you satisfied with your success? What is your biggest lesson learned throughout this journey?   A: Yes, I really am. I’ve had an overwhelming amount of people reach out to me with questions and requests for recommendations to help them on their own plastic-free journeys. I honestly expected most of my online friends and followers to block me after week 20 haha! But, so many people have reached out, even if just to say they love my posts. It has been really inspiring and gives me hope.   E: If you were to start over, would you do anything differently?   A: With a new baby and a wedding in June 2019, I bought more items than I would have liked online. I wish I had done more of my purchases “offline.”   E: What are your plans going forward? Are you going to continue adding on new changes over the next 52 weeks, or will you simply concentrate your efforts on the changes that you’ve already made?   A: Currently I’ve been concentrating my efforts on the changes I’ve already made, while still always looking for new plastic-free alternatives as things need replacing. I’ve also been thinking of starting a new challenge of making monthly changes to lower my personal carbon footprint down as much as possible.   E: I know that you did this as a 52-week New Year’s resolution, aiming for one change per week. Can you please tell me why you decided to do it by week, and what those 52 changes were?   A: I guess it just seemed to make sense to me. Having a weekly goal forced me to continue to reflect on my current choices. I felt it would be challenging but not impossible.   Week 1: Food Packaging choices at my current grocery store   I chose to start easy but impactful. Nothing about my daily routine changes at this point. but, as I fill my grocery cart each week, I will be choosing products packaged in sustainable materials. I’m talking old-school Heinz Ketchup bottles and other glass and metal packaging, and no more packaged produce, etc. It isn’t 100% right away because unfortunately, not all grocery stores make it possible. It’s a work in progress goal.   Week 2: Beeswax Wraps   I bought mine from Shop Etee and love them! They are seriously as good as they claim. I thought it would be annoying to clean them after each use but it’s not. Once these ones are ready for the compost bin, I’ll be buying more for sure! Bye-bye plastic-wrap and sandwich bags!   Week 3: Bar Soap   It’s hard to remember exactly when liquid soap became a thing but it sure caught on! We use liquid soap on our hands and our bodies all the time, which of course means plastic. Plastic soap bottles and plastic loofahs. You can get natural loofahs but most households use the colorful plastic ones that are just tossed into the trash when they become too loose (guilty!). I’m going back to the bar!   Week 4: Deodorant   Here comes some honesty… Since puberty, I’ve struggled with body odor. Each brand of deodorant I would try would only kinda work for a month or so, until it didn’t. But, then I read a blog about plastic-free solutions and the man said he simply uses baking soda and water to form a paste. Well, I’m happy to say that it does work. It works better than anything I’ve ever tried. It checks off several boxes for me when it comes to deodorant: Plastic-free, no more body odor, natural (no more aluminum and chemicals going into my body), and it’s cheap!   Week 5: Razor   I said goodbye to my old pal Schick after dulling out the last blade. I ordered a safety razor online through Tiny Yellow Bungalow, but they can be found on almost any zero-waste stores. The razor and the blades are made with 100% infinity recyclable metal, so I no longer feel guilty each time I replace the blade. I also feel like I’ve stepped back into the 30s and can hear Frank Sinatra playing every time I use it, which makes me smile.   Week 6: Toothpaste   I’m not 100% satisfied with my solution yet. A few years ago, I tried making my own toothpaste using coconut oil and baking soda, but it made a mess of my sink and, I’m sure, clogged my drains so I stopped. There’s a fantastic company in the US called Bite Toothpaste that I was excited to start using once they shipped to Canada, but it would cost me $7.50 USD each month to brush my teeth. So I found a tooth soap made locally. It tasted like I was washing my mouth out with soap. I’m hoping to find something better before it runs out.   Week 7: Face Wash   I bought a bar of face soap online, and I’m going to make my own face scrub using sugar. Sadly, many of the commercial products on the shelves use plastic micro-beads as a cheap way to add color and exfoliants. The problem is that our water filtration systems aren’t able to catch these because they’re so small and they end up being eaten by small fish and krill, with then get eaten by bigger fish and then end up on many of our dinner plates and in our water bottles. Yuck!   Week 8: Dishwasher Soap   When you can’t find a plastic-free solution that’s also environmentally-friendly, in stores, it’s time to DIY. I found a simple recipe in the book ‘Life Without Plastic’, and it actually does a really good job!   Week 9: Toothbrush   Billions of plastic toothbrushes go to landfills each year and many end up in the ocean. So I started using a bamboo toothbrush with boar hair bristles. Yup, that’s right… I’m brushing my teeth with pig hair! It definitely takes some getting used to but it’s what we brushed our teeth with before plastic was invented, so it’s not as out-there as you might think. Most bamboo toothbrushes sold today still have nylon bristles and tell you to pluck them out and compost the handle. Gaia Guy was the only brand that I could find that is 100% biodegradable (handle and bristles). And, since it’s a by-product of the meat industry, and there are still a lot of meat-eaters out there, I’m okay using pig hair until someone invents an alternative biodegradable solution.   Week 10: Reusable Shopping Bags   10 years ago, reusable shopping bags were barely a thing. The impact of the plastic shopping bag on the environment never crossed my mind because it was normal to use them. Now, it’s common for almost everyone to bring their own bags grocery shopping. We all have a big stash of bags like this now.   Week 11: Baking Sheets   I kept telling myself we didn’t need to buy new baking sheets because the parchment paper and aluminum foil we use covered the surface anyway. Long story short; I’ve since learned that plastic is what makes parchment paper and non-stick surfaces, well… non-sticky, and the plastic leaks toxins into your food when baking with them. With a lot of research, I came to the conclusion that stainless steel, ceramic and glass are the best materials to cook and bake with.   Week 12: Sippy Cup   I’ve searched the internet high and low for a plastic-free sippy-cup, and Klean Kanteen is where I landed. The body is made of stainless steel, so it’s non-toxic and 100% recyclable at the end of its life. The lid is plastic (unfortunately) but is apparently recyclable at the end of its life, too. Once my son outgrows the ‘sippy’ stage, I’m able to simply buy a new lid instead of an entirely new bottle (and they do have stainless steel options. Yay!) The company is big on reducing waste so they claim their products are made to last.   Week 13: Shampoo & Conditioner   I initially ordered a shampoo & conditioner bar online and tried it for three weeks on and off, hoping my hair would adjust, but it made my hair feel like…well, like I had rubbed a bar of soap on it. With a recommendation from a friend, I purchased shampoo & conditioner bars from Lush Cosmetics, and they’re amazing and I’m hooked.   Week 14: Cancelled my towns free Newspaper delivery   I’ve decided to take some advice from Bea Johnson (author of Zero Waste Home), and focus on using zero waste to simplify my life. It’s a pain in the butt having to constantly toss the papers in the recycling so I contacted our local paper and asked them to stop delivering them to our house. This reduces the needless demand for plastic bag and paper production, and it’s one less thing I need to worry about cleaning.   Week 15: Chapstick   I like to tease my husband by calling him Napoleon Dynamite because he is constantly asking about the whereabouts of his chapstick. I bought him one from Nu Grocery to test out since he goes through them so quickly. We have both fallen in love with them because the quality of the product is so much better than what’s available in plastic tubes and the packaging on these ones is biodegradable!   Week 16: Toys   We love and appreciate all of the toys that have been given to our son, and he still plays with just about all of them. But as he grows up and outgrows his current toys, I’ll be doing my best to replace them with wooden or metal toys, or gently used plastic toys. And, I’m going to try to keep his toy count to a minimum and show him that there is more to life than possessions.   Week 17: Coffee at Home   I have already been making my home-brew from a French press (which requires zero waste, unlike most other options) and since moving to this city, I have been getting my beans from Planet Bean Coffee Co. (which is organic, fair trade, and local). The last time I went to Planet Bean, I noticed their bulk paper bags were lined with plastic, so this time, I brought my mason jar and had them weigh it before and after I grabbed my grains. Going in, I was nervous about getting weird stares from the baristas but they happily helped me without question.   Week 18: Makeup   I went on the hunt for a plastic-free cosmetic brand and found Elate Cosmetics. I’ll admit they aren’t cheap, but they are Canadian, vegan, cruelty-free, non-toxic, gluten-free and mostly plastic-free. Their packaging is made of bamboo (a sustainable product), therefore biodegradable. The makeup pallet is reusable with a magnetic board so you simply order refills instead of the whole thing, and the refills come in wildflower paper to plant in your garden. So cool!   Weeks 19 & 20: Water Filtration Charcoal sticks & Reusable Water Bottle   I found these bamboo charcoal sticks while browsing for ways to cut my plastic. What I love about them is that they have three lives; 1) Filter water for four months, 2) Deodorize the fridge, and 3) Fertilize the garden while composting back to the earth. I also have my Swell water bottle — and bonus, they sell charcoal sticks for water bottles too, so I keep some in my bottle so that if I ever need a refill in pubic I don’t have to worry about the quality of water. it came in handy while staying in a couple of hotels this year.   Week 21: Freezer Bags   My sister told me about Stasher Bag, and I reluctantly bought a couple. I say reluctantly because I’ve been really trying to avoid silicone products because they are hard to recycle at the end of their life. But, one bag vs. hundreds of disposable bags is definitely the better option. These bags are actually pretty cool too because they are dishwasher-safe and microwaveable, so their use goes beyond the freezer.   Week 22: Reusable Produce Bags   When I decided to start this plastic-free resolution, I thought I had already cut out the produce bags but then I went to buy green peas and realized I couldn’t exactly toss them in the Credo Bags online.   Week 23: Laundry Detergent   I came across Dropps which is an American company that ships non-toxic, plant-based detergents and soaps without plastic packaging (except the tape, unfortunately).   Week 24: Kitchen Cloth (instead of sponge)   This is an item that doesn’t often come to mind when plastic is mentioned but is a huge plastic pollutant. I cut up one of my microfibre cloths to the right size for what I need. Now I no longer have to pay for sponges.   Week 25: Sunscreen   I first took notice of sunscreen with Hawaii put a ban on brands that had oxybenzone and octinoxate in the ingredients. These ingredients have been shown to harm the coral reefs. I wonder what they are doing to our bodies?! Anyway, there are a few natural products out there that still protect against UV A & B and many options come in glass jars. So, that’s what I’m looking for in my sunscreen now.   Week 26: Say no to free stuff/handouts   We are offered free stuff all of the time… from hotel soaps and creams to goodie bags, free samples, and stickers. All of these things are designed to have short lifetimes and ultimately end up in the landfill. A lot of free giveaways don’t even get used and are thrown right into the trash.   Week 27: Hand Dish Washing Soap   I found a suggestion by Bea Johnson to use Dr. Bronner’s Castile bar soap. You simply wet your scrub brush, rub it on the bar, and wash dish then rinse. If you prefer to have a bath or soapy water you just hold the bar under the running water as you fill your sink.   Week 28: Laundry Stain Remover   Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Bar Soap. This stuff works great on removing stains in clothes. I now have a bar sitting in my laundry room, plus the one in my kitchen for my dishes which makes it super convenient when my son spills food all over himself.   Week 29: Started Bulk Shopping   Not the Costco kind, but the kind where you bring your own containers. This kind of shopping is as zero-waste as it gets!   Week 30: Baby Soap   It’s amazing how interchangeable you start to find some products are when you use simple and natural ones! We started using Dr. Bronner’s All In One Castile Soap for our son, and it works as shampoo and body wash.   Week 31: Stopped using Trash Bags   We’ve cut out the plastic bag that normally holds our trash. Our city doesn’t require our garbage to be bagged since they provided us with bins. We are great at composting anything and everything possible (even added a compost bin in the bathroom), so all of our garbage is dry and doesn’t need a bag to keep the containers dry. This solution saves me money and simplifies my life.   Week 32: Stopped using Plastic Shower Curtain Protector   When my shower curtain protector needed replacing I tried showering without it. Sure, my shower curtain got wet, but it’s not like the water sprayed everywhere or anything. My floor still remained dry. The curtain still did its job of containing the water inside the tub. I’m now confused about how the plastic protector ever became a thing... I’ll just wash the curtain when it starts to get gross. It’s more convenient than going to the store to buy a new curtain protector. Again, zero waste continues to simplify life!   Week 33: Say no to straws   I have started asking my waiter/waitress to “hold the straw, please”. Simple, easy, doesn’t cost me anything, doesn’t change my habits. I don’t use a straw when I have a drink at home, I don’t understand why I need one when I’m eating out. If more people start to do this, more restaurants will stop using them.   Week 34: Loose Leaf Tea   No more Tetley for this household! We now buy our tea exclusively loose and in bulk to avoid unnecessary plastic packaging. It tastes better too!   Week 35: Phone Case   I purchased a Pela case online. It is the first 100% compostable phone case and gives some of its proceeds to non-profit environment-focused organizations.   Weeks 36 & 37: Tissue Paper & Toilet Paper   I found this great company online called Who Gives A Crap. They sell bamboo tissue and 100% recycled toilet paper to keep our forests from being chopped down. They also package their product with zero plastic (except, sadly, for the pieces that allow the tissue to stay popped out of the box until the next use), and 50% of their profits go towards building toilets for third world countries. And if that’s not cool enough for you, their packaging is so much fun with vibrant colors and funny quotes). And if that’s not enough to pique your interest… they deliver by subscription, so I never have to do an emergency toilet paper run anymore… all for the same cost as the rolls and boxes of tissue at the grocery. What’s not to love?!   Week 38: Potty   Sometimes it’s not always about finding a plastic-free solution, but buying a used already made plastic option, and saving it from going to landfill for a little while longer.   Week 39: Poppy   Last year I saved my poppy to reuse this year, and for as many years as possible. Of course, I still made sure to donate.   Week 40: Body Butter   I was in dire need of some new body butter, so I grabbed some naked body butter from Lush. You just rub it against your skin (much like chapstick). It smells amazing and takes up no extra space on my tiny bathroom counter as I’ve got it sitting on my soap dish.   Week 41: Fresh Cut Flowers — Since going on my plastic-free journey I stopped buying myself fresh-cut flowers because they weren’t a necessity and created waste. Today I found a store in town that sells flowers in paper and tied with twine. To say I was excited was an understatement!   Week 42: Bread Bag   I bought myself a couple of bread bags and vowed to stop buying plastic-wrapped bread. I just need to slice my loaf and freeze it in the bag to keep the bread fresh for long.   Weeks 43 & 44: Bathroom Cleaner & All-Purpose Cleaners   There are so many on the market but all you really need to get any rough cleaning job done is some mixture of one or all of these things; vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and salt. I finally found a bulk vinegar seller.   Week 45: Coffee on the road   I haven’t purchased nor accepted a takeout coffee, tea, etc all year. The only way I’ll take it is in my to-go mug   Week 46: DIY Playdough   It takes 5 minutes to make and I don’t worry if my son accidentally eats it. I store it in small mason jars in the fridge to keep it fresh.   Week 47: Started 2nd Hand Shopping   I’ve really made an effort to look at second-hand stores, or online buy and sell, or websites. If I can’t find what I need I only buy the best quality to make it last longer. I’ve read a few articles this season discussing that this has been a trend this holiday season. So motivating to hear things like this!   Week 48: Paper Towels   Give A Crap also sells paper towel and I’m really happy with the tissue and toilet paper so I’ve added this to my next order.   Week 49: Tupperware & Take-out Kit   Slowly transitioning all my plastic Tupperware to glass or stainless steel. I’ve really meant to reduce my eating out but I’m not perfect so starting to pack containers and cutlery in my car for “emergency” situations.   Week 50: Dish Scrub Brush   Our plastic dish brush has seen better days and it’s time to replace it. Purchased an all-natural brush that can be composted when it’s reached the end of its life.   Week 51: DIY Hairspray   I ran out my commercial spray and made one out for the few times I need to hold back stray hairs.   Week 52: Vow to reduce purchases to needs (not wants)   By buying less, I have to throw out less! Simple math! And to add to that… finding recycling solutions for items that can’t be recycled through the town, through programs like Terra Cycle, and scrap metal recycling companies.   E: And finally, what advice would you give to anyone who’s interested in embarking on the same kind of journey but isn’t sure where to start?   A: Know that it will be overwhelming at times. The easiest thing is to focus on one room at a time. The kitchen and bathroom are the highest waste and plastic producers, and great places to start. Only replace items as they run out or need replacing. Plastic Free stuff is really “pretty” and it’s so tempting to replace everything you own right away but that’s just adding to our trash problem and it can be expensive. Forgive yourself when you run into unexpected situations that make you have to use plastic. Use these times as lessons learned and think of how to fix it for next time. Good luck!   I don’t know about you, but Ashely has definitely inspired me to beef-up my low-waste game! If a brand new mom can do all of that while caring for a (the cutest) baby, I think we should all be able to make an effort and do our part.   This is an issue that affects all of us, as we are all citizens of this planet, and as we all (I hope) know, there is no Planet B.

THE WHAT? Henkel-owned Schwarzkopf has announced a new partnership with TerraCycle to launch a free Schwarzkopf recycling program in the US.   THE DETAILS The program, which kicked off at the start of the year, allows US shoppers to recycle packaging for all of the brand’s retail hair care, color and styling products and earn points which can be redeemed against charitable gifts or donated to a non-profit of choice as they do so.   THE WHY? Through the program, the brand will be able to claim that 100 percent of its packaging is recyclable, a factor which could sway purchasing decisions for today’s sustainability-aware consumer. “The launch of the partnership is part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring 100 percent of our Beauty and Laundry & Home Care packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025,” said Heather Wallace, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Beauty Care North America.  “The program will not only increase the overall recyclability of products, but also inspire and empower consumers to champion the sustainability of products they’re purchasing.”