Access to clean water is a basic human right, yet millions of people around the world are still walking miles to collect from their nearest water source, sharing unprotected wells with livestock, and paying five to 10 times more for water than their higher-income counterparts. Humans being 65 percent water, we can do so much better.

 

March 22 is World Water Day, a global initiative started by the United Nations to recognize the importance of water conservation and improving access to freshwater around the globe. World Water Day might be one day out of the year, but taking the time to reflect on the delicacy of our limited natural resources and the impact we have on the ecosystems around us have the chance to make long-lasting impacts that we can carry forward.

 

One of the most powerful ways you can do you part to conserve water is by reducing your consumption of resources and choosing products committed to enabling activities that have less impact on our water sources.

 

Go chemical-free

 

Many household cleaners today are laden with chemicals that contaminate our water sources once they go down the drain and leach toxic substances into the ground if landfilled. These chemicals not only come back to us (and our communities) in our tap water, but directly expose us to toxicity and hormone disruptors with use.

 

Opt for more natural products that do the job and have low impacts. Baking soda, for example, has been used to clean floors and surfaces and launder clothing for generations. A true all-in-one product to have on hand, combine with white vinegar to clean everything in your home, even the toilets and sinks that flow into local water systems.

 

Conserve resources by recycling

 

Waste in all its forms is water intensive, because it takes a significant amount of water and energy to mine and produce new, virgin raw material. The feedstocks for plastics or metal alloys must be first sourced from the earth, which has a finite reserve of resources. To us, waste is simply a misplaced resource, so a simple way to conserve water is to recycle your products and packaging correctly.

 

Going back to choosing products that enable you to reduce waste and offset negative impacts, Church & Dwight’s trusted ARM & HAMMER™ baking soda brand goes double duty to save water by teaming up with TerraCycle to offer nationwide access to a free recycling program for its plastic pouches. Consumers sign up for the program for free and download a pre-paid shipping label to send their pouches to us for processing.

 

Use less water in daily activities

 

Find ways to use less water in the day-to-day activities that require it. Leaving on the faucet while brushing one’s teeth and long showers are big water drains, as is caring for laundry. Today’s high-efficiency washers can use 15 to 30 gallons (56.8 to 113.6 L) of water to wash the same amount of clothes as older washers (29 to 45 gallons per load). That’s a lot of water!  So, many brands are concentrating formulas into a detergent, stain remover, and brightener-in-one.

 

Not only do pods or capsules typically take up less space than the volume of liquid or powdered formulas, they eliminate the need for measuring. This is of particular significance for laundry care, as its overuse wastes product, the water and energy required to wash it out,and the years of wearable life for clothes and fabrics, which have a water footprint to produce.

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Brands that offer access to water conservation and waste reduction through positive consumption of their product provide shoppers easy and affordable ways to do better for the world’s water systems. You, the consumer, have the power to vote for the present and future you’d like to see with the purchases you make everyday.

 

This World Water Day, recognize your influence in the world as a steward for more sustainable brands, better legislation and more infrastructure as you keep the planet and its water sources top of mind. Making informed, thoughtful choices about the businesses you support is key working towards a future where everyone has enough to go around.

What’s that smell? No, it’s not the scented dry shampoo that’s masking your unwashed hair. It’s spring. The season of flowers, dreamy manicures, and outdoor mimosas is officially here. Well, almost here. Winter is still holding on like that ex-lover that won’t get the hint, but we can still dream of fresh, floral scent s and rosé cocktails. In preparation for spring, we’re starting to purge the things in our life that don’t bring us joy à la Marie Kondo. And our first target is the bathroom cabinet, where our beauty products are piling up. Over the last few months, we’ve tested so many new releases — some winners and others duds — but it’s time to part ways with the things we don’t need and make room for the newness. We’re also looking into recycling programs, like Terracycle, that sustainability dispose of our beauty goods, because the product purge process involves a lot of plastic. With all that in mind, we asked a few Refinery29 beauty editors to tell us what they’ll be tossing out before spring and which product they’ll be replacing it with. Their picks, ahead.

What's that smell? No, it's not the scented dry shampoo that's masking your unwashed hair. It's spring. The season of flowers, dreamy manicures, and outdoor mimosas is officially here.   Well, almost here. Winter is still holding on like that ex-lover that won't get the hint, but we can still dream of fresh, floral scents and rosé cocktails.   In preparation for spring, we're starting to purge the things in our life that don't bring us joy à la Marie Kondo. And our first target is the bathroom cabinet, where our beauty products are piling up. Over the last few months, we've tested so many new releases — some winners and others duds — but it's time to part ways with the things we don't need and make room for the newness. We're also looking into recycling programs, like TerraCycle, that sustainability dispose of our beauty goods, because the product purge process involves a lot of plastic.   With all that in mind, we asked a few Refinery29 beauty editors to tell us what they'll be tossing out before spring and which product they'll be replacing it with. Their picks, ahead.  

Students at George Rogers Clark High School and Phoenix Academy spent a portion of their days earlier this week picking up cigarette butts, Juul pods and dip cans spread around their campuses. The effort was part of the Clark County Health Department’s annual celebration of National Kick Butts Day, which is Wednesday. It is a national day of activism that empowers youth to “stand out, speak up and seize control against big tobacco,” Angela Bereznak, health educator at the Clark County Health Department, said. Students collected several bags of littered tobacco products on the tobacco-free campuses, including Campbell Junior High School. The Beta Club and GRC Media Specialist Connie Cobb helped coordinate the pick up at GRC. By getting involved in Kick Butts Day and other activities, Bereznak said, America’s youth can raise awareness about the tobacco problem, encourage peers to be tobacco-free and support practical solutions to reduce tobacco use. Bereznak said the health department hopes to expand this event to other schools in 2020. Erin Sliney, an AmeriCorps service volunteer, serving Clark County through AmeriCorps’ Environmental Education Leadership Corps (EELCorps) at the Greater Clark Foundation, said cigarettes are the most littered item in the world. About 38 percent of all litter is cigarette butts, and they are hard — and gross — to pick up, she said in an email. “Most of these littered cigarette butts end up in our waterways,” Sliney said. “When cigarette butts get wet they leach chemicals in the water that are harmful to fish and other wildlife.” Many people also don’t realize most cigarette filters are plastic. “When you throw your cigarette butts out the window, you’re essentially scattering small pieces of plastic into the environment,” Sliney said. Water and sun break down the cigarettes over time, but while they appear to “go away,” the plastic becomes smaller and smaller pieces that are nearly impossible to remove from the ecosystem. People have found plastic in the stomachs of hundreds of species of wildlife, including ones that live in the deepest ocean trenches, Sliney said. E-cigarettes are not a greener alternative to cigarettes, Sliney said, even though some companies have “misleadingly marketed” them this way. “Although there is little research on the environmental impacts of e-cigarette manufacturing, we do know that most e-cigarettes are discarded in a matter of weeks and are made from non-biodegradable plastics and metals,” Sliney said. Two components of e-cigarettes classify as hazardous waste: nicotine and lithium-ion batteries. Nicotine is also a poison that can pollute waterways and harm humans and wildlife who are accidentally exposed. Lithium ion batteries can explode and are one of the leading causes of recycling and garbage truck and facility fires, Sliney said. “On Kick Butts Day, we urge you to try to stop using tobacco products for your own health, but for the health of the environment,” Sliney said. Some alternatives to littering include: — Throw cigarette butts away — Keep an ashtray in the car or carry a small tin to store butts while out — Reuse e-cigarettes when possible. Users can send used e-cigarettes to companies, like TerraCycle and Green Smoke, who recycle them. — Don’t throw lithium-ion batteries away. Instead, take them to appropriate electronic recycling locations.

 

Shaving giant Gillette is teaming up with an international recycling company in a campaign aimed at keeping disposable razors, replaceable blade cartridge units and plastic packaging out of landfills.   TerraCycle, an international company that specializes in hard-to-recycle materials, is partnering with Gillette for the program beginning this month.   The Gillette Razor Recycling Program accepts all brands of disposable razor blades and cartridges, not just Gillette's devices.   “We are very excited about our partnership with TerraCycle to offer recycling for Gillette, Venus or any razor brand across the U.S. This is an important first step toward sustainable solutions for shaving products and the start of an exciting journey with Gillette and TerraCycle," Gillette CEO Gary Coombe said in a statement.   "We are thrilled to bring this option to our consumers in the U.S. and are already working on plans to roll out to more countries very soon," he added.   According to TerraCycle, razors can be shipped from home. To send them:  

• Join the program by clicking at the top of the Gillette Razor Recycling Program page.
• When you are ready to ship them your waste, download a TerraCycle tracking label.
• Affix your TerraCycle tracking label to your package and bring it to your preferred mail carrier to ship at your cost.

  In addition, local businesses, colleges, cities and community organizations can sign up to become a recycling location.   “Through this innovative, first of its kind program, disposable razors, replaceable-blade cartridge units and their associated packaging are now nationally recyclable through the Gillette Recycling Program,” TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky said in a statement.   “We are proud to partner with this forward-thinking company to offer consumers a way to divert razor waste from landfills,” he added.  

A local business owner has made a proposal to Sioux Lookout Municipal Council which would help clean up the community and generate funds to improve the town for everyone at the same time.   At Council’s February 20 regular meeting, Drayton Cash and Carry owner Dorothy Broderick informed Council about TerraCycle Canada’s cigarette butt recycling program.   Broderick said, “When I purchased my pocket ashtrays (available at her store), the individual I purchased them from actually put me onto them… when he started talking about recycling your butts, I wanted to find out more about that.”   “TerraCycle is a recycling company based out of the US and also has a company in Canada,” Broderick informed. “They have quite a number of recycling streams that they run. The premise behind it is to get some of the litter off the streets, out of the garbage and into recycling where it’s actually being processed properly. Because they’re a recycling company themselves, they’re using these products.”   “This particular stream is cigarette butts. They recycle the packaging, the foil, the butts, paper, any leftover tobacco gets composted. They use the whole thing. The filters contain plastics and they’re generally littered. For one, because they are really unsightly, and two, they have a value to them… if people would not put them on the ground, if they put them into a recycling program, those butts could be reused, then they would have value instead of just another piece of unsightly litter on the ground.”   Broderick has purchased three metal collection containers which she proposed be placed in the following locations, “At the top of the road by Northway Cemetery where the hospital staff and patients go to smoke. Another would be the Rec Centre where all kinds of people are in and out who smoke; the library bench where people hang out, they could put their butts in there.”   The metal butt collection containers cost $100 each.   “For every three pounds of butts, $1 goes back to the community... So something like the Umfreville Trail, where there is no user fees; there’s no revenue coming from it. I thought rather than taxation supplying that (funds to make repairs to the trail), we need to start looking at different ways of doing things and this could be one of those ways. While it’s not going to create a ton of money, every bit counts,” she explained.   Broderick said she would donate the three metal butt collection containers she purchased to the Municipality, along with proposing locations for them. She further informed she would go around and empty those containers.   “I’ll be doing the emptying for the first little while and the goal is, if the program is successful and the Municipality finds it worthwhile to invest in, the Municipality then takes it over and they begin the collection,” she said.   Other locations she proposed adding additional metal butt collection containers include the Airport, the hostels, and local parks and beaches.   She added, “Ideally, businesses, if they wish to participate, would buy their own collection (unit) or provide their own collection, so as long as it has the ability to handle a burnable, than its fine. A metal pail full of sand works just as well as a fancy ashtray. Because butts are recyclable, there’s no need for them to be on the ground.”   Another idea she shared was, “If people are participating in the (annual spring) Pitch-In Program, perhaps they would consider carrying a second bag and rather than putting everything into one bag, put cigarette butts in one bag and garbage in the other.”   She informed that other communities who are running the butt collection program, such as Thunder Bay, are finding it quite successful.   Her proposal was well received by Municipal council with several council members commending her on the proposal.   Direction was given by Council to Municipal staff to speak further with Broderick and prepare a report for them on this matter.   “I liked that they felt positive about it and have turned it back to staff to look into,” Broderick concluded. “I think that this council seems to be dedicated to cleaning up and the CAO is really receptive to new ideas and getting things going for the betterment of the community.”