AUSTIN, TEXAS GREEN BUSINESSES GET LISTED FOR FREE Austin Resource Recovery is looking for thrift, rental, repair businesses and donation agencies to be included in the Austin Reuse Directory. If you have a business of your own in the local reuse economy, it can be included among more than 400 others and appear in search…
Children’s museums, after school programs, activity groups, church classes, etc. can be a wonderful way to donate items you no longer need which may be landfilled, and they very much would appreciate. Thinkery, Austin’s children’s museum, is always looking for item donations for their crafts and projects. Many of the items are small and can…
Donating or recycling shoes? Zip tie, rubber band, or use the laces to keep the pair together. In sorting large bales of shoes, the partner shoe may not always be found if separated and it’s more likely the shoe will recycled at that stage rather than reused/resold and then later recycled. There are markets for…
I think a reusable water bottle/cup is the first and easiest greener and zero waste tip to implement. As long as you live somewhere where there is good water quality, or water fountains and water bottle refill stations, this is easy to do. If you don’t have good water quality, and you can check reports…
I just made a donation dropoff to Recycled Reads. “Recycled Reads receives all of Austin Public Library’s weeded material, as well as donations from the public. They sell, recycle or repurpose this material, and all our proceeds benefit the Austin Public Library.” I cultivate what gets put in the Little Free Library program or the Recycled…
Ever since I was a little girl, December was a big cleaning and clearing out month for me. I’m not sure if my mom ever said anything directly, I just new that historically there would be some new things coming into my room and life and that I wanted to have a clean and ready…
Save all your St. Patrick’s Day things to reuse for next year or for other holidays or purposes. So many holidays have green as part of their celebration colors. You’ll save money not buying it next year, save time not buying or looking (store it well), and save resources being prepared for next year. Don’t buy…
Once your flowers fade, what do you do with your vase? There are other options besides thrift stores and secondhand stores which receive tons of flower vases. Local options include churches that break up their weekly service flowers to deliver to homebound members, your local Buy Nothing group or Nextdoor. Try to reuse your vases…
Take wire hangers back to the dry cleaners or find a local one near you. They always appreciate those (reuse is free to the business and allows them to save money) and many places will have a collection bin out by the counter. Charity clothing closets are another option but call ahead both to see if…
In honor of National Glaucoma Awareness Month (January) and eye health I want to talk a little bit about eyewear. I’m going to share about eyeglasses and eyedrops here. You can learn about contact lens recycling in my post I’ve Got My Eyes On You. First, about glaucoma: Glaucoma is called “the sneak thief of…