This came up again last weekend so I wanted to remind you all that in the City of Austin, black Styrofoam and black plastics can be recycled! Black Styrofoam The Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center will accept most foams. It will not accept the 80’s/fluffy/disintegrate-y type foam shown above on the right, but it will…
Best Intentions: Pet waste bags, trash bags, menstrual products, diapers
*03.18.21 the word “feminine” was removed from this post and as much social media as I could without affecting post dates and comments, and replaced with “menstrual,” to allow for gender neutrality. In this new year, many of you are working to “be greener.” One of the areas you may be looking into is the…
TerraCycle: Recycle that difficult stuff
TerraCycle® is a social enterprise Eliminating the Idea of Waste®. In 20 countries, we tackle the issue from many angles. We have found that nearly everything we touch can be recycled and collect typically non-recyclable items through national, first-of-their-kind recycling platforms. https://www.terracycle.com/en-US Austin is fortunate to have the capability to recycle all that we do. We…
Reusables vs. Single-Use Products
It’s a new year! We’re going to be focusing a bit more on the other R’s this year beyond Recycle even though Recycle is a big area we can always improve on. There are at least 7 Other Rs according to Treehugger: Reduce: Just use less. Return: Producers should take back what they sell. Reuse: Almost boring,…
Plastic Bags and Plastic Films
By far the most popular question I get right now is for help with plastic bags and films. There are many types and people are overwhelmed. It is confusing, there are lots of types, and the directions change a bit to try and correct contamination levels. I’m going to share with you all what I…
Buy Nothing Project
I just learned about the Buy Nothing Project/group about a month ago. I’m used to seeing, reading, and writing about posting about (for or away/give or want) items on craigslist, Freecycle, Marketplace and our neighborhood social media platforms. My neighbors started mentioning our area’s Buy Nothing group as a way to re-purpose/re-home/donate items. It’s awesome.…
Tights
There was a great article published in the Nov. 26-Dec. 23 Central Austin Edition of the Community Impact Newspaper about local dancewear store Movin’ Easy. I’ve been wearing dance tights in the cold for years, but I don’t remember to talk about it! This article was a great inspiration to share the idea and remind…
Christmas Tree and String Lights Recycling
Here is the information shared about where, when and how to recycle Christmas trees and string lights in Central Texas this holiday season. The City of Austin’s website for Christmas Tree Recycling is http://www.austintexas.gov/department/christmas-tree-recycling. Details below are from Austin EcoNetwork’s EcoNews 12/19/19 and Austin Resource Recovery’s site: Christmas Trees: If you’re an Austin Resource Recovery…
To-Go Utensil/Cutlery Sets/Packs
We’ve all seen these. Many of us have ended up with them, willing or not. There are local charities that are ecstatic to accept donations of unopened utensil/cutlery packs! You may have to do some research at first. As I am informed of organizations accepting donations I will update this post. Mobile Loaves & Fishes…
Zero Waste Degreaser
I’ve used lemons to successfully clean both the microwave and the oven. Before & after✨ Roll a lemon? on the counter a couple of times. Cut the lemon in half and put it in a microwave safe bowl of water. Microwave for 1.5 – 2 minutes. Dip a cotton cloth in the water (you may need…