Austin Resource Recovery confirmed lotion tubes CAN be recycled, in addition to lotion bottles, in the City of Austin blue recycling carts. Please try to make sure all or as much as possible of the product is squeezed out. There are metal springs in the pump, so please trash that part of the lotion bottle.…
I’ve Got My Eyes On You
Eyeglasses and Contact Lens Recycling Eyeglasses A super common but often overlooked item that can be reused/recycled are eyeglasses. Everyone has old eyeglasses laying around, some of you may even have old childhood pairs or pairs from before your surgery. There are several places to take eyeglasses so they can be reused and provided to…
To-Go, Egg, & Meat Foam Containers
Maine just passed the U.S.’ first state ban on foam food packaging Foam to-go containers, egg cartons, and meat trays are recyclable! At least they are in Austin and New Braunfels! Round Rock will accept egg cartons. To-Go containers can recycled at the Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center and the New Braunfels’ City Recycle…
Greener Meat Eating
There is research showing that not eating meat can be “greener” for the Earth. I respect that argument but I am not addressing that here. If you need to and/or want to eat meat as a source of protein, I want to make sure you are doing what you can to effectively dispose of the…
RETHINK: Coffee: Zero Waste Style
Zero waste coffee isn’t as time consuming at you may think. It also tastes better in my opinion since it’s fresh. If you use coffee capsules, such as Keurig, and don’t want to change to a more zero waste option, please consider offsetting the single use disposable item by purchasing a Coffee Capsules – Zero…
Easter Eggs
My neighborhood has an annual Egg Scramble every April. We always ask for donations of eggs with prizes inside. This year we did remember to collect as many empty eggs as we could at the event, but many eggs go home to be opened and played with later. I put out a collection bucket to…
Compost Bags Comparison
The following is my opinion on the three commonly available compost bags. So you all know by now that I’m a bit of a zero waste nerd. I did a comparison of the three most commonly available to me kitchen compost collector bags, the approximately 3 gallon size. EcoSafe is my favorite. It has give…
How to Host a Zero Waste Party
On my street, we have a birthday party for the person our street is named after every year. We also have a lot of events in the community. So when I was asked to provide ideas on how to host a zero waste block party this year, the following is what I came up with.…
RETHINK: Tea: Zero Waste Style
Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world next to water, and can be found in almost 80% of all U.S. households. It is the only beverage commonly served hot or iced, anytime, anywhere, for any occasion. On any given day, over 159 million Americans are drinking tea. Tea Association of the U.S.A.…
RETHINK: Toothbrushes
One of the more recent questions I’ve been getting is can my toothbrush be recycled. Probably not and definitely not in the blue single-stream carts. Most toothbrushes are plastic; however the bristles are nylon and the gripy stuff is a kind of polymer. So basically it’s a composite/mixed material and it’s not recyclable in most…