#TerraCycle

[avalonspringsfarm]

Fun coupon and eco-goodness in one opportunity: This Saturday, 02/11/23 from 11am till 4pm @avalonspringsfarm will be open for the @fiberartstudiotour We participate with @terracycle We will be collecting sauce packets that you are ready to recycle. @tacobell has a special program with Terracycle to recycle this specific packaging. (It can be sauce packets from any restaurant- ie. dressing, hot sauce, soy sauce, mustard etc.) Bring your to-be-recycled packets to @avalonspringsfarm during the tour this weekend and get $2 off any purchase from us. Note: We are not a “public drop off.” But we’re glad to do this fun activity! #avalonspringsfarm #dosomegood #earthgoddess #bekindtotheearth #tacobell #terracycle #yarnlove #fiberartstudiotour #yarnshop (at Avalon Springs Farm) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXXdSKra00/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[7delus]

Magazine Cover Mockup Concept

[downtoearthmarkets]

April is Earth Month although, here at Down to Earth Markets, we like to treat every month as Earth Month. Our planet is facing a multitude of challenges including climate change, waste management, pollution and biodiversity loss to name just a few. Responsible environmental stewardship lies at the very core of our mission to provide access to locally, sustainably grown and produced food. But there’s more than one way that a weekly trip to your Down to Earth farmers market can reduce your carbon footprint and have you treading lighter on mother earth all season long. If you’re looking to cut back on the volume of waste you generate this month and beyond, read on to learn more about some of the initiatives we’re taking: Textile Recycling The average American consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes every year and, in New York City alone, more than 400 million pounds of clothes are discarded annually! It’s estimated that 85% of this waste ends up in landfills and incinerators, which has major environmental implications as textile production requires significant amounts of chemicals, energy, water and other natural resources. Furthermore, it can take 200+ years for materials to break down in a landfill, during which decomposing textiles generate greenhouse methane gas and leach toxic chemicals and dyes into the groundwater and soil. Down to Earth has partnered with Green Tree Textiles to provide textile recycling in many of our farmers markets since 2013. Green Tree Textiles strives to protect the planet by collecting unwanted textiles for repurposing by environmentally minded manufacturers and designers. They accept clothing, shoes, accessories, and household linens. Gently used pieces are re-donated to local and overseas charities, while those in poor condition are sold to fiber and rag manufacturers. If you’d like to divert your unneeded textiles from the overburdened waste stream and give them new life, click here for a list of our locations with Green Tree Collection Bins. Food Scrap Recycling The FDA estimates that between 30-40 percent of the U.S. food supply is wasted every year, amounting to a whopping 219 pounds of food waste per person. In fact, Americans throw away more food than any other country in the world! Industrial food production entails massive quantities of land, water and energy while discarded food generates significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the World Wildlife Federation, carbon emissions from wasted food in the United States is equivalent to that of 37 million cars. While there are plenty of reduction hacks you can follow, generating a certain amount of food waste in the kitchen is unavoidable. Items such as eggshells, coffee grounds and vegetable trimmings can easily be composted in a backyard setup. If home composting is not your bag, many New York state municipalities now offer food scrap recycling programs that accept the full spectrum of food waste including meat, fish and dairy. Among them is New York City, which is in the process of relaunching its brown bin curbside pickup program. Down to Earth Markets works with local community organizations to host onsite educational tables about the benefits of food scrap recycling and provides municipal food scrap collection bins in several of our farmers markets. This makes it easier for shoppers to source their food locally and recycle it locally, easing the transition towards a closed loop, greener food system. Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling A 2022 Greenpeace report revealed that the recycling rate for municipal plastic waste stands at only five percent nationally – just a fraction of the 40 million tons that Americans generate each year. Approximately 36 per cent of this plastic waste is used in packaging, including single-use plastic food and beverage containers. Unlike most industrially produced supermarket foods, the food sold in our farmers markets has minimal to zero packaging. Plus, we encourage shoppers to bring their reusable totes to the market to avoid creating waste from disposable plastic shopping bags. To extend our efforts in this area in celebration of Earth Month, Down to Earth is providing Terracycle Zero Waste Boxes in select farmers markets for two weeks starting over Earth Day weekend (April 22nd & 23rd). Shoppers will be able to drop off clean, hard-to-recycle plastic food containers made from any flexible or rigid plastic, except compostable plastics. The waste collected will be processed into raw materials that can be reused instead of sent to landfills. These are just a few examples of the many ways in which Down to Earth Markets is helping curb unnecessary waste with the goal of creating a healthier, greener food future for the region in which we operate. We look forward to exploring and embracing further initiatives whenever feasible. Happy Earth Month to you all 💚.

[woo-sustainability]

Fuck it ig, new fucking post

The fact that my blog is officially green in shinigami eyes makes my blog hard to look at on desktop. Which is annoying because I'm using my laptop to look for a specific post.

[solarpunkbusiness]

Nudea's bra recycling scheme supports their sustainable bra ecosystem

How does bra recycling work?

We want to help you do your bit for the environment when recycling your old bras so all you have to do is enter your details into our online form, let us know how many bras you would like to send back and we will email you instructions. For existing customers we are offering free postage and for new customers we will cover the cost of recycling but ask that you cover the cost of postage.

Once your bra is with TerraCycle, the materials are sorted into base categories based on whether the material is rigid or flexible and what it’s made from e.g metal plastic and fibres.

Plastics

These materials are ground or shredded up and then the particles go through a melting process where they become a usable raw material for new product manufacturing.

Fibres

These are separated into natural and synthetic or combined. Natural fibres are converted into a material called “shoddy” which is used for insulation and product stuffing. Synthetics are turned into a densified material mixture which can be used for things such as carpet backing.

Metals

These materials are shredded, baled and smelted down to create a base material for items such as nuts, bolts and washers.

[wachinyeya]

Nonprofit Diverts an Ocean Plastic Tide, Removing 2 Million Pounds of Trash From Waterways https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/nonprofit-diverts-an-ocean-plastic-tide-removing-2-million-pounds-of-trash-from-waterways/

[starrystrawb]

Now introducing Volcanos! She is hot tempered, powerful, and kinda small compared to her fellow Mother Earth epithets. But make no mistake, she hold a power few of them possess. She is known to cause chaos so deep it can effect the other epithets.

She (kinda obviously) is based of Pele! For anyone who doesn't know, Pele is the Hawaiian Goddess of volcanos, wind, fire, lightning, and dance. She is immensely powerful and effects the other gods and goddesses around her. She is known for being quick to anger, passionate, and loving towards her people. Pele's mythos fascinates me and I adore all the stories she has. The most popular one being that she will disguise herself as a beggar woman and ask for alcohol and cigarettes. If you are kind to her, you will be in her good graces, if you fail, you will feel her wrath.

On to our eco tips!

Fire season is upon us, friends! Remember to keep in local ordinances and safely prepare yourself and your home! In some eco-systems, fire is necessary. That is what controlled burns are for! To ensure that the forests we love remain healthy, and to protect other areas, people, and wild life. Some good ground rules are to keep a fire extinguisher close by when having an out-door fire, properly store any wood kept for fires, and keep dry grass cut back away from anywhere you intend to have a fire! When you are enjoying a nice warm fire, be safe and responsible! Keep young children and pets a safe distance away, be cautious of the cinders, and completely extinguish a fire before turning in! Just like Smokey the Bear says; Only YOU can prevent forest fires!

As the seasons change and the temperatures rise, we find ourselves outside more. It's a beautiful day, friends! Be sure to enjoy it! If you are leaving the house or out in the sun, wear sunscreen! And reapply every 30 minutes - 2 hours. If you're able, use reef safe sunscreen, or sunscreens with environmentally friendly propellants if you prefer the spray kind! Most reef safe brands will have "REEF SAFE" printed on their packaging. I've used Blue Lizard and Hawaiian Tropic and liked them both!

Once you're sunscreen has run out, what do you do with the bottle? It's unfortunate but true that many beauty products are not curb-side recyclable. Some companies like Sephora, Nordstrom, and Terracycle have been advertising that they now take empty beauty product containers for recycling! If you can, consider taking your empty sunscreen bottle, blush container, or shampoo bottles to a company that provides these services! If you don't have that option, maybe repurpose the container if you can. It's not single use if you use it more than once!

I don't like yard work. I'm going to be very honest with you. I love being outside, and sometimes I even love sweating. And when my family is out there with me, damn I am just so happy! Until I am raking, or shoveling, or pulling weeds. I think it's the worst. But that doesn't mean I cant be environmentally couscous while I bitch about the work! Use paper or compostable bags when throwing out your yard debris. If you have room, you can compost weeds, leaves, sticks, and grass! If you garden, you can make a Lasagna Bed, where you layer compostable materials between layers of dirt! If you're trying to fill a hole or a large area, consider throwing those sticks and leaves and grass and whatever other organic materials in as a space filling base layer before you will it with dirt or rocks or mulch or whatever you want! The only thing I don't think that works for is a water feature.

Be brave, friends! It can be hard confronting people about problematic behavior or calling out big companies and big celebrities. I'm not saying you should berate the person in front of you at the coffee shop for not having a reusable cup, or neg someone for forgetting reusable bags! But if someone you know is supporting companies and people that are causing harm, let them know. If they choose to continue to support them, that isn't your problem. But at least you tried! Don't support companies that back Israel, like Starbucks. Boycott places that refuse to release their environmental impact statements, like Temu. Tell that one guy you know who thinks that they can't make a difference that they can! One person is all it takes to start a trend. Look at mom jeans or reusable straws!

Base

[geezerwench]

I agree with you. I try so hard to use less plastic, and my spouse is not very helpful. In fact, he's made it worse.

But besides that, I ran across this company called Terracycle that recycles plastics. Unfortunately, it is expensive. You pay them to take your trash and recycle it. You buy their boxes, that they call Zero Waste Box, fill it with the items, and then ship it back to them when it's full. Items should be clean and not wet and dripping. The boxes already have the shipping label on them.

I wash practically everything and set it aside to dry.

As I said, the Zero Waste Boxes can be very expensive, but they do have sales now and then. I make sure I stuff those boxes as tightly as I can!

(To be green, you gotta have green.)

Terracycle USA

Some of their boxes are very specific, such as bottle caps, cereal bags, pet food and treat bags, etc. But they also have boxes for any and all plastics.

They also have free programs. If you use a specific product on the list, such as Aussie hair care products, you recycle the bottles with your curbside recycling (if available) and you return the pumps to Aussie. That's just one of many.

Terracycle free programs

But the main thing is to USE LESS PLASTIC.

“Plastic recycling does not work and will never work,” wrote former EPA regional administrator Judith Enck and chemical engineer Jan Dell in a recent Atlantic article.

The writers note that the U.S. recycling rate for post-consumer plastic waste in 2021 was about 5 percent, and that past recycling rates have included plastic waste that was shipped to China and mostly left un-recycled.

Compare this with the U.S.’s high recycling rate of paper, 68 percent, and the problem becomes clear.

The difficulty of plastics recycling has to do with the material itself, the authors write.

“There are thousands of different plastics, each with its own composition and characteristics,” they write. “They all include different chemical additives and colorants that cannot be recycled together, making it impossible to sort the trillions of pieces of plastics into separate types for processing.”

“Collecting, sorting, transporting, and reprocessing plastic waste is exorbitantly expensive,” the authors write.

[doctorguilty]

Hey did you know in countries that participate in TerraCycle, there are all sorts of free recycling programs you can join and send (for free) various kinds of non-curbside recyclable waste to the company to be recycled? And all you have to do is generate a shipping label from the site, slap it on a mailable box, and drop it off at UPS? Available programs wildly vary by country and participating brands and so on but there's definitely a lot of everyday household products you might go through a lot of that could be collected! Because I didn't know about this until today!

[boardgametoday]

Games Workshop announces a recycling trial

Games Workshop announces a recycling trial #warhammercommunity

One of the eternal questions seems to be… can I recycle my sprues after building my Games Workshop miniatures? The general belief is no (I’ve never got a clear answer) but Games Workshop is opening up a limited opportunity to do so. At select UK Warhammer stores, later this month Games Workshop will be partnering with TerraCycle. “Sprue bins” will be added to locations by the end of March where…

[industrynewsupdates]

Office Supplies Market Opportunity, Driving Factors And Highlights of The Market

The global office supplies market size is expected to reach USD 179.74 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., registering a CAGR of 2.1% from 2023 to 2030. Product consumption is growing owing to an increasing number of corporate offices as well as an increase in the number of hotels around the globe catering to the rapidly growing demands of the tourism industry. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the market growth. The pandemic has increased the pace of digitalization of office spaces, adversely affecting the demand for traditional office supplies. However, the pandemic gave a boost to the trend of remote working, which caused drastic changes in the patterns of product consumption. An increasing phenomenon in the market is the adoption of sustainable and eco-friendly products by companies to reduce their carbon footprint.

In May 2021, BIC announced a partnership with TerraCycle, Inc. to launch a brand-new recycling program for their writing supplies equipment. This move was in line with the company’s push for eco-friendly products. Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing regional market with a CAGR of around 2.6% from 2023 to 2030. This is owing to high product consumption by the education sector in countries, such as China, India, and Bangladesh. Key companies in the global market undertake various business strategies, such as new product launches, M&As, and partnerships, to gain higher market shares. In November 2022, 3M's brand 'Scotch' launched a new product line, 'Packt', featuring envelopes, mailers, and boxes of different sizes and colors. The new product line also includes packaging tape and packing paper that come in creative designs to secure and seal the contents of packages.

Gather more insights about the market drivers, restrains and growth of the Office Supplies Market

Office Supplies Market Report Highlights

• The paper supplies segment accounted for the maximum share of 25.9% in 2022 due to a rise in the number of corporate offices as a result of the growing services sector worldwide. For instance, according to the Economic Survey 2022-23 by the Ministry of Finance, the service sector in India grew by 8.4% in the financial year 2022 compared to a contraction of 7.8% in the financial year 2021

• The online distribution channel segment will register the highest CAGR of 3.4% from 2023 to 2030. The increased internet penetration, along with greater accessibility to affordable smartphones & internet services, has accelerated the transition from traditional brick-and-mortar stores to online platforms

• The corporate end-use segment accounted for a dominant share of 33.3% in 2022 owing to the increased establishment of various offices and number of office products suppliers & and manufacturers worldwide

Office Supplies Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global office supplies market based on product, distribution channel, end-use, and region:

Office Supplies Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

• Paper Supplies

o Notebooks & Notepads

o Printing Paper

o Others

• Writing Supplies

o Pens & Pencils

o Highlighters & Markers

o Others

• Filing Supplies

o File Folders

o Envelopes

o Others

• Desk Supplies

o Desk & Drawer Organizer

o Paperweights & Stamp Pads

o Others

• Binding Supplies

• Others

Office Supplies Distribution Channel Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

• Offline

• Online

Office Supplies End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

• Corporates

• Educational Institutes

• Hospitals

• Hotels

• Others

Office Supplies Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

• North America

o U.S.

o Canada

o Mexico

• Europe

o U.K.

o Germany

o France

o Spain

• Asia Pacific

o China

o India

o Japan

• Central & South America

o Brazil

o Argentina

• Middle East & Africa

o Saudi Arabia

o South Africa

Order a free sample PDF of the Office Supplies Market Intelligence Study, published by Grand View Research.

[intcorecycling]

More suppliers volunteer to help residents with Styrofoam recycling

Supplier TerraCycle recently announced that it has partnered with more than 20 suppliers in the United States to provide and collect "zero waste bags" that can manage 24 materials, including coffee capsules, expanded polystyrene, etc. TerraCycle founder Tom Szaky said that their goal is to work with composting companies across the country to help residents recycle more household products through door-to-door services, especially products that are not easily accepted by local recycling systems, including Styrofoam recycling. By investing in a foam compactor, companies can turn waste foam into treasure and make a profit. Foam compactors are recycling equipment specifically used for compressing foams, which use screw physical compression technology to compact and shape loose foam. Compacted foam blocks can be directly granulated for self-use, saving raw materials from the source and reducing production costs. Alternatively, companies can sell foam blocks compacted by Styrofoam compactors to downstream recyclers to earn stable profits. The market demand for compacted Styrofoam blocks is very broad, not only because of the drive of consumer environmental protection needs, but also because of international requirements for recycled materials.

[focusonthegoodnews]

Taco Bell expands 'groundbreaking' program that could set new standard for fast-food packaging: 'It was such a success'

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/taco-bell-sauce-packets-recycle-program-terracycle/

[psatalk]

Sustainability challenges for packaging and hazardous products

At the beginning of the sustainability Summit in Amsterdam in November 2023, Virginie Helias of P&G mentioned the move to paperboard cartons used for the Ariel Ecoclic cartons for its washing pods and Gillette’s move from film and blister packaging to paperboard, which even its competitors have similarly adapted their packaging. Gillette has done this across its various markets, including India, where its razor blade cartridge refills are now sold in cartons, although some stores still have the older inventory of blister packs.

There is another problem for consumers of razor blades, which is the disposal of the used blade cartridges and their plastic magazines. It's no longer just a blade, but a cartridge – a part of a system, a premium product or an ‘experience.’ There is no end to the possibilities of making shaving more comfortable, especially in an era when men are increasingly reluctant to shave at all. And those who do, are certainly looking for ways to turn this irritating experience into one that is excitingly frictionless and silken smooth. No price is too high for premium shaving devices and cartridges with enhanced tech.

Interestingly, Gillette has addressed the disposal of used razor blade cartridges in the United States by partnering with global recycling company TerraCycle. TerraCycle offers sustainable solutions in partnership with various brands, including what is called ‘the wet shaving industry’ for recycling hard-to-recycle waste streams such as disposable razors and their packaging.

It handles disposable razors and packaging of all brands by collecting and recycling used razors and packaging using collection points at participating retailers and from consumers who can collect these in a secure box provided by retailers together with a label and send these to the company. Consumers can collect used razors, cartridge heads and packaging to put into designated collection bins or put them in puncture-resistant and secure boxes or containers provided by participating brands or retailers.

TerraCycle processes the collected waste streams to recycle the plastics and metals, diverting them from landfills. The recycled materials are ostensibly used to create new products, closing the loop on waste and promoting a circular economy.

Thus far, it seems that the TerraCycle recycling program is only available in the United States and there is no sign of it in India. While sorting waste at source in the country varies in each neighbourhood, village, town and city, it is clear that the number and variety of desirable waste streams will take time to develop. 

However, the collection of razor blades is perhaps no more difficult than handling medical waste streams and those of other hazardous chemicals and materials. While the complexity of such waste collection is similar everywhere, our civic systems will require more attention and expenditure in establishing and standardizing waste streams and processes. 

At the Packaging Summit, Helias suggested that packaging standardization would help to make recycling a better and perhaps eventually, a frictionless consumer experience but there are several challenges to the widespread implementation of the solutions and innovations that are coming to market. 

“Changing an economic system is not easy," she said. "It requires significant investments in cutting-edge technology, and there is the inertia that resists system churn. Recycling needs more scale... now, it’s all about scaling these innovations to make an impact and rallying against the natural inertia to system change.” 

The challenge of system change is significant. As a recycling expert said to us in Mumbai, “The price of oil is just too low, recycled resins just cannot compete with the low prices of virgin polymers and resins.”  While large brand owners have big ESG stories and targets, it seems that they are not willing to pay for more sustainable solutions. Nor are they able to invest in CO2 emission reduction. There is a resistance similarly, to shifting to paperboard cartons when flexible laminate solutions are seemingly cheaper. 

[wolfnowl]

Nonprofit Diverts an Ocean Plastic Tide, Removing 2 Million Pounds of Trash From Waterways

WoW. 👏