Mommy Goes Green

What does that recycling symbol on plastic mean?  On most plastics, you will find the 3 arrows with a # in the middle indicating the type of plastic the product is manufactured from.   This number also helps indicate whether or not it is recyclable in the area you live in.  You might find that only a couple types of plastic are recyclable curbside and you may need to store the other plastics and periodically deliver them to another facility.  For example, our recycling curbside service takes a lot of different plastics but I store plastic bags/wrapping and hard plastic containers ( from toy packaging) and take them to a recycling facility about once a month.

1 – PET – Polyethylene terephthalate – commonly used in soft drink and water bottles

2 – HDPE – high-density polyethylene – made from petroleum and commonly used in laundry bottles and milk jugs, plastic bags, plastic lumber and hula hoops

3 – V – vinyl or PVC - rigid plastic, over 50% of PVC manufactured is used in construction.  When used with plasticizers ( to make it softer and flexible), it’s commonly used in hoses, water beds, pool toys, inflatable structures and shower curtains.

4 – LDPE – low-density polyethylene – made from petroleum, it is commonly used in plastic bags, six pack soda can rings, playground slides and food storage containers

5 – PP – polypropylene – commonly used in ropes, rugs, food containers, medical plastic items and dairy containers ( like yogurt )

6 – PS – polystyrene – found in disposable cutlery, CD/DVD cases, and smoke detectors. Foamed polystyrene is used in packing materials, insulation and foam drink cups.

7 – O – other - variety of plastics not fitting in other 6 categories.  Currently controversial polycarbonate with bisphenol A (BPA) is a #7 plastic.

Another great opportunity to recycle products you can no longer use.

Through the Calphalon ReNew program, when you buy any Calphalon Unison Nonstick cookware set, Calphalon will take ANY old cookware set and recycle it for you.  They’ll pay the shipping fees to get it to them and send you 2 cotton reusable bags in return.

The COTTON. FROM BLUE TO GREEN.® denim drive is a call-to-action to donate denim and give it “new life” by converting it to UltraTouch^TM Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation. The insulation is then provided to communities in need to assist with building efforts. It takes about 500 pairs of jeans to recycle enough denim to insulate one average-size U.S. house. Currently, 75,000 sq. ft. of insulation is being manufactured from the 2008 collections. Habitat for Humanity affiliates will be receiving insulation in the spring of 2009. Cotton Incorporated and its partners will participate in installing the insulation in approximately 75 houses as a means of providing much needed housing for areas of the country affected by natural disasters.

If you donate your jeans in June, it will help National Geographic Kids sets a Guiness Book World Record for the world’s largest collection of clothes to recycle.  This is a great way to get your kids involved!  Here’s how to participate:

1. The denim must be used.
2. The denim can be any brand.
3. The denim can be any color or size but must have been worn by a human (no doll clothes!).
4. Please print out this form and include it with each package!
5. Send as many jeans or denim items as you wish to:

NG Kids / Set a Guinness World Record
P.O. Box 98001
Washington, D.C. 20090-8001

For shipments that cannot be delivered to a P.O. box:
NG Kids / Set a Guinness World Record
1145 17th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

Jeans must be received by June 30, 2009!

With my 2 year old quickly approaching her 3rd birthday, I’ve been scouring the Internet for her first “big girl bed”.   While my primary choice was an adorable wood bed painted antique white, the greener side of me thought I should I make an earnest effort to find a used alternative.   Not only because buying used is a great way to save money and reduce consumption of new goods, but the bed also has likely off-gassed somewhere else ( assuming anything I bought had adhesives or paint finishes containing VOCs ). Well, my search finally paid off over the holiday weekend when I found an antique white iron bed for 1/4 of the original cost.  I can’t wait to put together her new room!

While I wouldn’t call myself ‘thrifty’, I have become much more cost conscious in the down economy.  My “shift to thrift” has come from both a desire to simplify our finances and to lessen my impact on the environment.  Whether you are a true blue thrifty person or just finding the thrifty side of yourself, search these sites for your next need.  From well know options like eBay to lesser known like BookSwim, these sites provide the opportunity to reduce, reuse and recycle!

GENERAL GOODS

Craigslist is divided up into states and cities so you can find what you are looking for locally.  This site is usually my first go-to site for used goods, particularly furniture, appliances, automobiles, large toys, and sporting goods.  It also lists local garage sales.

Freecycle and Throwplace is just that – free stuff!  Users post their unwanted items and members respond to arrange for pickup. 

eBay is the mass online auctioneer with goods from all over the country and more.  It’s a great place to look for unique or rare items.  You can narrow your search down to local auctions to save money ( and carbon footprint ) when shipping.

ShopGoodwill is a bit like eBay in that all goods are auctioned but the bonus is that purchases benefit the charity and it’s employment programs for disabled people. I found an array of items from designer handbags to automobiles to televisions to knick knacks.

BOOKS and MEDIA

Your local library may seem like a no brainer but somehow between college and motherhood I totally forgot they existed.  I’m a weekly visitor now.  In addition to books, you might find your local library to carry DVDs, CDs, or computer games and all borrowed for FREE.

Bookswim is the Netflix of the book world and if you’re an avid reader, it’s a great option for you.  For a monthly fee ( starting as low as $9.95 ), you can hold onto several books at a time and when done, swap them for the next item on your list.  I love not being 75th in line for a new release.  They also have college textbooks – now where were they when I was in college?

Paperback Swap allows members to swap books with other people around the world using a point system.  When you send a book to a member requesting one, you’ll receive credit.  Use your credits to request books from other members – there are currently 3.5 million books available!

Swap A CD and Swap A DVD work the same as Paperback Swap.  Send requested CDs or DVDs to other members and in return, find the ones you want.

CHILDREN’S GOODS

Zwaggle is a children’s items swapping site.  Once you pass along gently used items, you earn points to choose ‘new to you’ items from other site members.  You can also create a Wish List to be notified when something you are looking for is available.

Hand Me Downs is an online classifieds site where you can buy, sell, give away or donate your new and “gently used” baby gear, toys, clothes, childcare services and more.  They pull together and organize the best baby/child/mom listings from around the web AND combine them with handmedowns.com listings posted on their site to create a one-stop destination for busy parents.

DiaperSwappers is an online community buying, selling and trading cloth diapers.

Have a favorite thrifty site that we didn’t mention? Let us know!

A Cottage Industry is hard NOT to love! I stumbled upon it about a year ago and have followed it faithfully. The author, Tracey Buxton, chronicles her love for ‘junkin’, repurposing old furniture, baking cupcakes and loving T.J. Maxx ( me, too! ).  She writes openly about her faith and fears and her loyal following always has an encouraging word for her.  She’s got some sass, too, which I love – as long as it’s not coming out of my daughter’s mouth!

Tracey can take the most downright ugly piece of furniture and turn it into a treasure and she does it time and time again for friends, family and her booth at a local antique shop.  She constantly inspires me to shy away from new furniture for a well loved piece that I can craft into my own personal treasure. 

A Cottage Industry has also recaptured my interest in visiting antique faires, markets and garage sales.  When I was a poor college student, my roommate and I would often visit on the hunt for fun finds for our little 2 bedroom cottage.  We’d come home with our loot and paint it or repurpose it with love.   Over the years, with less time on my hands and more money in my bank account, I turned to buying new at some of my favorite retailers.  Not to say that I’ve stopped buying new but I have a wonderful renewed interest in scouring garage sales and antique stores for my next bookend or candlestick  ( some of my favorite collectibles ).

Tracey’s newest venture is partnering with her friend, Tracey, ( there are 2 Traceys! ) to turn a hidden gem of a cottage into a wonderful event center to host vintage faires, bridal and baby showers, and rehearsal dinners.  I can’t wait to see the turn out!

DO YOU BLOG?  Have your blog featured on Mommy Goes Green, for guidelines, read here.

If your curbside recycler will not take #5 plastics ( apparently most communities do not accept #5, mine happens to ) - send them to Preserve.  They will transform them into new kitchenware, tableware and personal care products.

Preserve Gimme 5 accepts the following for recycling:

• Clean plastic with a #5 stamp in it.
• Preserve products
• Brita pitcher water filters. Click here to learn how to recycle your Brita filter.

If you live near one of these locations, drop the plastics off.  If not, mail them ( ground shipping ) to Preserve at:

Preserve Gimme 5
823 NYS Rte 13
Cortland, NY 13045

1/3 of all landfill waste is product packaging and I believe it – the more I try to reduce our household waste, the more I realize that packaging is what keeps it full.  I’m always appreciative of containers that are recyclable but I admittedly don’t specifically look for products with recyclable packaging – it’s more of a bonus. ( there’s always something to work on! ) 

The good news is that companies continue to find ways to recycle product packaging that can’t be recycled curbside.  In this case – cosmetic companies.  I know it takes an extra step to hold onto the containers until your next trip to the drugstore or mall but it may just be worth it.  Check out the freebies you get!

Origins – Bring ANY empty cosmetic jar, tube or bottle ( regardless of brand ) to an Origins counter and in return they’ll give a free sample of your choice of one of their skincare products.  Excludes Nordstrom, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Butter London – The ‘Turn In Your Toxins’ campaign is a partnership with BrandHabit.  Through May 15th,visit your favorite participating fashion or beauty boutique and trade in three old, toxic, nail polishes, fill out a customer profile, and in exchange, receive a coupon to redeem your free butter LONDON, 3 Free Lacquer online.

MAC Cosmetics – Return 6 M·A·C primary packaging containers to a M·A·C counter or M·A·C Cosmetics online, you’ll receive a free M·A·C lipstick of your choice!

Lip-Ink - Send 4 empty regular sized Lip Ink vials and they will let you choose any 1 Lip Ink Liquid Lip Color for free!

Avasiare – Return 3 used cosmetic packages to receive the free featured item of the month.

Anyone tired of selling tubs of cookie dough or magazine subscriptions?  Take the road less traveled and pick a green fundraising project this year.  It’s also a great opportunity to teach students about their impact on the environment.

The Funding Factory rewards educational and non profit organizations for collecting laser or inkjet print cartridges and cell phones.  Organizations can then redeem fundraising earnings by choosing items in a Rewards Catalog or by requesting a check.  They provide free promotional materials such as flyers, posters, online blog, prepaid shipping labels and corresponding curriculum.

TerraCycle Brigades take product wrappers and upcycles them into tote bags, pencil cases, notebooks and more.  They provide free shipping boxes for your collections and pay .02 to .05 per piece. They currently accept the following packaging:

• Capri Sun and Honest Kids drink pouches
• Chips AHoy and Oreo cookie wrappers
• Frito Lay chip bags
• Kashi product packaging
• Stonyfield Farms yogurt containers
• Balance Bar and Clif Bar snack bar wrappers
• Bear Naked bags
• Ritz and Wheat Thins Toasted Chips bags

Kids Konserve makes packing waste free lunches easy by providing reusable food and drink containers and cloth napkins.  Their Waste Free Lunch Challenge and Custom Bottle Drive helps raise money and reduce trash on campus by donating 25% of their product sales back to the school. The Custom Bottle Drive allows you to have your school or team logo printed on their food grade stainless steel bottles and all proceeds go to the school! Their website lists 10 great activities to get the whole school involved and excited about the program including ‘Trash Free Tuesdays’, Green Kid of the Month, and a poster or essay contest.

The Green School Project pays schools and non profit organizations to recycle print cartridges, cell phones and PDA devices.   They even provide prepaid shipping supplies and all marketing materials, free of charges. They frequently run contests and bonuses – the Spring bonus is an added 20% bonus if 50 items are sent in by the deadline or 30% bonus if 200 items are donated.  50 items seems doable – heck I probably have 3 or 4 sitting in my office to donate.

If you just love hitting up your co-workers with a catalog of goods, then take the traditional route of fundraising with a green twist.  Greenraising has both a catalog and online shopping mall of goods – all of which your school receives a percentage of – 25% for online sales and 40% for catalog sales.  Products include recycled gift wrap, chocolate bars, coffee, tea, reusable water bottles, lunch bags and totes, cleaning supplies, soaps and lotions and a lot more.

Contact the principal, fundraising or sustainability committee at your school and offer to help out with one of these great, eco-friendly fundraisers.  It may just fund your child’s next classroom trip!

Looking for a great Mother’s Day gift?  Make sure to check out the MGG Mother’s Day Green Goodies Guide later this week!

If you recycle – here’s something you can feel good about!

• Recycle one aluminum can – SAVE ENERGY TO POWER YOUR TV FOR THREE HOURS
• Recycle one glass bottle – RUN 60 WATT LIGHTBULB FOR 4 HOURS
• Recycle one  small stack of newspaper - SAVE ONE TREE
• Recycle one gallon jug of milk – RUN 100 WATT LIGHTBULB for 11 HOURS
• Recycle one pound of steel ( about 4 canned goods ) – RUN 60 WATT LIGHTBULB for 26 HOURS
• Recycle one gallon of motor oil – SAVE 18 KILOWATT HOURS OF ELECTRICITY ( enough to run your TV for 90 hours )
• Recycle grass clippings ( leave them on your lawn ) – REDUCE FERTILIZER NEEDS BY 1/3

The EPA estimates 75% of our waste is recyclable but we only recycle 25% of it - before you throw something away, check to make sure it absolutely cannot be recycled!  Just because your waste management company won’t accept it curbside, that doesn’t mean it cannot be recycled.  Check out Earth 911 for a local location to recycle anything!