5/2/14

Over 18,000 tons of plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles end up in landfills every single year. And it's a shame: The plastics used to make these bottles are easily and commonly recyclable, and most community recycling programs accept them. And with new recycling technology, even the caps (which are made from a different grade of plastic) can be kept on without being sorted first. To make recycling easy for you and your family, just designate a small recycling bin for empty plastic packaging. When it's full, transfer to the recycling bin.

5/1/14

LED bulbs are becoming more commonplace as the energy-efficient bulb of choice, since they use a fraction of the energy of CFL bulbs and are long-lasting. But LED bulbs can also be problem solvers for older homes. If you have a bathroom that does not have great ventilation, over time the steamy showers can lead to a damp room that grows mold and mildew. By using an LED bulb embedded with an ultraviolet light, you can help inhibit growth of mold and mildew with the simple flick of a light switch. The same bulbs are often used to keep hospitals healthy.

4/30/14

The global retail chain H&M is working to close the loop on the thousands of tons of textile clothing that is thrown away every year that could easily be re-worn, repaired or recycled instead of sent to landfills. H&M has installed free Garment Collecting bins in all of its stores, where you can drop off clothes of any brand to be given a new life when you're done with them. H&M sorts the clothes and separates them into groups: Re-wear (given to thrift shops), Reuse (made into other products, like cleaning cloths) and Recycle (made into entirely new products, like home insulation). Any profit H&M makes is given to social projects to better the world around us.