Never Throw Clothes and Shoes into the Dumpster Again

Tweet

You can imagine how much of a pet peeve it is of mine to find clothes and shoes in the garbage. These can ALWAYS be recycled into something new. I have even watched people throw away perfectly good items because they do not know what to do with them. Besides the common gifting them to a sibling/cousin/friend, here are a few options for you to consider;


DONATE THEM!

• Good Ol' Goodwill
  Donate them to charity! Just round up all of the clothing and shoes you do not wear anymore and drop them off at your local Goodwill.

• Planet Aid
  Ever seen those bins stationed randomly around the city? Use them! Just simply gather all of your old shoes and clothes, put them in a bag and throw them in. Find your nearest donation bins for Planet Aid here.

Sell Them!

ONLINE
Download the following apps and get to selling!

• PoshMark (app) (use my code BBYYP for $5 off your first purchase!)


• Mercai (app)


• Vint (app)

IN-STORE
Take your gently used clothes into any of these stores and they will offer you cash or a store credit to go towards purchases. You can sell your clothes or trade them for new ones!

• Platos Closet
  Find the nearest location here


• Buffalo Exchange
  Find the nearest location here

FLEA MARKET
Get out there, set up a table and SELL, SELL, SELL! This is fast and easy cash. Treat yourself to dinner and a movie ;)


H&M!
I made a previous post about H&Ms recycling program. If they are not in a good enough condition to sell, take all of your unusable garments to H&M and they will reconstruct it into something new! You will also receive a 15% off coupon.How's that for incentive?


If I am missing any, please let me know in the comments!

BRINGOLD CLOTHES TO RECYLE AT H&M!

Tweet

I am so excited to find that H&M will take your old fabrics (worn clothes, drapes, curtains, cloths, towels, bedsheets, etc) and receive a coupon for 15%-20% off your entire purchase.!! This is so awesome because I have always struggled with where to take my old dingy white tee and busted clothing. Alas! H&M is the garment savior. I am TOO excited about this.








Check out there mission statement below;

We were the first fashion company to launch a global garment collection initiative. Today, you can hand in any clothes you no longer want. That way, we can reduce waste and give old products a new life. Eventually, we’ll close the loop on textiles so nothing ever goes to waste.

Of the thousands of tonnes of textiles that people throw away every year, as much as 95% could be re-worn or recycled.

• Rewear – clothing that can be worn again will be sold as second hand clothes


• Reuse – old clothes and textiles will be turned into other products, such as cleaning cloths


• Recycle – everything else is turned into textile fibres, or other use such as insulation.

So take all your old garments from any brand and in any condition to your local retail store for that coupon and save. Save your pockets while saving the environment all at the same time.

Free two birds with one key

Kudos to you H&M!

Keurigs: A Breathing Ground for Bacteria and Mold

Tweet

When I first discovered the "almighty Keurig" my first thought was, "uhm .. are these things recyclable?" Even if they were, those single use coffee cups did not look too eco friendly to me being that they were

1. Made out of plastic.
2. Single use.
3. NON RECYCLABLE

HUGE no nos in the environmental preservation movement. So I decided to do some digging on this praised invention. I found that over 8.3 billion K Cups a year are discarded which is enough to circle the earth 10.5 times! Count me OUT! Critics warn that the packaging needed for these systems comes with environmental and health-related costs. These millions of "k-cups" are ending up in the every expanding landfills. Only 5 percent of these k-cups are made out of recyclable plastic.

photo credit://motherjones.com
Fortunately, Green Mountain, who makes the most popular pods, called "K-Cups", has a sustainability plan where;

• 100% of their k-cups will be recyclable by 2020.
• Zero waste to landfill at their manufacturing and distribution facilities.
• Reduce greenhouse gases by 25%

Did I mention the bacteria?
I found that this contraption is bacteria and mold ridden and nearly impossible to clean as explained by a microbiologist;

The microbiologist in me is disgusted at the thought. Back in the day when I worked in a hospital lab, we emptied all water reservoirs daily or they would grow bacteria and a biofilm could develop. You are familiar with biofilms if you ever cleaned the goo out of a flower vase after the flowers have died. Biofilms are found wherever there is water and a surface to stick to (like your shower curtain).

Even Keurig.com itself says,

“Once your Keurig home brewer has been primed, you cannot empty the water from the inside. The internal tank of the brewer cannot be drained.”

Bacteria and mold are flourishing inside that hidden water tank and rubber ring. Check now! There is probably green or black slime around it. That my friend is biofilm. They are nearly impossible to keep clean and as Keurig.com itself said, they cannot be drained so that water sitting there is doing just that. Sitting there. Harvesting mold and bacteria. Lets debunk the myths about cleaning right now;

• Coffee bean’s antibacterial action is not enough to kill these microbes. According to Duberg, an assistant professor of clinical laboratory science at Saint Louis University, it is only 50 percent effective in killing bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans, and molds.


• Yes, boiling water can kill microbes but NO, your Keurig water is not getting hot enough. It would have to reach boiling temperatures for at least a minute. Your Keurig is not about that life.

If you insist on using your beloved Keurig and are willing to risk all the hidden mold and bacteria, there are reusable coffee cups on the market.

Vegan Food Review

Tweet

It's grocery day!

So, I just tried vegan mayonnaise and vegan cheese for the first time. Let me tell you, I could not taste the difference! It's great! Being on the road to complete veganism, cheese has always been my downfall but I finally found just what I needed. I haven't tried the mozzerella yet though. I will let you know how it goes!



I just made a quick sandwich for lunch. My ingredients used were;

2 Sweet Hawaiian rolls Avocado
Vegenaise
Vegan cheese
Cucumber
Baby kale

Death to Paper Towels

Tweet

photo credit; www.peopletowels.com


The paper industry is the third largest contributor to global warming.

Paper towels are one of the most inefficient throw aways we have. You literally use them one time and throw them away. That does the environment NO favors. They only end up in our over compacity landfills.
They also contribute to deforestation which is destrimental to our environment. Four billion trees are cut down each year to make paper. We need the trees to breathe being that they provide us with oxygen. The more trees we cut down, the less clean air will be provide as the trees filter out this essential air.

Here are the facts;
• To make one ton of paper towels, 17 trees are cut down and 20,000 gallons of water are consumed.
• Every day, over 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is produced in the US alone.
• Decomposing paper towels produce methane gas, a leading cause of global warming.
• Paper was the largest contributor to municipal landfill waste in 2006.
• The average person uses 2,400 – 3,000 paper towels at work.

The United States consumes 30 percent of the world’s paper each year. Of the 741 pounds of paper used by the average American each year, close to 55 pounds is tissue paper (which includes paper towels, napkins, facial tissue, and toilet tissue). Even with recycling programs, a little more than one-third of the trash going into landfills is paper products. Paper towels are not recycled.

So what should one use, you ask? Ah ha! A solution. REUSABLE NAPKINS! These are a staple in any fine dining restaurant and conscious household. They are not only appealing for a nice ambience but also eco friendly and great on the environment. You can purchase cloth napkins at your local dollar store.


I will be honest. When I first implemented this into my household, the drying after washing process was a bit straining but then alas! I found the solution to my problem. A towel rack! Duh. You can purchase one of these from any of these stores or online.


If environmental convervation is not convincing enough, how about saving money? Lets break it down (logically speaking);

If the average family spent $10 a month on paper towels, that would add up to $120 a year spent on paper towels that will only be thrown away after one use. You're literally throwing away money.
OR
You can run to the Dollar Store and grab about 5 3pcks of cloth napkins and spend only $3 which will last FOREVER.

I know it is convienent but convience can be the root of environmental destruction. If you truly want to lessen your carbon footprint on the earth and conserve our resources, please try this. It may take some getting use to but it helps. Every bit helps.

If you are not part of the solution, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM