With the new year upon us, many people are looking to make positive changes, including reducing their impact on the environment, and one Redditor found an amazing resource to simplify recycling.
On the r/ZeroWaste subreddit, the original poster shared that after doing a major home renovation and using a lot of Swiffer products in their cleanup, they discovered that you can recycle used Swiffer refills through a company called TerraCycle.
"This brought me to a bigger realization that lots of companies pay Terracycle to deal with their used goods. See if you can recycle your items (FOR FREE!)," the OP said, linking to TerraCycle's page. They noted that TerraCycle takes Tide detergent and health and hygiene products from Tom's and Pantene, to name a few.
Plastic packaging adds up quickly in landfills.
"According to Zero Waste Week, more than 120 billion units of packaging are produced globally every year by the cosmetics industry, contributing to the loss of 18 million acres of forest annually," Forbes explains. And Vogue notes that an estimated 20% to 40% of beauty products are wasted.
Finding a resource to simplify recycling is a huge time saver for consumers, making the process easy and manageable. As the OP said, "I know the best solution is to consume less. But I believe it's better to embrace imperfection and do the best you can!"
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Some companies even offer benefits for sending in old products. For example, Hydro Flask takes your used bottle for free and sends you a $5 credit toward your next purchase. Companies such as Trashie allow you to send in your used items and earn rewards.
TerraCycle also recently partnered with Walmart to offer beauty packaging recycling in several states.
"This program looks really cool!" one person wrote in the comments.
🗣️ Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics?
🔘 Giving me money back 💰
🔘 Letting me trade for new stuff 👕
🔘 Making it as easy as possible ⚡
🔘 Keeping my stuff out of landfills 🗑️
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Others had already used the program and had great experiences. "I do that for my kids' food pouches. GOGO Squeeze accepts any brand pouch for recycling," a Redditor shared.
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