Did you know that bottle caps are the second most littered items behind cigarette butts? Did you also know that bottle caps are one of the top ten most common items found littered on beaches? Sad, isn’t it?
Most people might not give much thought to these little caps but they are becoming a big problem. Overall, ALL types of caps are creating a problem because most of us don’t know whether or not they are recyclable. Even if you’re like me and don’t buy bottled water or beverages in plastic bottles we all have mountains of caps that pass though our hands every day… everything from shampoo bottles to food product lids to soap and detergent containers.
So what do you do? Well, there are a few choices, so give these some thought:
- Recycle with Aveda – these salons and stores will accept a variety of caps for recycling, including #5 twist caps, flips caps, jar lids and detergent lids and turn them into new lids for their products. Find a location near you!
- Recycle with Preserve – they also accept any #5 plastics (including yogurt containers) via mail or at any Whole Foods location and turn them into new Preserve products like toothbrush and razor handles, tableware and kitchenware.

- Give your local recycling a try – it’s sometimes difficult to figure out if your curbside recycling can actually recycle these caps but, if nothing else, include them in your recycling. They cannot be processed with a batch of #1 and #2 commonly recycled plastics because there is a 100 degree difference in their melting points. But if they can’t recycle them, they will be removed and at least properly disposed of, which is certainly better than letting them become litter! Just make sure you detached the lids and caps from the container so they can be easily sorted out at the recycling facility.
So, what can’t be accepted? Well, that would be medication bottle caps, metals lids, pumps and sprayers. These are unfortunately destined for the garbage can so, whenever possible, make wise choices when you make purchases. Remember that buying larger containers means fewer lids too!
That’s it… the real deal on caps and lids. Let’s just do our part to make sure we help remove them from any “most littered lists!”



How often are you given something you want to give back or never even asked for? (Well, I can think of about a dozen things when I think back to my wedding gifts. Of course, my thoughts then were something like “my god, WHAT were they thinking!” 
If you want to “buy” greener, just “concentrate”… buy concentrated formulas of anything and everything, that is. It helps to eliminate a lot of packaging waste, even if it happens to be recyclable. As much as I hate math… it’s simple math. Less volume = less packaging.
The post-holiday wrap-up is being wrapped up! So sad to see it all come to an end, but alas… it’s back to the less dreamy and festive real world!
be accepted until February 28, 2010. Just bundle them up and mail them off to:
What a whirlwind this holiday has been! It’s hard to refocus after all of the craziness… and to top it off, this is my 250th post! Ironically, last year’s post on the same date was my 100th post… 150 posts in one year! I knew I could be a chatterbox at times but never imagined I would chatter that much!
One of my favorite gifts this year came from my mother-in-law: a
By now, the gifts should be purchased and the wrapping is underway! So, while you’ve certainly paid special attention to what you’ve selected, how you “present the present” also needs special attention too.
d make sure they go in the bin, not the trash can.
Not long ago I wrote a post about 
ogically help us feel better, but seriously… we all splurge and occasionally eat the bad stuff too. Show me one person who doesn’t and I’ll show you a hundred who DO!
While we certainly can’t control what the bride selected, we can certainly choose how to spend our money. And as I poured over the list, one item caught my eye immediately: 
Anyhow, while I’ve been out and about with my family enjoying the “first half”, one thing keeps catching my eye…
trick even works to keep items hot. I used newspaper to keep our kids’ baby food warm when we went out to dinner, so they could have their food right along with us. And the best part is that afterward, it can be recycled instead of thrown in the trash.