Green Your Day

About a decade too late, Israeli’s are finally starting to understand the importance of recycling. This is most obviously seen by the recycling bins that have been popping up in the streets of Tel-Aviv (where I live.)

Unfortunately, most of these bins seem to be filled with mostly water bottles, so I wanted to point out a few other things that (believe it or not) ARE made of plastic and SHOULD be recycled as well:

• plastic cups AND straws (usually sold at coffee shops: ice coffee, milk shakes, fruit shakes, juices, etc…)

• plastic boxes, forks, knives, spoons (especially from take-out and food ordered in at the office or at home)

• plastic lids (usually found on top of paper coffee cups)

• plastic beauty products (shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, hair products, body lotions, nail polish remover, deodorant, etc…)

• plastic cleaning products (laundry detergent, almost ALL cleaning materials, liquids and sprays)

• plastic food packaging (almost ALL cheeses, yogurts, ketchup, mayo, puddings, syrups, etc…)

• plastic trays INSIDE food packaging (for example, the plastic trays inside cookie boxes or frozen foods, etc…)

Of course, there are many more places we can find plastic right under our noses. If you can think of any, please comment and add them below. Oh, and recycle, recycle. recycle! Thanks!

“The beginning of the shampoo bottle always goes faster than the end.” - Elizabeth Royte, author of Garbage Land.

When I read that quote, I instantly realized that I was one of those people who waste things when they’re there, and then try to savor them when they’re nearly gone.

And I know I’m not alone.

How often do you find yourself trying to pound out what’s left of your shampoo bottle, only to give up and reach for that fresh new bottle waiting on the side just aching to ooze out generously into the palm of your hands?

Next thing you know the old bottle is tossed away with perfectly good shampoo still hanging on to dear life! Not a very eco-friendly move.

“Yeah, but what could I possibly do about it?”

1. Don’t buy new shampoo and conditioner until you completely run out of the surplus you already have. Use what you have and work with it! You’d be surprised how much of the product is still left in a seemingly empty bottle: Consider it a Hannukah bathroom miracle!
2. Got new bottles already lying around? Store them somewhere far, far away from your bathtub, like in another room where you’ll think twice before skipping out of the shower all cold and wet to get it.
3. I personally try leaving my (cruelty-free) shampoo and conditioner upside down for a while but that usually turns into a bad bowling game, knocking down bottles left and right. There must be a better way, right? There is: Apparently some geniuses before me have already thought of this and came up with new and convenient ways to store your bottles upside down (see above pic, courtesy of Fluggart). You might consider it a good investment to ultimately help you waste less.
4. And when you’re finally finished squeezing the sense out of the bottles: Recycle, recycle, recycle!

Ordering in food to your home or your office can be fun every once in a while (I’m rather addicted to it myself…) But ever notice all the “stuff” that comes along with your meal? A typical order of one simple meal can usually include most (or all) of the following:

A plastic fork, a plastic knife, a plastic spoon, 1 or 2 paper napkins, a small paper packet of salt, a small paper packet of pepper, a toothpick, freshener wipes in their little paper cover and the little plastic bag that holds all these unnecessary items together! Oh, and not to mention a plastic cup and/or straw for your drink!

What the means is that one simple meal (that you didn’t even make yourself!) can result in a bag full of waste that goes straight to the garbage! Un-freikin-believable!

“Yeah, but what could I possibly do about it?”

Believe it or not, all it takes is one simple sentence upon ordering: “And I won’t be needing the utensils and stuff, thank you.”

Use your own utensils, use your own salt and pepper, use your own cups and as for the “freshening wipes”… oh, for green’s sake, just wash your hands!