TAKE AGAINST WASTE
beauty, electronics, health packaging, textiles & vinyl
ACTION
As I've researched environmentally conscious ways to keep waste out of landfills, I've uncovered numerous organizations working to create social, environmental, and economic value by giving it a second life.
I've listed some of my favorite sustainable brands, practices, programs, and products below in an effort to grow awareness, accessibility, and education surrounding these initiatives. This list is ever-growing and can hopefully serve as a resource for you, too, to begin or continue exploring the ways in which you can help make an impact and preserve the planet!
Resources Reused
Best Buy recycles all kinds of tech, no matter how old, how big, or where you bought it. At most stores, you can recycle up to three items per household per day. Plus, haul-away options are available for larger items in your home.
Clean beauty — vetted to the highest standard — built around care and curiosity
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Credo's mission is to change the way people think about what goes into products, onto your skin, and ends up in the environment. They aim to be a reliable voice within the industry, asking questions that lead to more informed choices.
Fashion is broken and together
we are going to fix it
For Days embraces circularity and zero waste with their Take Back Bag, making recycling clothing easy and rewarding. They ensure that 95% of textiles received go on to live their best next life. Plus, you get rewarded with Closet Cash for recycling with them.
Metal lasts forever. So do landfills.
Hydro Flask offers a stainless steel bottle trade-in and recycling program, designed to ensure old products are recycled efficiently and properly. Get environmental cred and $5.00 towards your next purchase on their website.
Denim Recycling Program
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Drop off pre-loved jeans (any brand) at a Madewell store to give them a new life. In partnership with Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green™, your old denim will be turned into housing insulation—and you'll receive $20 off a new pair.
Going all in on takebacks
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Bring your used The North Face gear to a retail or outlet store where it will be given a second chance via The North Face Renewed. After being inspected, washed, and tuned up, gear will be read to hit the trail—again. If it can’t be repaired, they'll recycle or donate it as part of their commitment to circularity.
The beauty industry has
a pretty ugly problem
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Pact is a non-profit collective created to unite the industry to take responsibility for packaging waste and work collaboratively to close the loop toward circular packaging solutions.
Take-Back Program
Patagonia upcycles their old T-shirts into a new Tee-Cycle collection using Infinna™ Fiber, which can be recycled again and again. Once you no longer need your tees—made with cotton, hemp or linen—bring them into your nearest retail store or mail them to Patagonia's distribution center.
Gather your gear & get your bags
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Keep your clothes out of landfills!
Collect all the textiles in your home, fill up a Retold bag, and drop it off at your local post office. Retold and it partners will sort through your goods, sending them to thrift stores, donation centers, recyclers, resellers and up-cyclers.
Turning shoes & clothing
into opportunity
When you donate to Soles4Souls,
it’s more than just cleaning out your closet; you’re helping the planet and changing someone’s life. Donate new or gently-worn shoes to help people in developing countries launch and sustain their own small businesses. You'll earn DSW Rewards points, too, if you drop off your donation in-store.
When you throw away old underwear, it’s a one-way
ticket to the landfill
In partnership with SuperCircle, Subset takes your ready-to-retire intimates and turns them into new materials like insulation, carpet padding and furniture batting. When you participate, you'll earn $15 to use on a future order.
High-performing, natural body
care without the waste
Wild's reusable deodorant applicator and Shower Gel cases are made from aluminum that will last a lifetime. Refill your cases again and again, saving over 30g of plastic from going to landfills every time.
Re/CASETiFY™
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Casetify's recycling program turns phone cases that have reached the end of their original usefulness into a new primary raw material: Re/CASETiFY™ Pellets. This material is then used to create new long-lasting, high-performance protection for both your tech and the environment.
Want to know what's in your sunscreen? Curious about the toxic chemicals in your tap water?
EWG’s consumer guides score cleaning products, food and drinking water and give advice on home products, all with the goal of empowering you to live a healthier life in a healthier environment.
A sustainable revolution in your home: reduce plastic waste in every room
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Through their marketplace of 200+ vetted brands, Grove Co. is committed to reducing and offsetting plastic waste. They've established strict ingredients standards and crafted their own planet-first products to lead the way. The average Grove order removes ≈26 plastic water bottles from nature.
lululemon Like New
If you have gently used lululemon gear you're no longer using, bring it to a participating store and you'll receive an e-gift card for eligible items you can use in-store and online.
Re-Spun: Upcycling your old tees
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Since 2018, this initiative has diverted 475,000+ tees from landfills, saved 2.6 billion gallons of water, and paid $2 million in credits to contributors. Get a free recycling kit, and mail in your old tees from home.
Organic cotton clothing, sustainably and ethically made
Pact partners with Fair Trade USA, Global Organic Textile Standard, and SimpliZero to ensure their products and processes support people & the planet.
Organic farming means cleaner air, better soil, fewer toxins, 81% less water, and 62% less energy required. They also invest in reforestation, renewable energy, and community projects to offset the effects of carbon emissions on the atmosphere.
There's no Parade
without the planet
Parade's Second Life recycling program keeps your old pairs out of landfills and turns them into something new. All styles from any brand are accepted. Send used (but washed!) underwear, any gender.
From billboard to bag
Rareform repurposes billboards into original products that inspire daily adventures. To date, they've transformed 318,307 billboards into one-of-a-kind products.
Stylish & sustainable
shoes for everyone
Rothy's transforms eco-friendly materials into wardrobe staples. Their shoes are knit from 100% recycled plastic bottles; they use other sustainable and recycled materials for footbeds, insoles and outsoles.
It's recycling day every day
Outdated technology doesn’t have to end up in a landfill. When it’s time to upgrade your laptops and printers or replace your ink and toner, bring your oldies to Staples to recycle responsibly.
Recycle the unrecyclable
with TerraCycle®
TerraCycle develops ways to collect and recycle trash that is not generally accepted by traditional municipal recycling services (e.g. cigarette butts, toys, mascara wands, etc.). Explore free recycling programs sponsored by your favorite brands and retailers to further the mission of moving the world from a linear economy to a circular one.