Reverse Shopping

We left with the van full and came back with it empty.

First stop: Home Concept. My friend Susan told me they recycle Styrofoam.
Fortunately they still do.
Unfortunately the store is closing.
Fortunately...we aren't buying anything new for the next six months..so we shouldn't have any more Styrofoam to deal with.

Stop two: Remember the computer that died within two weeks of starting the Buy Nothing New Challenge...time to get rid of it.

Fortunately Madison recycles desk tops ( at Badger Rd site)
Unfortunately you need a $10 ticket that they do not sell there
Fortunately there was a library close by and it was open.

Bonus: we found another place to recycle shoes!

Last stop: St Vinny's on Odana for everything else.

The basement is not empty by any means...but at least the floor is clear!

Finally!

We have been saving plastic caps for a year..plus friends and family have sent caps to us. I finally got them all in one place.


And brought them into AVEDA...which is conveniently located at the ground floor of my office.

What do you do with plastic caps?

This is how many plastic bottle caps we collected this month. You can't put them in recycling because they are a different kind of plastic than the rest of the bottle.

I have a hard time throwing them in the trash because I have seen photos of what happens when animals eat them ( I won't link to a photo) This is a problem for water birds...they see plastic bottle tops and mistake them for food. They eat them until their belly is full ....and then they starve to death. This is not something I want to be a part of... which brings me back to...what do you do with plastic bottle tops?

I just found out there is an alternative. AVEDA has recently started a recycling program specifically for bottle caps. They work mostly with schools but when I called they said I could bring in ours. In Madison, they are in Westgate mall.

If you know a teacher who might like to get their school involved, here is a letter to teachers that explains the program. Not connected to a school and want to find an AVEDA shop near you, here is their store locater.

For now we are going to collect our bottle tops and take them in every few months ( if you live near us, fill free to drop tops off at our place). In the fall, we will see if the boys school would like to participate. One more way to keep plastice out of the enviroment. Go AVEDA.