No, this is not a photo of the contents of my purse. The giveaway? I only carry ONE color of nail polish at a time… But, this IS a photo of a box of beauty products I’m sending to Terracycle, at no cost, for recycling. Interested? Read on….
Do you find your bathroom countertop and dressing table drawers cluttered with makeup and beauty products that promised the sky but didn’t deliver? Or do you throw that much loved but used-up eyeshadow trio or lipstick tube in the trash because you just don’t know what else to do with it? Here’s a solution…
I’m a dedicated (some would say obsessed) recycler and it used to kill me to throw beautiful perfume bottles, sparkly lipstick tubes and not-so-beautiful Maybelline eyeshadow cases in the trash when I was done with them. As a <ahem> mature woman, I seemed to accumulate a small mountain of miracle creams, not-so-miraculous serums and downright useless tonics, all in gorgeous jars or shapely bottles, all destined for the trash bin as they had no recycling symbols on them. What a waste! Literally.
Then I learned about Terracycle – and their FREE program to recycle personal care and beauty products. (In fact, if you click on the word Terracycle, above, you’ll see that they have AMAZING programs to recycle many currently un-recyclable items, like dental care products, crinkly snack bags, protein bar wrappers, even shoes). Here’s how it works: I accumulate a box (any size) of personal care and beauty products (I rinse them if possible). I go to the Terracycle website, where I sign in (establishing an account takes a second and only requires an email address and a password – and I swear I’ve never received any suspicious emails because of my Terracycle account), request a shipping label and print it when it appears in my inbox. That’s it! I don’t have to weigh the box – I just tape it up, slap the label on it and take it to my nearest UPS drop-off (you can even call UPS and they’ll come pick it up. Handy, especially if your box of beauty products is the size of freight car. Not that that’s happened to me…. so far…) And allow me to say this one more time – it’s FREE!
Terracycle also has a TV series, “Human Resources” that’s funny and topical and NOT preachy. It’s like “The Office”, the old NBC hit show, but instead of selling paper, they recycle it. And they make crazy stuff with the used packaging people send in, proving that recycling CAN be fun!
I felt compelled to share this information with you, so my work here is done. Now it’s your turn – sign up at Terracycle.com and save your overflowing bathroom drawers AND the planet. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go outside and hug a tree.
(A new “Notes from A Broad” is coming… I have so much to tell you about a romp in London and a REAL Renaissance Festival.)
Love this Elaine. Thank you for sharing and your commitment to a more beautiful world! Gonna get in on this
Rose, if I could pick anyone to save the planet with, it would be you! Thanks for the comment!
Hi Elaine, Thank you so much! This came at the exact right moment for me. Cleaning out my bathroom drawers and shelves and was feeling guilty about throwing away so much stuff. Thanks again, Karen
Karen, so happy the timing of this post was good for you! See you this year, I hope!!
Thank you for the information. I am sending this link to all my enlightened girlfriends.
Brillent idea. PR is full of trash, here is one way to help.
Gracias.
Hallee
Hi Hallee!! I LOVE that you’re going to send this to your ‘enlightened’ girlfriends – (Are there any other kind?? Gosh, I hope not!) How is PR?? Will you be heading to your Chicago home this summer/fall??
You sent this at exactly the time when I was ready to purge a pile of unused and unfulfilled promises in a jar! Thank you Elaine!
Mim, isn’t it amazing how quickly they accumulate? I’m SO happy this info was helpful! (When their TV show, Human Resources, was broadcast, viewers could see some of the amazing products the Terracycle team dreamed up using these recycled materials; I wish we could still see what they do with ALL of this ‘stuff’!)