Companies That Recycle - And Ways You Can Join Their Efforts! Guest Post.

Recycling has the power to preserve the Earth for many generations to come, but everyone must be involved in order for our efforts to be successful. Brilliant Earth and Nike are two companies that are already making a difference through their recycling programs. There are many ways you too can join in and help keep our Earth more beautiful and clean.

Brilliant Earth a conflict-free diamond company known for their unique engagement rings, they specialize in re-refining recycled gold, silver, and platinum back into pure elements, which are then remixed into alloys and cast into unique pieces. This decreases demand for gold mining, which is one of the most destructive types of mining. It takes 20 tons of ore to produce enough gold to produce one ring. Gold mining also can release cyanide and mercury into local water sources, making the water unsafe to drink.

Nike recycles old shoes and turns the old rubber scraps into playground turf. Children can enjoy running on this turf for many years to come!  It is nice to be able to give your old sneakers a second life! Nike is also finding ways to trim waste from production and switch to more sustainable materials and also offers a stylish line of organic clothing.

Ladies, when was the last time you cleaned out your makeup bag? Unfortunately, cosmetics do not last forever. You should take out anything you have had for more than 2 years or anything that is empty and take it to be recycled. Origins retail stores recycle empty cosmetics tubes, bottles, and jars from any brand. In return, they will give you a free sample of their high-performance skincare products.

Many mattress retailers will accept your used mattress for recycling when you purchase a new mattress. Mattress recycling centers can recycle about 90% of the mattress and turn it into fiber for clothing, wood chips, foam products, and scrap metal.  Given that approximately 20 million mattresses are replaced every year in the United States alone, recycling mattresses is enough to make anyone sleep better!

Over 75% of waste is recyclable, but only about 30% of it is recycled. That means that 70% of recyclable materials are sitting in a landfill somewhere instead of being used again. Let's work together with these companies to increase the percentage of recyclable materials that actually are recycled!

This fantastic post was submitted from Sophia over at My "Soph" Called Life. Head over there to read more great articles educating us all on the importance of living an eco friendly lifestyle. Sophia is based in the US but there are companies all over the world who participate in different recycling schemes.

Eco-Straws Review

Eco-Straws offer a fantastic innovative new product, the 100% eco friendly straw. Being a parent, I buy my fair share of straws, mostly for my daughter and any picnic or tea parties that may crop up, but also for those lovely special "mummy" drinks we wait all week long for. So I was excited to test out these drinking straws.

Eco-Straws offer 3 different types of drinking straws. 

Straw with a bend - One of the most common types of drinking straw used and suitable for a wide variety of drinks.

Straight up straw - Again suitable for a variety of different drinks, but most favoured for use with those frozen drinks, smoothies and milkshakes.

Straw spoon - Exactly as it sounds, a straight straw with the added bonus of a spoon which is perfect for the slush puppy style iced drinks/cocktails as well as those yummy milkshakes and ice cream floats!

These straws are manufactured using the highest quality stainless steel which is food safe, allowing them to be used with hot and cold drinks. They can be used time and time again without any signs of deterioration and are also freezer and dishwasher safe.

And if you're thinking, "Hmm.. But how would I clean it?" Then never fear as they also sell these super cute and very nifty cleaners which are perfect at cleaning them every time.

As you can see Aalliyah has already nabbed her favourite straw from the bunch! We both give eco-straws a massive thumbs up and highly recommend them.

Fancy checking them out for yourself? Then head on over to "eco-straws" and have a look around their site. The straws are available in different sized packs to suit your needs and at a great price!

Fancy winning some for free? 

The fabulous people over at "eco-straws" are giving one lucky person the chance to win a 4 pack of straws (of your choice) All you have to do is fill in the raffle copter below. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saving The Planet In 10 Simple Steps

Going green is not as hard as some people may think. Everyone assumes that its going to take something on a massive scale to help save the planet, and that one single person making a change would be insignificant, but this is so untrue. If we all thought like that, there would be no hope of turning things around and helping our planet to go greener.

Getting our children involved is even better as we are doubling our efforts and helping to save the planet by twice the amount. Plus we are passing on our knowledge in the hope that they will grow up and continue on a greener path 

I have put together a list of 10 simple ways to go green and help save the planet. They are easy and simple changes we can implement. You can do them without breaking a sweat or your bank balance :-)

1) Saving water - There are many simple yet effective ways to do this such as turning the taps off while you are brushing your teeth. This is great as the kids can get involved too. What's more is you can save up to 8 gallons of water a day! (Based on brushing morning and night). Another fun way of conserving water is to collect rainwater. Its great for watering the plants and kids will love collecting up the water in their buckets.

2) Wash at 30 or below - I have always washed at 40/60 and 90 degrees depending on the load. But for the past year all I have ever washed at is 30 degrees. My laundry comes out just as clean and reduces your electricity consumption by an average of 40%. Most leading washing detergent brands are now designed to clean just as good at lower temperatures.

3) Switch To Energy Efficient Lighting - By switching just one of your standard light bulbs to an energy efficient one can save you an average of £3 a year and by changing all our lighting to energy efficient lighting can save us up to £55 per year. Most leading supermarkets no longer stock standard bulbs which is fantastic as it gets us all changing to a more efficient source of lighting.

4) Recycle - An obvious one, but many of us still do not recycle our everyday materials like glass, aluminium and card. Most of us don't even have to go further than our doorstep and we have weekly collections of all our recyclable materials. On average, we will all throw away our own body weight in waste in just 7 weeks! That's crazy!

5) Change your batteries - Stop using regular disposable batteries and change to rechargeables. Over 15 billion batteries are made and sold each year, most of which are disposable. That's nearly 15 billion batteries disposed of in our landfills. For a small price tag you can buy a battery charger with a set of rechargeable batteries. Saving you endless money in the long run and believe me come Christmas day you will be glad you have rechargeables.

6) Pull The Plug - We waste a massive amount of electricity every year by leaving things on standby, such as out televisions, dvd players, sky/virgin boxes and laptops. Having something on standby still uses on average up to 90% of there power still. You wouldn't leave every appliance on when you went to bed as you would see this as a massive waste of electricity, so switch off and then turn off at the mains. Less harmful to the environment and your annual electricity bill.

7) Plot it - Making your own vegetable plot is a fantastic way to go green. It is  a brilliant thing to do with the kids, and how satisfying is it to be "living off your own land". Growing your own produce is a fun way to teach your children about going green. It costs millions to transport vegetables to local supermarkets. That's a lot of exhaust fumes!

8) Make Over - Turn your old disused items into something better by giving them a new lease of life! Make over your old furniture or clothes. Make some handmade jewellery. The possibilities are endless and definitely a number one activity that the kids will love being a part of. Don't fill up the landfill with yet more waste! Jazz it up into something you CAN reuse.

9) Bag it - Plastic shopping bags are not biodegradable, even the ones that say they are will never fully decompose. They will hang around our landfill for years to come. Think of the billions of bags used in our supermarkets everyday? That's a lot of waste! Always try to use a cotton/canvas reusable bag which are sold in most shops now. You can use them again and again. You could even get a plain bag and lets the kids paint it for you! 

10) Branch out - Plant a tree! Simple and to the point but just by planting a tree you could be making a massive future change. An adult tree can absorb approximately 48 pounds of carbon monoxide in a single year and produce enough oxygen to sustain two people for a lifetime. That is incredible and your little ones will love being a part of this one! :-)

So there you have it, my top 10 ways to help save the planet :-)

Have fun going that little bit greener...