Recycle 2 Save

I hope that everyone had (or is having) a great Holiday with their family. I promised that I would try to keep giving ingredients to avoid. Below is the next offender. I somehow knew (maybe based on the fact that the "real" natural guys said that their product didn't contain it) that parabens were to be avoided. When my husband asked why I said.. "cause they are bad". I had no clue. Below is an excerpt from an article about toxins in the products we buy everyday. Parabens (Methyl, Butyl, Ethyl, Propyl): Used as preservatives and aren’t always labeled “parabens.” They’re used in deodorants and antiperspirants and have been found in breast cancer tumors. Parabens, as xenoestrogens (hormone disruptors), may contribute to sterility in male mice and humans. Estrogen-like activity causes hormone imbalance in females and early puberty. Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-toxic-12-beauty-ingredients.html#ixzz1hqggR0ga So this is the second.. more to come.

.. I was singing (it's ashame you couldn't hear me .. or is it?). Writing a pretty simple post just to wish all of our readers, customers, staff & random people walking down the street a very Merry Christmas & Happiest of Holidays. We are so thankful for our customers & staff. We look forward to a bright New Year and wish you all one as well.

It's a fad. I mean, it's so very helpful for my job but really green has become a fad. Celebrities are driving Prius's and talking about their carbon footprint. It's a good fad because no one is hurt and only our planet gains.. or not? I've said so many times that education is the first step to getting recycling to catch on and become second nature. Miseducation on the other hand makes us take giant leaps back. So many companies are cashing in on the eco fad and are green washing us to death. Now it is so much more difficult to determine what's really "green" and what is a company trying to persuade us to buy the same old product wrapped in a green package. It takes a very detail oriented person with extra time to be sure that the product you specifically bought because it was a bit healthier for the planet and your family is in fact just that. Unfortunately for most of us, time is not something we have a lot extra of.  A friend recently informed m...

Drum roll please.. can't handle the suspense? Lisa has won the tee shirt (made from Recycled PET)  & drink tumbler. Yay Lisa!! If you are Lisa and posted a comment that you wanted to hear more on educating children about recycling please email me. I need your address to get your prize on it's way. If you aren't Lisa but do have a topic in mind that you'd be interested in discussing, hearing about, or looking at from another point of view please comment & let me know. Thanks much.. have a great week!

Thanks for the comment Lisa, by request: I was involved in recycling well before it became the craze. It was second nature in our household and as a child I assumed it was the same everywhere else. I just did it because that's what I knew. The missing link in recycling is education. We've done better recently but what we really need is to instill it at a young age. Many schools are hoping on board but some aren't picking it up quite as quickly as they should. As always, Mom and Dad are the first step and below are a few ways to introduce it in your home. 1. Look at your garbage: It is helpful to "stage" a garbage can filled with recyclables and real garbage (you can control the amount of recyclables versus waste that they'll find). If you compost include those materials too. It is fun and also shows the true impact of pulling items out of the garbage. They will see the amount of landfill bound garbage diminish and the bin empty. I know it'll be a bit m...

I've been so pleased with the number of views we've been getting in the last few days. It was a slow start but things are beginning to really pick up. The problem is, I can hear the crickets churping (that's my way of saying that I haven't received any comments). I would really like to make this an interactive experience and cover topics or answer questions people are really interested in. Please comment, I'd be so happy to hear from you. Let me know how you feel about the post, ideas for future posts, questions, or just let me know that you're here. Hmm.. I will try to make it worth your while. We will give a CRI tee shirt (Anvil Sustainable - made from recycled PET) and a recyclable drink tumbler. Using random.com a winner will be selected. To be included in the drawing please have your comment in by 12/5. Good Luck, I can't wait to hear from everyone. One last thing.. please do not forget to include contact information so that I can get in touch with y...

So much preparation, food, and fun leads to so much waste. The Holidays are magical. A perfect time to reflect, be thankful for what you have, spend quality time with friends and family. As the family slowly filter out the bags and bags of trash remain. I have a few quick suggestions to help keep your holidays a bit "greener". 1. Recycle. It can be a pain especially with an elder family member who is not quite as familiar with the idea of recycling, You will find that keeping the paper (especially with gift boxes and wrapping paper) will help to significantly cut down on the garbage. The way to make it easiest and receive the most participation is to clearly label the bins. If they don't know where to put things they'll either trash it or the materials will get all mixed up and end up being thrown away later. A few minutes of organization will make a huge difference in its success. On a side note: a few recycling facilities are no...

The Cougle family has been involved in recycling since the 1940's. They have a bit of experience under their belt and have perfected the way recyclables are most efficiently processed. Since CRI is a recycling facility with no landfill affiliations the idea of increasing the residual or waste generated from collecting and processing recyclables is a scary proposition. The concept of decreasing the quality of the finished product coming out of the facility, for a company who has built a superior reputation for clean material is also met with disdain. In a multitude of current news articles local communities and industries are switching to single stream recycling for three main reasons; to make it easier, increase participation, and save money. I’m pretty confident that I can disprove those statements or at least show how silly they are. Easier: It is significantly easier to throw everything in one bin or heck we could even trash it. We recycle to keep materi...

I have read numerous blogs about numerous causes. Cougle's Recycling management has discussed having a company blog for a long time and I have delayed. I've delayed because I wasn't so sure that I could commit to posting regularly ( I can!) or even worse.. that I could write interesting things that someone would actually want to read (I'll try!). So I'm biting the bullet and we'll see how it goes. I am going to ease into this. If you have any recycling/green topics that you'd like  "explored" please let me know. I'm just desperate for interesting ideas to keep readers coming back. We can do this. That's all for now.. relax, I said I'm easing into things.