Tag: #eco-friendly

Returning our attention to Earth Day

LEGO recycling truck recently scene at a local Target store. Picture by Salena Wakim, do not reuse, duplicate, or alter without permission and credit

With all that is going on in the world these days, one might be forgiven for letting Earth Day slip their mind this year. Sadly, many will probably overlook it entirely, but now we should be revisiting the importance of this day more than ever. It’s time we returned out attention to Earth Day.

I won’t list all the eco catastrophies we’ve had in the last 12 months. For one thing you’ve heard it all before, and for another, unfortunately there are so many the list really wouldn’t fit in this space. Suffice it to say, there’s been a lot, and as such, there’s even more work to do to fix the situation. Despite the heavy need, there’s still so many other problems right now, that eco awareness is both higher than it’s been for a while, and yet equally not being acknowledged in everyday activities on a large scale.

Increasing awareness amongst all the generations is key to fighting this problem, but that is easier said than done. Various organizations and businesses have noticed though, and are wading in to help. This includes companies like Kleenex issuing a special ‘National Parks’ themed packaging line, Disney releasing their Earth Day centric reusable bag line, and LEGO putting out a Recycling Truck builder kit (see image above).

The semiannual Drug Take Back Day will take place on Saturday 4/27, just at the tail end of Earth Week, in an attempt to prevent not only drug misuse, but also to prevent unwanted drugs from ending up in our waterways. The EPA has a variety of online resources to help you teach your children about the importance of the day as well. There’s also some free Earth Day templates for you to use on Instagram, to help promote Earth Day awareness. Many private citizens will be out doing beach, forest, and park cleanups this week too. I know it might seem like the message is getting buried under the avalanche of bad news coming at us from so many directions, but it’s important that you remember you’re not alone. Others do care, and we all need each other to pitch n and help, if we’re going to succeed in making it better. The UN just put out a statement saying that we only have approx two years left to really mitigate any future to climate related problems.

So, regardless if you celebrate by attending an event, working on spreading Earth Day awareness, or by taking stock of your own eco street cred, the important thing is that you do in fact celebrate it, and pitch in.

Happy Earth Day Everyone.

Forgot about Drug Take Back Day? Don’t panic

Photo by Julie Viken on Pexels.com

Ok, so you forgot about Drug Take Back Day last month. Now you’re staring at a bunch of pills, thinking you’re going to have to store these until the next drop off day in October? As the title says, Don’t Panic? There’s more options now than there used to be.

The official Drug Take Back Day usually is held in April and October. For a long time, that really was your only chance to safely dispose of expired, excess prescription medication for free. However, that changed because of an unfortunate perfect storm, comprised of accidental consumption of pills by kids, the opioid epidemic, and a growing concern over groundwater contamination. Now there’s more than one convenient way to get this job taken care of. Whichever of the options below you choose, just remember to either remove your personal info from the bottle, or use a sharpie to cover it up, before you drop it off!

  1. Pharmacies: Many local pharmacies now have dropped off containers for prescription drugs that are no longer needed. They generally look a little like a postal mailbox, but instead of being blue they’re silver.
  2. Mail option: if your pharmacy doesn’t have the silver container, then ask them if they have the free mail-in pouches. Now, be careful, because sometimes they’ll direct you to a shelf were there’s a mail-in pouch that you’ll have to pay for. Don’t settle for that, ask again for the free one. They’re usually set out by the pharmacy counter for people to grasp, or you might have to ask for one from behind the counter.
  3. Doctor’s office: This one is more of a long shot, but sometimes they might have it, so ask just in case.
  4. Police stations: Many police stations now have the silver drop off bins to. You didn’t even have to talk to anyone about it, you just go in, and drop you bag in the slot, and go.
  5. Community events: Sometimes, you can find drug awareness events going on in your community, There will usually be a drop off location set up at the heart of the event, which will be surrounded by activities and info booths. These are usually held in school parking lots, or local parks. Just keep an eye out for signs posted around town.

How green is your favorite brand?

Barclays Asset & Sales Finance by Logomachy is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Everyone has a favorite brand. Be it a tennis shoe, makeup, or coffee brand, it doesn’t matter; life without it just wouldn’t be the same. So, what do you do when you’re not sure about just how green that company actually is? If you’re one of the growing number of people for whom this matters, then you need to do some research.

Yes, you can always Google it, sure. However, unless that company has had some major disaster, the results can be kinda murky.

One place to start is the company website. See what they’re claiming “officially” to be their green policy. Many corporate websites proudly put this info on display. Then you can compare this to the Google search results to see what overlaps.

Another reason a company might publicly proclaim what their eco status truly is, would be due to them having to tell their shareholders. If you specifically search for corporate finance info, that might give you a different perspective. For example, if you were looking into a mining company, their website might say they comply with all federal regulations; but their financial announcements to shareholders might talk about how the cost of that compliance, during a cleanup, was affecting their bottom line. Now you know there was an incident.

There are also watchdog groups out there that keep naughty-and-nice lists regarding corporate behavior. If you’re not sure how to go about doing these various types of searches, just check your local library. The librarians there have access to subscription databases, government documents, corporate histories, and can even help with choosing the right search terms. Sometimes it’s just a matter of know how to look that matters more than anything else.

As the saying goes, “seek and ye shall find.”