Chemical recycling, an innovative plastic recovery technology, is out to make plastic more sustainable. The new technology is attracting tremendous interest and massive investments into the plastics recycling sector.

Unlike mechanical recycling, which recovers select plastics, chemical recycling recovers all kinds of plastic materials. 

The revolutionary technology removes plastics’ odour, colour, and contaminants to create valuable, highly recyclable material.

It turns waste plastics into a virgin-grade feedstock that can be converted into different plastic materials with diverse applications. Refiners can now recover coloured PP bottles, HDPE, and rigid packs which had lower recyclate value.

Dig in as we explore some of the innovative ways to recycle and recover plastic and improve sustainability.

Eco-Friendly Clothing 

To the uninitiated, the thought of a shirt or tee made from recycled plastic might seem unsettling. But at the heart of it, it’s hard to tell the recycled fabrics from the regular polyester material.

Shirts and t-shirts made from recycled fabrics are just as soft and comfortable as the standard fabrics, but more durable. 

Recycled fabrics are more sustainable because they’re easier to manufacture. It only takes a fraction of the energy and resources necessary to create polyester fabrics from scratch.

Creating new polyester fibres is a high-energy process that uses ethylene (derived from petroleum), coal, air, and water. It generates extreme amounts of heat and consumes plenty of energy and natural resources. 

On the flipside, recycled polyester is made from recovered plastic bottles, cutting out the need for coal and petroleum extraction.

The production process starts at the bottle recovery centre or a landfill. Refiners clean and shred the plastic bottles into flakes using machines running on renewable energy. 

The flakes are broken into micro pellets, which are then extruded into yarns and spurned into soft fabrics. The soft plastic fabrics manufacture comfortable and environmentally friendly t-shirts, shirts, and other garments. 

It takes 9 to 10 plastic bottles to make a t-shirt with recycled polyester fibres. Some t-shirts are 100% recycled plastic, while some brands infuse a bit of organic cotton to improve comfort and wearability. 

Oceanness, a plastic tee manufacturer, contends that their production process lowers carbon emission by 55%, uses 20% less water, and 50% less energy. Way to go guys!

3D Printed Furniture 

3D printing has rapidly changed the plastic furniture manufacturing scene.

Traditionally, manufacturing plastic furniture was the reserve of huge companies as it required huge, expensive machinery and equipment.

The rise of 3D printing technology lowered the entry bar while powering the design process. It eliminated the need for molds and expensive prototypes to increase the range of furniture design vastly.

However, it’s the introduction of recycled polycarbonate 3D printing filament that changed the game.

Made from recycled plastic, this recycled filament is cheap and available in various colours and properties.

Compared to virgin material, the recycled filament is superior because:

• It has a lower carbon footprint
• It is more durable
• It can be manufactured to exact industrial specs
• It has excellent strength and thermal stability 

Due to these qualities, the resultant 3D printed products can withstand high environmental temperatures and resists warping.

More importantly, it allows the printing of large and more complex shapes. It grants furniture makers the creative leeway to push their creative flow. 

3D printed range of furniture is lightweight, colourful, contemporary, unique, and delightful. It’s the power behind the influx of futuristic furniture designs on the market today. 

Best of all, 3D printed furniture is sustainable and can be recycled indefinitely into a fresh batch of 3D filament. 

Cellphones 

In 2009, Motorola and Fido launched the MOTO w233 Renew, a cellphone with 100% recyclable plastic housing.

Renew is an affordable, eco-friendly, high-quality handset available in the Canadian market. The handset was made from 25% recycled plastic, which helped Fido deliver it at a pocket-friendly price. 

The plastic housing on the handsets were made exclusively from recycled five-gallon water bottles. It’s estimated if the 5-gallon water bottles necessary to build a million handsets were stacked end-to-end, they’d be 5X taller than the CN Tower.

Renew was also the first CarbonFree certified handset on the market, helping Motorola lower its carbon footprint while delivering reliable and affordable handsets. 

Renew came with up to nine hours of talk time to reduce charging frequency and help users conserve powers.

Its packaging was reduced by 22%, and the in-box materials were reduced by 80% and printed on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks. 

Plastic Roads

After debuting in India twenty years ago, plastic roads are gaining ground around the USA, Europe, Britain, and Asia.

A growing wealth of information shows that plastic roads can outperform traditional roads because they’re: 

• Stronger
• More durable 
• Resilient to temperature swings 
• Have a higher load-bearing capacity
• Less susceptible to damage 

Unlike bitumen roads, plastic roads are more resistant to potholes, water damage, and cracking. They’re largely seen as a long-term solution to the plastic waste problem.

Plastic roads can potentially reclaim hundreds of thousands of plastic wastes from landfills.

Currently, companies building plastic roads use multilayer plastics such as plastic bags and food packaging deemed hard to recycle.

Hence, road building stands to benefit from chemical recycling technology. The constant need to build new roads may create a consistent demand. 

Waste plastic is melted and infused with other ingredients to make road asphalt when building plastic roads.

Typical road asphalt comprises up to 95% sand, gravel, or limestone aggregate and 5% to 10% bitumen, a binding agent. To create a stronger binding agent, contractors replace 4% to 10% of the bitumen with plastic waste. 

Plastic roads are superior simply because they use an outstanding binding agent.

When mixed with bitumen, recycled plastics improve the strength, stability, and fatigue life of the bituminous mix, enhancing pavement performance and longevity. 

Leading plastic road contractors estimate that plastic road construction could lower the plastic waste by 40% at the municipality level.

Every ton of a bituminous mix can potentially recycle up to 80,000 plastic bottles and each kilometre of a plastic road can recover nearly 750,000 plastic bags.

Be Part of the Change

You can help further these innovative solutions and tame the plastic menace by recycling your beverage containers.

At East Hills Bottle Deport, we collect and refund you for every accepted container you deliver to us. 

From aluminum cans to Tetra Paks, clear plastics to milk and juice cartons, glass to foil drink pouches, we’ll take it all. 

Besides, we make recycling your empty beverage containers fun and convenient. Visit us today. Bring the kids along for a family fun day. Enjoy our valet service. Have a free coffee, socialize, and make a bit of spending money. 

At East Hills Bottle Depot, we make recycling fun and enjoyable. 

The post Recycling Innovations: Where The Future Of Recycling Is Taking Us appeared first on East Hills Bottle Depot.

Material creation, processing, and impact of production have a significant effect on our planet. Did you know you can make more environmentally friendly choices when it comes to the brands you support?

Greenwashing is rife these days, with big brands like H&M claiming to have environmentally-friendly ranges. The truth is, these brands are still churning out more pieces and creating more waste than ever before. 

Enter sustainable brands. There’s a vast global movement for more fair fashion and ethical consumption. Want to know which brands you can support without having to compromise your morals?

Check out our guide of brands who do good with your dollars. 

What Is Ethical Consumption? 

Consuming ethically means you only support brands that are transparent and produce their products ethically. 

When you purchase ethically made products, you vote with your dollar. You show brands that if they produce their products sustainably, you’ll buy them. You challenge the status quo and the traditional mass-produced way of consumption. 

If you boycott unethical brands, you show them you reject their principles and lack of values.

What Does Unethical Production Mean?

Products that are produced unethically put profits before people and the planet. 

Unethical brands will often use child labour or not pay living wages to the people producing their goods. 

If something is not made ethically, it often destroys the environment where it is sourced. Companies that make unethical products often cause high levels of pollution. 

For example, cotton is often produced in an unethical way. The amount of pesticides needed for cotton crops is very high. It also requires a lot of water to grow. 

Cotton is grown in regions of the world that suffer from drought, such as India. Using water to produce crops instead of providing drinking water to local communities is unethical. 

How Can I Consume More Sustainably?

There are plenty of ways you can consume more consciously.

1. Think Twice Before You Buy

Think about whether or not you need it. Are you buying something new because you NEED it or because you want it? Or could you use what you already have? 

2. Borrow and Swap 

Borrow items from friends and family. They may own what you’re looking for. Swapping things is another excellent way to get the feeling of owning something new without the environmental impact.

3. Try Upcycling

Upcycled items are trending these days; put some love into something you already have. Do some work on regenerating it; you’ll be surprised what you can create with some inspiration from Pinterest. 

4. Thrift

You can find thrift and buy from charity shops. It’s much better to purchase things that already exist than create demand for the production of new things.

Did you know a truckload of clothes is burned or sent to landfills every minute? 

5. Get Making

Try making things yourself too. It’s a great way to get creative as well as reduce your carbon footprint! You’ll impress your friends with clothes and gifts you’ve made yourself.

6. Educate

Teach your kids how to be more ethical consumers. It’s more wallet-friendly too. Win-win!

If you find you really need to buy something new, you can buy from a brand that responsibly creates its products. Here’s some inspiration. 

Best Sustainable Brand for Women’s Fashion

Tentree

Tentree is a shining beacon for ethical practices, making it the perfect place to start.

The Canadian brand plants ten trees for every item purchased. They use recycled, circular and organic fabrics and are conscious of reducing fabric and water waste in production. 

Thinking Mu

Thinking Mu is a Spanish brand that puts sustainability at the forefront of everything it does. 

Gone are the days of sustainable fashion looking a bit odd or being made of awkward materials. This brand is stylish AND sustainable. 

The clothes are made from materials like linen, organic hemp and organic cotton. All clothes are coloured with eco-friendly dyes, and the company limits the wastage of water in production. 

Best Sustainable Brands for Men’s Fashion 

Kotn

An excellent option for sustainable menswear is the Canadian brand Kotn. They are a certified B Corp, which means the impact of their products is kept to a minimum.

Kotn also works with the communities that farm their cotton in the Nile Delta to provide them with education and community-building resources. How great is that!

Harvest & Mill

Harvest & Mill is a US brand that wants to change the fashion status quo. Produced in the USA, their labour policies are ethical, and they advocate worker’s rights. 

The products are made from organic and sustainable cotton, minimize fabric waste and use low-impact dyes. 

If you are looking for basics that have a low carbon footprint, check out this brand. 

Best Sustainable Sportswear for Women 

Girlfriend Collective

Imagine wearing plastic bottles; how chic would that be? Ok, we aren’t suggesting sticking a bunch of plastic bottles all over your body and going out for a run! 

We’re suggesting you try the soft, stretchy fabric Girlfriend Collective uses to make their sportswear. 

This brand has a super high sustainability rating. They reduce waste, make fabrics from ethical materials and pay their people a fair wage. Oh, and did we mention, their stuff looks great, AND is size-inclusive. 

Best Sustainable Sportswear for Men

Patagonia

If you want sportswear that will last a lifetime, Patagonia is a go-to brand.

They’re the pioneers of ethical outdoor gear, and their stuff is exceptionally high quality. In addition, many of their products are made from recycled materials. 

All the design aspects have been thoroughly thought through; you never knew you needed so many pockets! When you buy from Patagonia, you have a lifetime guarantee, they will replace or repair items that break. 

Overall this is a highly ethical company, their trademark is their sustainable principles. They also donate a percentage of their profits to combat climate change. 

Patagonia isn’t just for men—they have many female and unisex designs too. 

Best Sustainable Outwear Brand

Norden

If you want to keep it local (and of course, you trust Canadians to know what we need from a winter jacket!), then check out Norden.

They make stylish, sustainable outwear for men and women and guess what—it’s made from plastic bottles!

The brand has the vegan seal of approval and is a certified B Corp. That means they meet high standards for their environmental and social actions. 

Best Sustainable Brands for Underwear

There are dozens of sustainable underwear brands popping up online. Direct to consumer brands are particularly popular as we make a move to online shopping. 

Here are a few of the best:

Free Label

Want to support a local business when buying your undies and basics? Then try Free Label. They make their products in Toronto and Vancouver and are environment and human rights-focused. 

Hara the Label

A female-founded women’s underwear brand that strives to provide education about the fashion industry’s impact. Hara the Label creates super soft, comfortable, beautiful pieces using fabric made from bamboo.

They use natural dyes to create pop colours synonymous with the label. This brand puts people and the planet at the forefront of everything they do. 

Boody 

Boody is another underwear brand made from bamboo, you’ll never want to take off. The fabrics are the softest thing you’ll ever wear.

They make underwear, activewear and loungewear for men and women. Their ethical principles include reducing waste and sourcing the most sustainable suppliers for their raw materials. 

Just Wears

Just Wears is a male underwear brand that is revolutionizing the men’s underwear market, sustainability is at the forefront.

From the raw materials to their eco-friendly packaging, everything is done with the environment in mind. 

The underwear is made from the pulp of Austrian beech trees. The forests are managed in an environmentally friendly way, with regular re-forestation. 

Best Sustainable Footwear

Vivo Barefoot

Looking for an ethical footwear brand that looks good and doesn’t negatively impact the environment? Look no further than Vivo Barefoot. 

A shoe brand that’s vegan and made from recycled materials, its mission is to revolutionize the footwear industry. 

Once your shoes are worn out, you can send them back and they will turn them into a new pair! This brand uses innovative technology to bring the dream of a circular economy one step closer to fruition.

Best Sustainable Personal Hygiene Brands

If you want to make your hygiene routine more sustainable, then the first step: skip the plastic.

Bottles of shampoo and shower gel should be a thing of the past, not to mention all the nasty chemicals in regular hair and body products. 

Try solid toiletries if you want to have the most significant impact on the planet. Brands such as Ethique are built on sustainable principles. They want to save plastic, water and CO2 emissions. 

Imagine taking a shower knowing you’re positively impacting the environment! 

Sustainable Deodorant 

You may not have thought about the ethics of the stuff you put under your arms every day. But guess what? The stuff you buy in the store isn’t great for your skin or the environment. 

If you want to try an ethical, sustainable brand that works, then give Wild deodorant a go.

The deodorant has reusable packaging that you refill with compostable pods. Reduce your waste and smell amazing without any nasty chemicals clogging your pores. 

Sustainable Cosmetics

Cosmetics are a tricky one. They often contain animal derivatives, are tested on animals and have excessive plastic packaging. Not great if you are trying to consume more ethically. 

Give up your traditional face creams and lipsticks in favour of eco brands.

Beauty Products

Saint Cosmetics is an eco-friendly, clean beauty brand. It says it in the name, doesn’t it!

This Canadian brand uses plant-based rather than chemical-based ingredients to create long-lasting, exciting lipstick and blush colours. 

Skincare

In Canada, you need nourishing moisturizer in winter. But unfortunately, many of the creams you traditionally use have detrimental effects on the environment. 

Pivot is a Canadian-owned, plant-based skincare brand that creates nourishing face and body oils.

Support local brands who know what we need when it comes to winter skincare! 

Best Ethical Cleaning Products 

Have you thought about your household cleaning products? They can get an eco overhaul too.  

From dish soap to laundry detergent, many conventional products are full of environmental and skin-damaging chemicals. 

Try an eco-friendly brand like Ecover if you want to replace the nasty detergents in your home. You can find products from this brand at Well.ca.

Reusable Everyday Items

To protect our oceans, we need to quit our single-use plastic habit. One of the best ways to do this is having reusable alternatives on hand. 

From water bottles to coffee cups to reusable tote bags and face masks, being more environmentally conscious starts with a few simple changes. 

Check out Made For The People for some great alternatives to single-use items such as straws and plastic bags. 

Coffee Cups

Thousands of coffee cups are tossed into landfills every day. Want to do your bit when buying your morning coffee? Then take your own cup! 

There are dozens of brands that sell reusable cups. Take a look at Keep Cup or R Cup. 

Bonus: Many coffee shops actually offer a small discount if you bring your own reusable cup!

Water Bottles

If you want to cut down on your plastic wherever you are in the world, buy a reusable water bottle. Preferably one with a filter so you can safely drink the water. 

Check out Lifestraw for bottles you can fill up anywhere and drink from straight away. 

Start Living More Sustainably 

We can all make small changes that add up to make a big difference. If you want to live more sustainably, live by the mantra reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

When you buy new things, buy ethically from sustainable brands. These brands are making a conscious effort to make the world a better place. From the materials they use to their policies about labour, when you support sustainable brands you can be sure your dollar is being put to good use. 

When you want to recycle your empty beverage containers, don’t forget to give East Hills Bottle Depot a visit. We’ll welcome you with open arms and a warm coffee—brownie points if you bring in your reusable coffee cup of course ;). 

The post The Buyer’s Guide to the Best Sustainable Brands appeared first on East Hills Bottle Depot.

The ocean is the world’s life support system, yet humans and human activities are its biggest threat. It’s a problem that stretches from ocean to ocean and impacts the Earth as a whole. 

As daunting as all that sounds though, you don’t have to do extraordinary things to keep the ocean clean and safe for all. Small things can make a big difference. Below are some small things you can do now to help save our oceans.

1. How to Help Keep Our Oceans Clean? Start with Awareness

All solutions often start with awareness. If you’re here, you’re probably already aware of ocean pollution and the problems it’s causing. If you are, then take it to the next level and spread awareness to your friends and family. 

Living in the Internet era has its advantages. Use them. Share news about ocean issues and help spread the word. If all of us do at least one thing to help keep our oceans clean, it will make a huge difference, not just to marine life, but to all life. 

2. Be Part of the Force

You don’t have to hold a protest placard and join environmental demonstrations to make an impact—although you can if you want to. Join environmental organizations that are focused on ocean conservation. Memberships do not require holding a sign to show your support and finding one near your area is easier than you may think.

There are many benefits to joining environmental groups but the biggest is probably the fact that organizations, particularly big ones, already have a voice when it comes to social and environmental issues. 

Get yourself heard and be part of a louder voice that demands changes for a better, bluer ocean. These organizations lead and lobby for change, especially for environmental laws that protect the ocean.

Environmental laws play a huge part in protecting our environment from exploitation and negligence from businesses and individuals alike. Be part of a group that pushes for such laws. These organizations can be a great source of steady information, as well, on how to help keep our oceans clean.

3. Take Responsibility

Take responsibility for your actions. Acknowledge that everything you do impacts our planet and take that thought with you wherever you go and whatever you do.

Remember that whenever you let your food go to waste, when you leave the water running, or when you are drinking coffee from paper cups, you are creating an environmental chain reaction that will find its way to our oceans. 

Aside from keeping that at the front of your mind, you can also help reverse or reduce the effects of others’ irresponsible actions. You can pick up litter and join activities like the 10 Pieces Movement where travellers are challenged to pick up 10 pieces of trash during their adventures. 

You can also run a bottle drive. East Hills Bottle Depot makes it easy to organize bottle drives. You’ll be helping the environment and raising money at the same time. 

4. Respect the Ocean

Respect the ocean and all life forms in it. When you go to the beach, don’t leave anything behind. Bring your trash with you. 

When you go boating, don’t throw anything overboard. Even something as harmless as aquarium fish, for example, can disrupt the native environment of the ocean and harm other species in it. In fact, the very clothing you’re wearing may be shedding fibers that are harming the ocean. 

In other words, whether it’s an aquarium fish or a small thread from your clothes, what you think is harmless may actually not be. 

Respect the ocean, bring everything you brought with you when you leave, and don’t throw anything— certainly not your garbage— anywhere. You know that straw wrapper that blew away in the wind when you were having lunch? Go get it. 

You don’t throw trash around at your neighbour’s or your friend’s house when you visit, why do it at the beach?

5. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Your overarching environmental goal should be to leave this planet with as little carbon footprint as you can manage. 

We want to leave a better place for our kids and their kids in the future. Also, even if that isn’t something you’re most concerned about, understand that the future of the planet is uncertain if we don’t live sustainably. 

There’s only so much our planet can handle. A study in the journal Marine Policy shows that our ocean’s pollution is reaching a planetary boundary. Planetary boundary refers to the environmental limits within which humans can safely operate.

Anything you do that results in carbon emissions increases your carbon footprint. Are you using too many disposable plastics? Plastics are made using oil or natural gas, which produce greenhouse gases that harm our oceans.

Our oceans store about 30 percent of carbon dioxide and 93 per cent of all greenhouse gases. Dissolved carbon increases the acidity of the ocean water, affecting corals and shellfishes.

Greenhouse gases also trap more heat from the sun, increasing our ocean’s temperature. Plus, the increased temperature makes the water expand, resulting in a rise in sea level. 

So you see, greenhouse gases do not only affect the climate, they also affect our oceans. Some ways you can help reduce greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are:

• conserving water
• using energy-efficient appliances
• walking or biking to work
• and many more

6. Buy Sustainable Seafood

Sustainable seafood is seafood caught in a way that protects the ocean, preventing overfishing, and overall ensures the ocean can still handle future needs. 

According to Oceana Canada’s latest report, only a quarter of Canada’s fish populations can confidently be considered healthy. The number of fish populations in a critical state increased from 13.4% in 2017 to 17% in 2020. 

People continue to overfish critically depleted stocks. See the numbers below.

Help bring the number down for critically depleted and overfished stocks by buying sustainable seafood. When you support sustainable practices in fishing, you encourage more restaurants and establishments to buy only from sustainable fisheries. 

When you’re shopping, check for labels like: 

• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
• Aquaculture Stewardship Council
• Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch
• and Ocean Wise among others

You can also download Seafood Watch’s consumer guide to help you make the right choices either when shopping or dining. 

7. Say No to Plastics

Did you know that research estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish? 

Plastics end up in our oceans, in the stomachs of marine life, and back on our dining tables. 

A study by the University of Exeter and the University of Queensland found that the seafood we eat today has traces of plastics. Someone eating sardines, for example, could ingest up to 30 mg of plastic or the equivalent of a grain of rice. 

Sounds like poetic justice, right? This is not the extent of plastic problems in our oceans, though. Plastics harm ocean creatures too.

Remember this video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw up its nostrils that went viral in 2016? 

If you can’t completely eliminate the use of plastics, you can still reduce your usage. Switch to reusables and dispose of your plastics properly.

8. Pick Up Beach Litter

Pick up litter on the beach when you see them and even if they aren’t yours. Also, any time you can, join beach clean up drives. 

There are annual clean up drives that you can join, so sign up when you can even when they aren’t on the beach. National CleanUp Day and World CleanUp Day, for example, will have their annual clean up drive on September 18, 2021.  

9. Use Ocean-Friendly Products

Those fancy nylon mesh tea bags you got for your birthday? Bad news, they have microplastics. Those tea bags that promise a much superior flavoured tea release billions of microplastics into tea, according to researchers from McGill University in Montreal in a recent study. 

Did you also know that the beads in beauty exfoliants and some toothpaste products have microplastics in them? 

So aside from the terrible fact that microplastics can also enter the human body, the problem with microplastics is that they don’t break down and they’re very tiny (microplastic is considered plastic less than five millimeters or 0.2 inches in diameter) they pass through our filters, through the waterways, and end up in the oceans.

Also, even if the filters in your washing machines can catch microparticles so they don’t end up in our oceans every time you wash your clothes, if you use swimsuits made of synthetic fibers—like nylon, spandex, lycra, and polyester—you’re sending these into the ocean everytime you go swimming. 

These are just some of the common products that can harm the ocean. There are also other products that are made through harmful methods like cosmetics containing shark oil, jewelry made from corals, and tortoiseshell accessories made from hawksbill turtles. 

Show your love for our oceans by avoiding products that threaten marine lives.

10. Buy Less and Buy Better Clothes

Overproduction and overconsumption are the biggest reasons why you should buy better quality clothes that last for a long time, rather than cheaper clothes that don’t last as long. 

You may not be aware but clothing production creates more carbon emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. 

What makes this even more problematic is the ‘Fast Fashion’ trend. Fast Fashion refers to poor quality clothes that replicate catwalk trends, produced at low-cost and made faster than you can say ‘fashionable.’

On the surface, that may sound good for the budget-conscious person, but it seems that access to cheap, celebrity fashion-like, trendy clothing is a threat to our environment. Latest research shows that 3 out of 5 fast fashion clothes end up in landfills within a year of purchase.

11. Practice Recycling

Last but not least, recycling—the mother of all conservation efforts— should always be on your list if you’re looking for ways on how to help keep our oceans clean.

Recycle whenever possible. Whether it’s bottles or clothes, recycling is the best way to reduce waste and what you throw away. 

Granted, it’s not always easy and convenient to recycle, but that is why you should always look for ways to make it a part of your life and not just a one-time thing that you do on Global Recycling Day. 

Fortunately, there are companies that help people make recycling easy. East Hills Bottle Depot in Calgary is one of them. Our goal is to make recycling as easy as possible for you, from our valet service waiting to grab your beverage containers for you when you pull up, to fast moving lines and coffee while you wait. We believe that recycling shouldn’t be a chore.

Let’s Make the World a Bluer Place

Beneath the smooth ocean surface lurks threats to our oceans and all life forms in it. It’s our duty to protect the ocean by helping to keep it clean and safe for all. 

If you’re looking for information on how to help keep our oceans clean, know that you don’t need a lot to start. The first step to ocean conservation is awareness. 

If you’re still reading, you’re already halfway there. The rest is easy. Just remember, small changes make the biggest differences. 

At East Hills Bottle Depot, we make it easy to make a difference, one bottle at a time. Not only do we make recycling easy, we also make it fun and certainly a time to look forward to. Come visit us today. Here you’ll find real human connection, great coffee, and even Netflix.

The post How to Help Keep Our Oceans Clean: 11 Things You Can Do appeared first on East Hills Bottle Depot.

With sustainability issues now taught in many school curriculums, your child might even be able to teach you a thing or two about reducing, reusing, and recycling! 

Many parents are now looking for ways to teach their kids the importance of sustainability. Luckily, there are plenty of methods to help your kids understand what sustainability is, and one of the best ways to teach them is with easy, fun DIY projects about sustainability that you can do at home. 

In this blog post, we’ll share 8 cost-effective DIY projects to teach your kids about sustainability – and have fun doing it too!

1. Bee Gardens

Building a bee garden with your kids is a great way to get them to learn how to protect bees and why bees are so important.

Bees are often seen as scary, stinging flying insects, but bees have a vital job when it comes to our planet and the environment. Bees pollinate about 80% of the world’s plants including 90 different food crops and 1 out of every 3 or 4 bites of the food you eat is all thanks to the bees.

You should definitely teach your kids the importance of bees. It’s true that if they sting you, it’ll hurt, but this doesn’t mean they’re terrible! Start this DIY project by showing your kids some videos on how bees work and how they make honey. You could even buy some different types of honey and do some fun taste testing to see how different kinds of honey taste different. 

As soon as your kid understands why bees are so important, you can start building a bee garden with them!

A bee garden is a great way to help bees, and it’s easy to do.

• You dig an area in your garden 
• Research what kind of flowers bees love (let your kids pick their favourites!)
• Purchase the seeds 
• Let your kids plant them, make sure they’re evenly spread out
• Get some bowls of rocks and water them to provide the bees with something to drink while they’re busy at work. The rocks give bees a safe place to drink from so they don’t fall into the water

As the plants begin to flower, you’ll get lots of bees drawn to your garden. 

Did you know that bees love flowering thyme, oregano flowers, lavender, and common sage? 

These can then be used in your kitchen too, which will make this DIY project even more sustainable and eco-friendly.

2. Egg Container Seedlings

One of the best DIY projects to teach your children about sustainability is egg container seedlings. This project will help teach them how things produced by living things can become living things again!

Before getting rid of your paper egg containers or cardboard egg cartons, put them aside for this easy and fun, sustainable children’s project. 

Start this project by soaking your egg containers in water before placing them on a large baking sheet. Then, get your kids to fill up each cup with potting soil. Let them choose which seeds they’d like to grow and plant them in each cup. 

After ensuring your kids have covered each seed with a small amount of soil, get them to water everything. 

Now the fun part for your kids!

They can monitor the egg containers and be on the lookout for any sprouts. 

While the sprouts are growing, you can help each other:

• Make sure the soil is moist but not too wet
• Put the sprouts outside on sunny days as they get larger

When the sprouts get big, you can cut out the cups and plant each of them individually in your garden. The cardboard is compostable, so it’ll break down into the garden, where it’ll be absorbed back into the soil. 

3. Worm Farms

A worm farm is one of the best ways to teach children how composting works plus, who doesn’t love to watch loads of worms digest some food waste?

Did you know that about 50% of municipal garbage sent out for regular curbside pickup is compostable? This is why composting is so important to creating a greener future for our planet. 

Adding worms to your composting process will make composting a lot more fun for your kids, and it might get them more interested in sustainable living practices like composting. 

Worm farming is an incredibly effective way to compost food scraps. It converts your food waste into nutrient-rich worm poop (manure), which can be used as fertilizer in your garden (or bee garden). 

How do you make a worm farm?

A worm farm doesn’t have to be anything fancy, it’s a DIY project for your kids after all. So here are a few easy steps for you to follow when making your worm farm. 

• Get an old cooler and drill a hole in the side and at the very bottom 
• Place a layer of crushed stone on the bottom (enough so it’s higher than where you drilled the hole) 
• Cover the stones with some pet-proof screening (or regular screening)
• Place some manure on top of the screening – you can let your kids do this part
• Add some soaked shredded up paper, wood chips, or a mixture of both
• More manure!
• Then, it’s time to add the worms – you can collect worms yourself or purchase some from a farm 
• As soon as the worms have settled, you can add some coffee grounds or vegetable waste for the worms to chow down on

The more the worms eat the food scraps, the more nutrient-filled manure will be produced. As they eat away, you can keep adding more food scraps to the worm farm. 

You might see a liquid draining from the hole; this is called ‘worm tea,’ and it contains liquid from the worm manure. 

Try to keep the worm farm at room temperature and moist. You can get your kids to take the temperature every morning with a thermometer as a fun activity. If the worms get too hot, they’ll overheat or dry out. 

Worm farms don’t tend to smell when they’re producing either, so you can keep them inside your garage, basement, or shed. 

4. Nature Diary

A nature diary is a fun activity you can show your child how to do. Not only will it help them learn more about nature and the environment, but it’ll also help with their writing!

You don’t have to buy anything fancy to start a nature diary; all you need is a basic notebook (and maybe some fun stickers)!

You can get your child to make some little notes about all the different animals, plants, insects and birds they see in the garden, on walks and even in the schoolyard. 

They could even draw a little picture of the new plant or animal they encounter, and you can look up some facts about each one so they can write about it in their diary.

5. Compost Bottle

Compost bottles are a great activity you can do with your kids to demonstrate how food waste is broken down to create compost. You’ll definitely need some patience, though, as compost can take over a month to form!

Make things more exciting by getting your child to write or draw the changes in the compost bottle every week. This way, they only have to wait a week until they can do something fun with your project. 

Compost bottles are also easy to make. All you need is:

• An empty, 2-litre clear plastic bottle
• Some soil
• Shredded newspaper
• Some food waste like vegetable peels, bread, or tea bags

How do you make a compost bottle?

1. Remove the lid and put it to the side 
2. Add a layer of soil into the bottle and push it down to the very bottom
3. Add a layer of food waste as well as some shredded newspaper 
4. Pour in a little bit of waste
5. Repeat these four steps until the bottle is three-quarters full
6. Fill the remaining space with soil
7. Replace the lid 

Every day you should: 

• Shake the bottle 
• Remove the lid (this allows any gases to escape)

About a month later, all the waste you put into the bottle should have decomposed. Now you can use the compost in your garden, or you can plant some seeds directly in the bottle!

6. Rain Barrels

There is a drop in water resources in some areas of the world, even here in Canada. In some places, there are even bans on watering lawns and washing cars. It’s important when teaching your kids about sustainability that you’re also teaching them the value of water waste and how reusing water can help the planet. 

You can make your own rain barrel with your kids by purchasing a spigot kit and large plastic trash can at your local hardware store or online. 

• Drill a hole in the trashcan and insert the spigot
• Place your newly created rain barrel under the downspouts of one of your gutters
• As it rains, the water will go from the downspout straight into your DIY rain barrel

If you attach a hose to the spigot, you’ll be able to show your children how you can use rainwater to water the garden. This will teach them how easy reusing water can be!

7. Birdhouse

Birdhouses don’t have to be perfect, and with an old coffee can, some scrap wood and a bit of artistic magic from your children, you can build an excellent and inexpensive birdhouse. 

Use materials you have on hand to craft a birdhouse that you can hang outside. Then add some bird feed to the house and watch as your local birds swarm it to get fed. Your kids can even make a note of what kind of birds are coming in their nature diaries!

If you have a pet dog or cat that needs brushing constantly, don’t throw that hair away! Birds love to use dog hair to fill their nests, so collect some pet hair and leave it tucked away in your birdhouse; you’ll be surprised how many birds want it for their own homes.

8. Upcycling 

Nothing says sustainable, like upcycling some old belongings to create something new. 

If you’ve got the urge to shop and buy new clothes, don’t! Think about upcycling them instead.

If you’ve got some young kids, then think about:

• Creating a plant pot out of an old pair of rain boots
• Turning a pair of old jeans into shorts
• Tie-dying a shirt to add some new colour
• Giving an old piece of furniture a fresh coat of paint

You can change and update loads of things to give your room or your style a fresh new look without the need to buy more things. 

Sustainability is so vital to our future and our children’s future. By teaching them how to be sustainable and why it’s so important, we can make sure that they help our planet stay green and clean. 

We encourage you to try out some of our fun, cost-effective DIY projects with your children. We know they’ll love them and who doesn’t want to be involved in an educational and exciting sustainability project?

Whether you’ve decided to build a rain barrel or have already started plotting out your bee garden, we’d love to know how you got on, so feel free to tag us in some photos on Instagram of your kids enjoying their sustainability projects. 

If you’ve chosen to teach your child all about recycling and the importance of recycling correctly but have some questions, then feel free to get in contact with our recycling experts and don’t forget to bring all your recyclable beverage containers to East Hills Bottle Depot, where they can be appropriately recycled.

We hope you enjoyed our blog post! Stay sustainable!

The post 8 Cost-Effective DIY Projects To Teach Your Kids About Sustainability appeared first on East Hills Bottle Depot.

More people are sorting out their plastics, taking care of their glass waste and visiting bottle depots, just like ours. Some people are even composting food waste in their backyards!

It’s crazy to think but yes, composting has really taken off here (seriously, the first week of May is National Composting Week). 

From lawn clippings to banana peels the public is starting to get into the wonderful world of composting. 

Now, it’s easy to know what’s compostable when it’s all organic but what about produce bags you get at the store? 

They clearly say biodegradable on them? Does this mean they’re compostable? Can you put them in your compost bin?

When it comes to biodegradable products and compostable products it can be confusing to learn (and remember) the difference. A lot of people might think that these are actually the same thing, but you’ll be shocked to find that compostable and biodegradable are not the same. 

Today we’re going to show you how compostable products and biodegradable products are different from each other and give you some helpful tips on how you can reduce your carbon footprint and start living that greener life.

What does biodegradable mean?

Biodegradable means something is able to break down and return to nature quickly. For something to be biodegradable, it has to be able to completely break down and decompose into the ground within a short time period. 

Something that decomposes in a year or less would count as being biodegradable. 

Something that takes over a decade (or even longer sometimes) to break down completely isn’t biodegradable.  

The ability to biodegrade is incredibly helpful for landfills and large dumping areas. The average landfill is 600 acres! With so many landfills around the world, it’s important to try and reduce the amount of space they take up by using more biodegradable products. 

Landfills are plain ugly and terrible for the environment but with biodegradable waste, we can reduce the buildup of landfills and help make a cleaner, healthier Earth. Not only will the environment be healthier but it’ll also be safer for everyone and everything living in it! 

Some biodegradable materials include:

• Food waste
• Paper waste
• Human waste
• Cardboard 
• Some plastics

Wait, did you read that right? Yes, some plastics are biodegradable. They include:

• Starch-based plastics
• Bacteria-based plastics
• Soy-based plastics
• Cellulose-based plastics
• Lignin-based plastics
• Natural fiber reinforced plastic

Non-biodegradable plastics can stay on the Earth for years, decades, and in some cases centuries, after being discarded. So for the love of Earth, choose biodegradable plastics whenever you can. 

80% of the items buried in landfills are recyclable so if you’ve got some non-biodegradable plastic that needs to be thrown out be sure to recycle it instead of sending it to a landfill.

This way it’ll be reused for future products and help us keep the Earth clean. 

Does biodegradable mean compostable?

Biodegradable doesn’t always mean that the item, packaging, or product it’s printed on is compostable.

Compostable materials are always biodegradable but it doesn’t work the other way around. 

There are loads of different forms of biodegradation. Compostable materials are only one subset of biodegradable materials. 

What does compostable mean?

Compostable materials are similar to biodegradable materials. Both can return to the earth safely, helping to decrease the amount of waste clogging up the Earth’s surface. 

However, compostable materials are better as they can provide the Earth with nutrients as soon as the material has broken down. Compost can be made from these materials and used as a fertilizer for soils and food for worms and other living organisms in the ground!

Some compostable materials include:

• Food waste
• Coffee grounds
• House plant trimmings
• Newspaper
• Toilet paper & napkins

Can you compost biodegradable plastic?

It doesn’t sound like something that would be true but you can actually compost biodegradable plastic – in certain situations. 

Biodegradable plastic is strictly designed to be biodegradable in soil or water. So, as long as your biodegradable plastic isn’t labelled as ‘marine biodegradable’ then it’s suitable for composting!

However, biodegradable plastics, whether they’re compostable or not, are problematic in their own ways.

Here are a few ways how these plastics can be problematic:

• Non-compostable biodegradable plastics can build up in compost piles and in the environment because they don’t decompose as quickly as other items. 

• People might not know the difference and could be unknowingly leaving harsh toxins in the soil. This is why it’s important to remember that just because something is biodegradable doesn’t mean it’s safe for our planet. 

• Compostable plastics might be better for the earth and they’re definitely a better alternative but they still need a lot of energy to be made. The industrial processing they go through is actually polluting the earth. 

• Both biodegradable and compostable plastics can’t be recycled. This is because of their unique ability as plastic that decomposes. 

• If there aren’t appropriate composting facilities available this plastic is put into landfills regardless of its eco-friendliness. 

When these plastic alternatives are stuffed into landfills they can’t decompose right or they decompose and add to the mass of toxic gases that waft from the already towering landfill.

Biodegradable plastics and compostable plastics are a great step towards the right thing but there is still a lot we can do to help make the environment a better and safer place. 

Do you want to help reduce the waste you make?

Follow these tips on how to reduce your waste & help save the planet

1. Don’t buy single-use products, even if they’re compostable or biodegradable. Remember just because it’s better for our environment doesn’t mean it’s the right choice. There are plenty of easy alternatives out there, like reusable travel coffee mugs and cases of metal utensils you can keep in your car or purse!

2. Don’t try and recycle compostable or biodegradable products. Always check the labels and see whether your item can be recycled or not. Otherwise, it’s going to end up in a landfill. 

3. Always read product labels before throwing things away, they might not look recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable but you never know until you check! Some items might surprise you. 

4. If you’re unsure about how to dispose of a product properly then get in contact with the brand to find out. Alternatively, you can get in contact with our team. We’d love to help you out with all your recyclable goods. 

5. Don’t use plastic utensils when eating takeout and avoid buying plastic bags at supermarkets. These plastic items are unnecessary and you can just buy reusable ones. We know it seems easier but just try to remember to bring a reusable bag when you go shopping. 

We hope we’ve helped shed a little light on the differences between biodegradable and compostable for you. 

They may be similar, but it’s important to know the differences between the two so you can dispose of compostable and biodegradable materials correctly. 

If you want to know more about compostable and biodegradable products or recycling in general, then get in contact with us today. We’d love to answer any questions you might have. 

The post What’s The Difference Between Biodegradable & Compostable? appeared first on East Hills Bottle Depot.

We’ve rounded up a list of ways you can take part in the celebration, depending on your comfort level. You can join online activities or get out of the house and make your statement in your best PPE gear.

This year’s Earth Day theme is “Restore Our Earth.” So if you want to connect with the rest of the world— about a billion people in more than 193 countries from the last count— go ahead and use the theme as your hashtag.

Here are ways to show the world you care:

Join Earth Day In Calgary Clean-Up Drives

Can you spot litter from a mile away? Well, then this might be the perfect activity for you. You can come alone or come with the whole family. Not only will you help heal the earth, but also teach your kids valuable lessons they can take with them forever.

Here are a few to choose from:

Kincora Earth Day Litter Clean Up

The walk-about will happen between 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm on April 22nd. The organizers will provide you with disposable face masks, textile gloves, trash bags, and a small route. 

What’s more, if you bring back one full trash bag, you get a small pizza voucher (or equivalent) from Royal Pizza in Sage Hill Crossing!

You have to register to make sure you get the pizza. Registration details can be found here.

Garbage Gang Earth Day Clean Up

This is another litter-picking activity you can do on Earth Day in Calgary. If you want to be part of the gang, this event is happening in Downtown Calgary on the 22nd.

Volunteers will meet at the city hall park at 3:30 p.m. Organizers will be providing trash gear (though in limited quantities. So you might want to bring your own, just in case everyone decides it’s the coolest place to be). Sorry, no pizza here.

SOL Official Earth Day Launch Clean Up and Fire Ceremony

The SOLjers of Light, an organization committed to raising consciousness and earth awareness, is having its official launch on Friday, April 23. The celebration will start with a clean-up activity, picking up garbage and debris from forests, communities, and parks. The day will conclude with a fire ceremony and other festivities at 5:00 p.m at Edworthy Park. 

This is a kid-friendly event. You can bring snacks, chairs, and even firewood for the fire. 
If you’re concerned about safety or going there presents problems, you can still virtually join by posting pictures of you cleaning in your community. Your post will also serve as your entry for their Earth Day contest. Head on over to the event’s Facebook page to learn more.

Organize Bottle Drives In Your Community

If you don’t want to simply join an Earth Day activity but want to lead one, you can too! It’s super easy with our Bottle Drives service.

We’ll do all the heavy lifting for you including a designated drop-off point at East Hills, a cube bag delivered to your preferred drop-off location, bottle counting, and more!

All you have to do is to spread the word. What’s amazing is that you’re not limited to doing this on Earth Day. You can do this at any time of the year and raise money for a cause or for those fancy new jerseys your hockey team has been needing.

Support Earth Day Awareness Campaigns

For Earth Day to have a lasting and meaningful impact, we need to sustain environmental mindfulness and responsible behaviour not just for 24 hours but for all 365 days in the year. And it all starts with awareness. 

This year, you can support awareness campaigns like the Arise Music Festival. Their event ARISE Online: Earth Day ft. Mike Love, Satsang, Mystic Grizzly will be live streaming on YouTube on April 22 at 7 p.m. MST.

They offer studio-quality concert performances, new music, live painting, dance, interviews, and more. 

You can also donate. If you choose to contribute $20 or more, you’ll be entered to win a special prize package, which will be announced during the stream. Every donation equals one planted tree.

Did you know that trees absorb methane and carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and decomposing wastes? These greenhouse gases are the biggest contributors to climate change. And the best way to fight climate change? You guessed it: planting trees. About a trillion of them.

A recent study shows that the world emits 30 billion tons of CO2 per year, and we can counter that by planting 1.2 trillion trees, which will reduce emissions by 90 billion tons.

Of course, it isn’t as easy as that sounds, but what that really means for you and us is that we don’t have to worry about things like places going completely underwater because of the melting Arctic and rising sea levels. 

This is important stuff, and again, it starts with awareness. This brings us to the next point in this article.

Be Part Of The Solution

Every one of us can be a part of the solution. Can’t volunteer or organize clean-up drives? Unable to plant trees, donate time and money, and help raise environmental awareness even by simply sharing information? You can still help heal the earth in other ways.

Below are easy, everyday things you can start doing to make Earth Day a meaningful celebration and make every day an Earth Day. 

• Save electricity. Unplug appliances that are not in use and turn off lights you don’t need. Because power plants use fossil fuels to create electricity, more consumption means more CO2 emissions.  

• Go paperless! Request for paperless statements and bills, and pay your bills online. 

Paper mills contribute to land, air, and water pollution. In fact, pulp and paper produce the third-largest amount of emissions in Canada.

• Conserve water. 
  • Use a cup when brushing your teeth
  • Take shorter showers
  • Have that leaking faucet repaired

Processing water and delivering it to our homes and businesses require energy, and energy consumption means greenhouse gas emissions.

• Reuse and Recycle!

You can recycle:

• Paper
• Plastic products
• Metal containers
• Bottles and jars

Thankfully, there’s East Hills Bottle Depot to make recycling your drinking containers easy (and enjoyable!) for you. 

Visit us any time and find out (if you haven’t yet) how recycling should be.

Change Starts With You!

The best way to celebrate Earth Day in Calgary is by treating every single day as Earth Day! Practicing green for one day isn’t enough— at least if we want to create a huge permanent change that will positively affect the generations to come. 

So enjoy the time that we all get together to honour the Earth, but remember to adopt green solutions in your everyday routine as well. 

Now all that’s left to do is to wish Mother Earth a Happy B’earth day! 

The post How To Celebrate Earth Day In Calgary appeared first on East Hills Bottle Depot.