The Green Parent

I hate to throw things away.  I try to minimize the stuff that’s sent to the can by not buying new stuff and by reusing what we have as often as possible.  My girls use cleaned out ice cream cartons to hold their toys, paper towel tubes to make puppets, and egg cartons to hold their paints.  We also try to recycle everything…glass, plastic, paper, mixed paper, aluminum, steel, you name it and we recycle it.  But one thing that we can’t recycle in our area is #5 plastic, and that’s unfortunate because my daughter’s favorite yogurt comes packaged in it. There are a few recycling centers across the country that take #5 plastic, but none are anywhere close to me.  So for years I’ve struggled with the dilemma between denying my daughter yogurt, and filling my trash can with un-recyclable plastic.  Well today I’m happy to report that the dilemma has been solved with Gimme 5, a new direct recycling program from Preserve.

Preserve is a forward-thinking company that specializes in making stuff (like toothbrushes, razors, colanders, cutting boards, etc.) out of recycled #5 plastic.  I love buying their products for myself and as gifts and knowing that I’m supporting the whole recycling loop.

The company gets the majority of their recycled plastic directly from StonyField Farms (another forward-thinking company that makes among other things, organic dairy products like milk and yes, yogurt)  But now, with Gimme 5, Preserve will also take clean, used #5′s directly from consumers.  Check out their website to learn if this program will work for you.

To celebrate this cool new program, I’m giving away 5 Preserve Family Fun packs (each one includes 4 toothbrushes and 2 razors, all made from 100% recycled plastic) to members of my cool new program, the Green Parents Forum.  Become a member today to enter the contest and to share ideas, offer advice, ask questions, or just rant and rave to like-minded green parents.  Five Green Parents members will be chosen at random on Sept 18th.  Join today to win!