Did you know that we produce almost 400 million tons of plastic each year across the globe?
Join I Love A Clean San Diego on Wednesday, March 22 at 5 p.m. for our free Say No To Single-Use Plastic webinar on eliminating plastic waste through zero waste swaps!
During the one-hour webinar, you’ll learn:
How to properly recycle or dispose of the plastic waste you do create
What happens to plastic after we use it and throw it away
Zero waste product swaps for single-use items
Why it’s so important for our health and the health of the environment to reduce plastic usage
Registration is required. A recording of the webinar and resources will be shared to all registrants after the event. Thank you to the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department for sponsoring this event!
Did you know the average American throws away 82 pounds of textile waste every year? Join our free Conscious Closets webinar on Wednesday, February 8th from 5 to 6 p.m. to learn how to make your closet more sustainable!
You will learn about all things sustainable fashion, including:
Textile recycling and upcycling ideas – including a demo of how to turn an old t-shirt into a reusable bag!
Low waste laundry routines
The environmental impacts of fast fashion
How to mindfully clean out your closet
Thrift shopping tips and local secondhand store recommendations
The environmental impacts of fast fashion
Register to receive the link to the live webinar. Participants that cannot attend are encouraged to register to receive a recording of the webinar and additional resources. Thank you to the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department for sponsoring this event.
Did you know that humans produce almost 400 million tons of plastic each year, across the globe?
Join our free Say No To Single-Use Plastic webinar on Thursday, February 16th from 5 – 6 p.m. to learn how to eliminate single-use plastic waste through zero waste swaps!
During the webinar, we’ll cover:
Zero waste product swaps for single-use items
How to properly recycle or dispose of the plastic waste you do create
What happens to plastic after we use it and throw it in the trash
Why it’s so important for our health and the health of the environment to reduce plastic usage
Register to receive a link to the live webinar. Participants that cannot attend are encouraged to register to receive a recording of the webinar and additional resources. Thank you to the County of San Diego for sponsoring this event!
Being environmentally-conscious doesn’t have to be confined to your blue bin. If you look closely, not so environmentally-friendly materials, such as micro-plastics, are hidden in everyday products. Follow Brittany’s Green Routine to learn how you can reduce waste, phase out hidden plastics and simplify your health and beauty routine! And check out ourPinterest boards for even more DIY inspiration!
Routine (noun). – A sequence of actions regularly followed.
Everyone has routines and once you start, they are pretty hard to break. Since working at I Love A Clean San Diego, I’ve been inspired to be more eco-friendly in my day-to-day life, but I didn’t know where do start. Then I realized I could start by having what I now call my “green routine”. What is a green routine you might ask? A green routine is a type routine you create which benefits the environment. I realized I could save money while also being eco-friendly by creating some beauty products with ingredients I already have in my house. For this week’s blog, I wanted to change it up and share some of my favorite DIY recipes I incorporate in my daily green routine!
Brown Sugar & Honey Lip Scrub: Need to get rid of chapped lips? This is my favorite lip scrub
What you’ll need:
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of honey
Mix them together, lather your lips with the scrub, rinse with warm water, and pucker up! Your lips will feel moisturized, soft, and not to mention, this scrub is tasty!
Honey, Nutmeg, Cinnamon Face Mask: This mask is perfect for when you experience breakouts or are looking to brighten up your skin tone! You can use this has a spot treatment or as a mask. Honey is not only hydrating, but it helps soothe inflammation as well as fight against bacteria – that’s why it’s great for so many things! For sensitive skin I recommend leaving this on for 2-3 minutes.
What you’ll need:
1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, 2 teaspoons of honey
Coconut Oil: Plain and simple, a jar of this does wonders and is extremely moisturizing. Not only is this something I cook with but I use it for a variety of things which cuts down the number of products I use and minimizes the waste I create.
Skin Moisturizer: After a good (plastic-free) skin exfoliant, I take a dab to keep my skin smelling great and soft. A little goes a long way!
Hair treatments: I’m notorious for using heat products on my hair, so every once and a while I like to give my hair a little bit of love. After washing and conditioning my hair, I rub coconut oil through the ends of my hair to prevent breakage. You could also use coconut oil as a hair mask and rubbing the oil on your scalp helps with dandruff. I recommend keeping the oil in your hair for around ten minutes then rinsing.
Lip moisturizer: Instead of using chapstick before bed, I use coconut oil, sometimes with a dab of honey, as a replacement. Be sure to pair it with the brown sugar lip scrub mentioned above!
Makeup remover: This is something I would normally spend a lot of money on. Instead, I take a small amount with my fingertips and rub it on the areas of my face until it melts. Then I take a wash cloth to wipe it off with warm water. That’s it!
And Guys, don’t worry, we have a recipe for you this year’s No Shave November too! This recipe sent to us by Alexandra Engel to help keep your beards fresh and clean. Blend together, rub through your beard, and rinse.
A little beard oil goes a long way! *Flowers will not grow out of your beard after using this recipe.*
3 fl. oz. Sweet Almond oil
25 oz. Vitamin E oil
25 oz. Argan oil
30 drops Tea tree essential oil – prevents ingrown hairs and fights breakouts
~20 drops Cypress essential oil – astringent and antiseptic for oily skin.
~20 drops Bergamot essential oil – antibiotic and deodorizing.
I hope you enjoy my favorite green routine recipes as much as I do. Not only are you saving green bills but you are also helping to keep the environment clean by eliminating micro plastics and cutting down on waste! For more fun DIY beauty tips, crafts, and green living tips, be sure to check out I Love A Clean San Diego’s Pinterest boards!
Today’s blog post comes from our Education Coordinator and Plastics Detective Extraordinaire, Erika Bjorkquist
An ocean sample- look at all that gunk!
Today, we received a ‘sick’ new hands-on piece to augment our Watershed Protection Presentations. When you look at the picture below, what do you see? Before scenes of snowglobes flash through your mind’s default state, look closer. Those white specks are not falling snowflakes, but organic materials. But is that it? Along with plankton and other invertebrates, you can see plastic. One of these things is not like the other. What is plastic doing alongside plankton, and a better question is why do I feel the need to tell you about this? This latest addition to our educational resources is a sample from our oceans, specifically the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, plastic and all.
The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
I first heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2003 in Mr. Dorr’s APES class. Since my discovery, I have become more interested in the topic and finally in 2013, I feel comfortable enough with the subject to introduce the problem to others. The problem is that our oceans are inundated with trash. While many varieties of trash enter our oceans each second, minute, day, year, plastics are what are sticking. Mr. McGuire was right, plastics are the future. They are the future of our oceans. The reason that plastics have developed into such a big problem is that they do not biodegrade, like organic material, they photodegrade. Like the name suggests, plastics breakdown [degrade] by sunlight [photo]. This is not a chemical change but a physical one; they do not disappear, they simply become smaller and smaller pieces of plastic.
These plastics are considered microplastics, a mere 5mm in diameter. Their accumulation creates a ‘plastic soup’, which comprises the Pacific Garbage Patch. Yum. This is a recipe for disaster, as our sea creatures have not adapted to our trash in their habitats. Often times animals will ingest trash when instead of food. I mean, can you differentiate between plastic and plankton in that jar?
While this seems dark and stormy, there is a solution! It starts with education. I Love A Clean San Diego talks about these issues and more in our Watershed Protection presentations. For more information about our programs, shoot me an email at ebjorkquist@cleansd.org.
Brown Sugar & Honey Lip Scrub: Need to get rid of chapped lips? This is my favorite lip scrub
