Green Deal Archives - Page 3 of 6

Home Recycling Zone Makeover

How to make your recycling area cleaner, greener, and more beautiful!

Recycling things right is a lot easier if your home recycling zone is organized and looking fresh. Here are some ideas (and products) to help you turn your recycling corner from dumping pile to decorator drop zone!

List Your Local Recycling Streams

Regional recycling regulations vary, so look online for the latest on curbside pickup streams for your municipality. This will help you decide how many bins you will need and what sort of space you’ll require. Here are a few links to some of the major municipalities:

Choose a Bin System

A set of stackable containers or matching baskets can help your recycling zone feel like a more designed part of your home.

Small – For Apartments & Condos: If all you have is the corner of a closet, the Sterilite Weave 3 Drawer Tower is a tidy solution. Combine with a 6L Good Natured Kitchen Compost Collector.

Medium – Perfect for Small Family Living: Sterilite Stacking Drawers are a great modular system that can stack vertically or side by side. Each has a 26L capacity to hold lots of recyclables. Combine with a 7.1L Sureclose Foodscrap Container.

Large – For Bigger Homes and Extended Families: If you have dedicated recycling space in a mud room or garage, consider a set of 39L Tall Recyclers by Good Natured. (They are even made from 90% plant-based materials and no nasty chemicals!) Line with a plastic bag for easy emptying. For compost and food scraps, up-size with the Good Natured 8L Tall Compost Collector.

Decorator – Recycle with Style: If your recycling zone is part of your living area, create a clean, neutral-tone statement with NeatFreak storage bins in a NeatFreak Stackable Shelf. Even your compost can dress up with a London Drugs brand compost bin in grey bamboo or stainless steel finish.

Have Fun with Labels

Using your local recycling stream list as a guide, create some custom labels that match your bins. Create and print them on sticker stock from your computer, or make it a family art project. Your recycling, your look!

Set up an Area for Special Recycling

There are a lot of things you can recycle beyond what gets picked up at the curb. Your local London Drugs takes batteries, electronics, small appliances, soft plastics, Styrofoam and more. A Good Natured Curbside Recycler Bin makes it easy to grab on your way out the door.

Have a Grand Opening!

Share your new recycling zone with your family or roommates to make sure everyone knows what goes where. Because now your recycling zone ROCKS!! And that’s the REAL Green Deal!

2018 Holiday Gift Guide: Last-Minute Green Gifts

If you have left a few holiday gifts until the last minute, and you have a green stocking to stuff, take heart. Here is a quick list of sustainable products that are quick to pick up at your local London Drugs.

For the Beauties

Eco-Tools Beauty Kits – With brush handles made from sustainable bamboo, packaging made from tree-free paper and a recyclable and reusable storage tin, the Warm Winter Glow Beauty Kit is a great gift for the sustainable fashionista.

Physicians Formula Non-Toxic Glamour Set – Featuring Organic Wear® 100% Natural Origin Makeup, 80% Organic Tinted Moisturizer and 70% Organic Mascara that is 100% free of harsh chemicals, parabens, synthetic preservatives, GMOs and synthetic fragrances. It’s also cruelty-free.

Burt’s Bees – A great green company. Even though they are owned by Clorox, this brand continues to impress with innovative natural products, low-waste packaging (check out their lipstick!) and a zero waste manufacturing facility. Choose from lip balms, gift sets, and even pet products.

For the Hipsters

Marathon Mechanical Clock – The ultimate analog gift for your hipster friends. 100% human-powered (wind-up) and grid-failure resistant. And it’s got a loud alarm. When it goes off, you WILL wake up. Comes in low-tech black or classic white.

Caprina Goat’s Milk Soap – These soaps are made with traditional saponification to gently cleanse skin. Produced from the milk of eccentric goats from a Canadian family-owned company in Ville St-Laurent Quebec.

For the Green Thumbs

Guardians of the Galaxy Chia Pet – OK, any Chia Pet is green, but the one that looks like Groot is, well… GROOT! Cardboard box, pottery head, seeds, and fun. All sustainable, recyclable, and green. (There is one piece of plastic in the box, but you can Bring Back the Pack so that’s recycled, too). Pick up in-store.

For the Chocolate Lovers

Green & Black’s – A Green Deal holiday classic. Organic, fair trade, and available in a range of delicious varieties.

Pacari – This premium brand promises ‘organic chocolate from tree to bar’. USDA Organic, Vegan, Beyond Fair Trade, and B-Corp Certified.

Zazubean – Certified Fair Trade, USDA Organic, not to mention vegan and Kosher. Also some of the best chocolate names in the business. (Nutbar, anyone?)

Theobroma – Certified organic, Fair Trade and Gluten-Free, by Quebec Chocolatier Vigneault. Nice stocking-stuffer stick size.

For the Magazine Lovers

The holidays are a great time to curl up with some sustainable reading, from healing herbs to vegan foods to solar heating plans.

And they’re all recyclable (or burnable in a wood stove for heat).

Visit the magazine section at your local London Drugs and browse for your special green someone.

Fill out the subscription card for a gift that gives all year long. Pick up in-store.

For the Coffee and Tea Drinkers

Ethical Bean Coffee – Roasted in Vancouver; you can actually scan the code on each bag to see details on the origin and roast. Certified organic and fair trade.

Salt Spring Coffee – Organic and Fair Trade; they also support coffee farmers and communities with their Fair to Farmer Fund.

Commercial Drive Coffee – Here’s a local roast with a genuine East Van Vibe for the true hipster on your list. Certified Carbon Friendly and USDA Organic.

Kicking Horse Coffee – Roasted in the Kootenays for extra mountain flavour, this organic & Fair Trade blend is also available in a decorator tin just in time for the holidays.

Traditional Medicinals Organic Teas – A great gift for the long, cold winter season. Certified Canada Organic and available in a variety of flavours.

For the Water Bottle Toters

London Drugs Stainless Steel Double-Wall Water Bottle – Keeps drinks hot or cold for hours. Durable, stylish, and ultimately recyclable.

For the Yogis

PurEarth Eco Yoga Mat – Non Toxic, Latex, PVC, and Chloride Free. Named one of Outside Magazine’s 12 Best Yoga Mats.

For Everyone

Energizer Rechargeable Batteries and Charger – This is a green gift we recommend every year, because it keeps on giving. In fact, not only can you save money in the long run, you’ll also cut your battery waste by up to 75%

Wrap it All Up Sustainably

London Drugs Seagrass Basket – It’s the gift box you can reuse all year long. Handmade from 100% natural materials. Comes in several sizes.

Adwood Pine Crate – Made from sustainably managed forests in BC, these crates look naturally good the way they are, and are also perfect for painting and decorating.

Be sure to let your giftees know that they can BRING BACK the PACK (including Styrofoam) from any London Drugs gifts, recycle old electronics and small appliances when they get new ones, and recycle beyond the Blue Box at their local store all year long.

Want a Greener Christmas? Try these Tips for Reducing and Recycling Holiday Waste

The holidays are a magical time, but they can also be a time of great waste; piles of wrapping paper, product packaging, old products, and electronics all end up in landfills around this time of year. We talked to two of our London Drugs experts on holiday waste reduction and recycling to share some strategies on how to keep the season green.

What can people keep in mind while they’re shopping to avoid unnecessary holiday waste?

Chris Odgaard, London Drugs Store Manager at Sunnycrest Mall, Gibsons, BC: “Consider the whole life-cycle of the product you’re buying. How long will it last? What will happen to it once it’s no longer needed, wanted, or useful? Can it be reused, repurposed, repaired, or recycled? Also think about gifting services or experiences instead of things.”

Lorne Craig, What’s the Green Deal Manager: “Organize your shopping so that you don’t have to make as many trips, and shop at stores where you can pick up everything you need, all in the one place. Shopping locally is also a green solution. Buying online might seem super-convenient, but depending on your location (and whether you are home to receive the delivery) it can create more emissions and packaging waste than shopping in store. Plus, if you walk, bike, carpool, or take transit to the store, you can help make an even bigger reduction. Oh, and remember to bring your reusable shopping bags, of course!”

How can shopping at London Drugs for the holidays help keep waste out of landfills?

Chris Odgaard: “London Drugs is always working to be a green leader in sustainable business practices. We offer a ‘buy online, pick up in store service’, which means that many hundreds of items are shipped to a store on a single truck, reducing transportation waste. And if you’re shopping for service gifts, London Drugs offers a variety of services such as computer servicing and repair, audio-video home services and setup, and digital photo scanning, which can all be purchased with a London Drugs gift card.

“Many of the products you purchase at London Drugs can be recycled there, including electronics, small appliances, and batteries. With our ‘Bring Back the Pack‘ program, you can return all the unwanted packaging to the store to be responsibly recycled. If you’ve received new electronics or small appliances to replace the old ones, you can bring them back along with the new packaging and get rid of everything at once in a responsible way!”

Do you have any other green tips for holiday shoppers?

Lorne Craig: “If you’re really stuck for a gift idea, think about giving a gift card that will allow the person to choose something that they actually want or need. Also, remember to buy from companies that are doing business better. London Drugs’ ‘What’s the Green Deal?’ blog has product information that highlights companies that are reducing waste, reducing emissions, using organic ingredients, and practicing fair trade.”

Thanks to our experts for the great advice! If you’re looking for more tips on how to reduce your waste around the holidays, or any other time of year, explore our Green Deal page. Happy gifting!

First-ever Halloween Candy Wrapper Return Drive at London Drugs in BC

Bring back your Halloween candy wrappers and snack packaging to any London Drugs store in BC!

London Drugs is delighted to to announce the first-ever Halloween candy wrapper return drive in BC to help keep seasonal snack packaging waste out of the city’s landfills.

Customers can bring their chocolate bar and Halloween candy wrappers as well as potato chip bags and other flexible plastic packaging to any London Drugs location. The items collected will be sent to Merlin Plastics, a post-consumer processing company in Delta, BC, and used for research and development as the company works to develop a commercially viable process for repurposing these common but tough-to-process items.

Halloween candy wrappers that cannot be recycled will be used to produce engineered fuel for commercial operations such as concrete plants.

“We want to help British Columbians celebrate Halloween with a bit less waste by making one simple suggestion: instead of throwing out your candy wrappers and chip bags, bring them to London Drugs.”
~ Maury McCausland, Retail Operations Sustainability Specialist, London Drugs

Other Flexible Plastic Packaging Initiative

London Drugs’ Other Flexible Plastic Packaging initiative is part of RecycleBC’s new take-back program. These types of plastics, including Halloween candy wrappers, are among the fastest-growing forms of packaging on the market and one of the largest categories of packaging, particularly for confectionery and snack foods.

According to Stats Canada, over $550 million worth of cookies, confectionery, and snack foods were sold across Canada last October, contributing significant amounts of packaging waste to landfills and the environment. Food wrappers are also a common source of marine litter and were among the top five items found in the Ocean Conservatory’s International Coastal Clean-up last year.

“This is really a big problem; the volume of wrapper waste is significant,” says McCausland. “That’s why we’re making a commitment to help address it – not just at Halloween but year-round.”

Plastics You Can Bring Back

London Drugs accepts all sorts of items in the Other Flexible Plastic Packaging category including:

Stand up and zipper lock pouches
Crinkly wrappers and bags, including chip bags, bars, and candy wrappers
Flexible packaging with plastic seal
Woven net and plastic bags
Non-food protective packaging

See the complete list of accepted other flexible plastic packaging.

“Last year, with the help of our customers and staff, our stores celebrated a 93% waste diversion rate. This program will help get us one step closer to zero waste,” says McCausland.

How to ‘Green’ Your Photos This Earth Month

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle… Re-live.

This April, do more for Mother Earth than just turning off the lights. Earth Month is a great opportunity to start making greener choices that will last a lifetime. Display your wedding or vacation photos on sustainable surfaces, and they will survive years to come, look great, and give you peace of mind that you’re helping the planet.

Don’t forget about recycling your old photos, either. Diverting those from your trash will make you feel like a sustainability superstar!

Bamboo Prints

Being environmentally friendly never looked so good. Our bamboo prints are made with 90% bamboo, a highly renewable resource, making it a great option for ‘greening’ your photos. The fibrous texture of the bamboo gives your images an incredibly unique look, with vivid shades, a crisp matte finish and maximized resistance to aging. The next time you’re choosing a print surface, try this durable, nature-approved solution guaranteed to stand the test of time.

Recycling Your Old Photos

Digitally saving and restoring your photos is without a doubt the best way to ensure memory preservation. As technology grows and changes, converting to digital can free up space in an attic of old shoe boxes, and reduce the risk of harsh damage due to temperature, humidity and dust. But what do you do with your hard copies after your holiday, honeymoon, or first day of school is saved to a disk or USB? As long as they’re digitally printed copies, you can likely recycle your old photos with the rest of your mixed paper recycling.

Not sure if your photos are of the digital print variety? Do a simple tear test! By tearing a corner of your photograph you’ll notice that it either tears clean, or in layers. Consider a clean tear a green light to recycle the photo.

If you also have old metal film canisters kicking around, those can be recycled too. In addition to your small appliances, batteries, laser cartridges and old photos, we will accept metal film canisters through our What’s the Green Deal? Program.

Let us at London Drugs help you reduce your memory footprint!

Going Natural. The Noughty Way.

That’s the balance Noughty all about.

Sulphate-free shampoos like Noughty’s use natural surfactants or detergents to clean hair rather than being laden with silicones and sulphates. So if you’re making the transition to natural hair products from conventional hair care, Noughty want to share with your their experience of what to expect and why, as well as give you some well-earned advice to help you manage the transition. After all, we love to help and natural, healthy hair is what makes us very, very happy.

Be patient. Conventional ingredients leave residues that can coat the hair shaft resulting in build-up that can weigh the hair down and leave it dull. Just like your body after a night out with the girls, your hair may need a little time to detox. It can take several washes to remove the build-up of conventional shampoo which is why we recommend using Noughty for at least 8 washes.
If you are new to naturals, our Noughty Detox Dynamo clarifying shampoo can help speed this detoxification process along, by gently removing build-up and preparing your hair for its new natural haircare regime.
Size up the bubbles. Think champagne-sized bubbles rather than the ones you blew through a wand as a child.
Being kind makes us all feel good, in just the same way being kinder to your hair will make it look and feel better. The ingredients in natural haircare are gentler on both your hair and the planet.
For sensitive, dandruff prone scalps who need extra gentle care, we recommend our Noughty Care Taker range.
Get Active. To get the most out of a sulphate-free shampoo, it’s best to activate it before use. Squeeze a small amount of shampoo into your palm and add a little water, then rub your palms together a few times before working the product through your wet hair. Natural products go a long way so start with a small amount of product, activating it with plenty of water and only adding more as you need.
Lastly and best of all, expect to witness the benefits of high performing natural ingredients!

What to expect from hair detox?

Like you, every head of hair is unique. Your hair detox symptoms and the time it takes to notice the real benefits can therefore vary. You might have only one of the issues we describe below, or you might have all three, but rest assured we have some advice about how to handle the challenges while your hair re-adjusts to natural.

Hair Issue 1: Hair feels tangled, matted, sticky or heavy
Detoxing asks the hair to let go of all the residual product it’s been hanging onto. Since your hair’s not Teflon, it doesn’t just slide off: it may take a few washes to shift the build-up from root to tip and down the drain.

Tips to help: Rinse your hair thoroughly, making sure to work out all of the shampoo before conditioning thoroughly. Try to avoid being haphazard with your approach by slapping a bit on and rinsing it straight out. Instead, take care to ensure every strand is coated. Using a wide toothed comb, gently work out any tangles while the conditioner is still in. Leave the conditioner in your hair for a few minutes then rinse thoroughly, working from root to tip. For additional softness, try our famous Noughty Intensive Care Leave-In Conditioner.

Issue 2: Hair and scalp feel very oily

Oily scalps is a sign you have been using a shampoo that is too aggressive for your hair, stripping away the natural oils and making your scalp think it needs to produce more. So you’re stuck in a spiral – the more oil you see, the more often you shampoo and the more vigorously you scrub. Patience and persistence of use will give your scalp the chance to rebalance itself all on its own.

Tips to help: If you have an oily scalp or oily hair, NEVER shampoo or rinse with hot water. Always use cool or lukewarm, and don’t massage your scalp vigorously. When you do this, you stimulate the oil glands in the scalp to produce more oil, leading to oily hair.

Issue 3: Hair feels dry, brittle or rough

Silicones do an amazing job at covering up the damage we do to our manes. When they’re washed away in the detox process, the true state of your hair can be revealed, and the home truths can be rough.

Tips to help: Step up your level of conditioning. Think about using Noughty To The Rescue until your hair rebalances. Or alternatively, add Noughty Intensive Care Leave In Conditioner to your routine (especially at the ends of longer hair).

If you have a naturally dry scalp and longer hair, the oils your scalp produces are almost guaranteed not to be enough to protect all of your hair. To stimulate your scalp, massage your scalp vigorously with your fingertips and rinse your hair in hot water. (If it hurts, you’re being too vigorous.)

So, you ready for hair happiness? If you’re new to naturals and the Noughty Hair Care range, the key is to be patient. When making the switch to natural haircare persevere and you will see the results everyone is talking about! Not only do we love that Noughty products are vegan friendly but their products make you look and smell amazing!

Don’t forget to share your photos using #LDBeauty and #noughtyhaircare

NOUGHTY CONTEST

Head to our Instagram to learn how to enter for the chance to win a Noughty Haircare Prize Pack for you and your bestie!

Contest closes at 11:59pm on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. Find full contest rules and regulations below.

NOUGHTY CONTEST

To enter:
Step 1. Check out our Noughty blog post (Going Natural. The Noughty Way.) and ‘Like’ the Instagram post posted on March 2, 2018
Step 2. Tag 1 friend
Step 3. Follow @LDBeauty_

Contest is open to all residents of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who, as of the date the prize draw is made: (i) have not won a London Drugs contest since March 1, 2017; (ii) have reached the age of majority in the province in which they reside as of March 2, 2018; (iii) are not employees of London Drugs, their respective advertising and promotional agencies, the independent judging organization (if any), or any family member living with any such employee.
No purchase necessary. Limit one (1) entry per person per social network per contest. Entries must be received no later than 11:59 PM Pacific Time on March 7, 2018. London Drugs is not responsible for entries that become lost or misdirected. All entries become the property of London Drugs Limited and will not be returned.
The winners will be randomly chosen on the day the contest ends (see dates below) in Vancouver, British Columbia, from all eligible entries received per contest. To win, selected entrants must correctly answer a skill-testing mathematical question and must sign London Drug’s declaration and release confirming compliance with the contest rules and acceptance of the prize(s) as awarded, releasing London Drugs from liability in association with the contest and prize and consenting to the use of their name, photograph, voice and statements for promotional and publicity purposes.
There will be two (2) prizes awarded to one winner and their tagged friend: 2 prize packs consisting of: Noughty Pumped up Shampoo and Conditioner, Intensive Care Conditioner, Rise and Shine Serum and Detox Dynamo. See details and contest dates below. Prize must be accepted as awarded, are non-transferable and no substitutions are permitted. Prize will be awarded at the closest London Drugs location to contest winner.
Contest dates – Friday, March 2, 2018 12:01AM to Wednesday, March 7, 2018 11:59PM Pacific Time
Draw date – 9:00AM Pacific Time Friday, March 9, 2018

Only one prize may be won by any one person and household. In the event that any selected entrant incorrectly answers the skill-testing question or is otherwise unwilling or unable to comply in full with these rules, a new entry will be drawn.
Selected winner will be contacted by email or on the social network they were drawn from. No correspondence will be entered into except with selected entrants. If the winner does not respond then she/he will be notified for the second time, 3 (three) days after the first notification. If the winner still does not respond within 3 days of the second notification, a new winner will be chosen in the same manner until a winner is successfully contacted.
The chances of winning a prize will depend on the number of eligible entries received. Decisions of the judges in respect of all aspects of this contest including, but not limited to, eligibility of entries and correctness of answers given to the skill-testing question, are final.
London Drugs and their respective advertising and promotional agencies, the independent judging organization, and their respective agents are not liable to an entrant in any manner relating to the contest or the awarding and use of the prize(s).
This contest is subject to all federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations. By entering the entrant consents to the collection of all personal information included on their entry and agrees to the use and disclosure of such information by and between London Drugs, an independent judging organization and their agents. The winner(s) also agrees to the collection, use and disclosure of their name, entry, photographs, voice and statements for London Drugs’ publicity purposes without further compensation. All personal information collected from entrants will be used only for the purposes of administering the contest and for marketing and promotional purposes as contemplated by these rules; under no circumstances will any personal information be sold or rented to third parties. All personal information collected by London Drugs will be kept in accordance with the privacy policy of London Drugs, which can be viewed at www.londondrugs.com, and in accordance with all applicable privacy laws.
The right is reserved by London Drugs to terminate this contest, in whole or in part, and/or modify, amend or suspend the contest, and/or these rules in any way, should any cause beyond the reasonable control of London Drugs or its agents affect the proper administration thereof.

Surprising Things You Can Recycle at London Drugs

It’s 2018, and recycling is now, for most of us, an essential part of everyday life. Unfortunately, though, curbside recycling can be quite limited in Canada, and city programs may not accept all recyclable items. This is where London Drugs comes in! The list below includes just seven of the surprising things we recycle at London Drugs. We challenge you: sort through your drawers and cupboards and see how many of these seven unique items you can collect and bring in to us—to keep them from the landfill.

Styrofoam – London Drugs is Canada’s only major retailer to offer packaging return and recycling on anything they sell. Seriously. Anything! The Bring Back the Pack program includes Styrofoam (from items bought at London Drugs), which is not accepted as part of most municipal recycling programs.
Smoke Alarms – Smashed your alarm one too many times while burning the bacon? Bring it in and we’ll recycle it.
Non-Rechargeable (and Rechargeable) Batteries – Alkaline batteries are recyclable too. We have them sent to Inmetco in Pennsylvania, USA, where they use a High Temperature Metals Recovery Process (HTMR) to obtain an overall material recovery rate of 83%. Metals recovered include Iron, Nickel, Manganese, Copper, and Zinc. Ni-CAD, Ni-MH and Ni-Zn. Rechargeable batteries are also processed at Inmetco.
Plastic Insurance Folders – Don’t leave expired documents in your car! Shred your old insurance papers and bring the plastic to us. London Drugs also accepts all soft plastic bags (except biodegradable bags).
Fluorescent Light Bulbs – Bring in your Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs and Fluorescent Light (FL) Tubes up to 4-foot lengths to London Drugs for safe, responsible recycling. Simply wrap old bulbs carefully in a plastic bag or a box and drop them off at our Customer Service Counter.
Waffle Makers (And Other Small Appliances) – Need a new small appliance? Bring in your old one at the same time. Any dead small appliance with a plug can be recycled at London Drugs through the Small Appliance recycling program. All electronic products are responsibly disassembled to basic materials right here in Canada. London Drugs works diligently to ensure that recyclables are shipped to responsible recycling facilities.
VHS Tapes – London Drugs offers customers drop-off recycling for virtually all recordable media or media storage devices when customers are making similar purchases in our stores. (Maximum 16 items at a time, please)

You can help make a big difference. For more information on London Drugs’ green initiatives, visit greendeal.ca where—along with more info about our recycling program—you can learn about the green products we sell, saving energy in your home, sustainability education events, and more!