Recycling is the easiest way to go green.You just toss those items in the recycle bin, and they’re picked up curbside once or twice a week. But what, exactly, can you throw in there?

There are different rules in every city, so you’ll have to check with your local sanitation department to find out for sure what you can recycle. Most places, however, recycle the following items. Every town has different rules so you’ll need to check with your local waste or sanitation department to find out the specifics for your area.

Newspapers. This is pretty much a gimme, and you probably already knew this. If everyone in America recycled just 10% of their newspapers daily, we’d save 3 million trees yearly.

Phone books are recyclable. If like me you use the internet as a giant phone directory, you can choose not to have them delivered at all. If you do receive them, make sure you put them in the recycle bin when you get a new one.

Plastic bottles. Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator, not to mention saves us toxic fumes. We use a staggering amount of plastic bottles here in the U.S. – more than 2 million per hour. Make sure yours is recycled.

Aluminum cans. An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be recognizable as a can 500 years from now. Recycle them.

Aluminum foil is recyclable.

Glass containers or bottles. The energy saved when you recycle one glass bottle can power a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.

Aerosol cans – empty ones. You’ll need to check on this one with your local sanitation department, but most places take empty cans. Make sure it’s empty first – if not, check with your city’s hazardous waste department and see if they’ll take it.

And just for a laugh, here’s a video from Rocko’s Modern Life about recycling.

Do you have any questions about what can be recycled? Ask me on twitter, facebook, or just leave me a message here on the blog.

The Daily Deal is ready to go! Celebrate summer – and summer vacation – and get 2 Kodak Funsaver with Flash single use cameras for the low price of $14.39. This single use camera is great for taking pictures both indoors and outdoors, as it comes with a built-in electronic-flash. There are a total of 27 exposures of ISO 400 film. That’s a savings of 23%.

What could be more fun and convenient than a single use camera? You throw it in your beach bag and take it with your wherever you go. Its there, ready and waiting to capture images of the fun you’re having over the summer. You can take it on vacation, to summer camp, or anywhere you’re likely to be having fun. Snap pictures to your heart’s content, and save your memories for posterity.

Don’t worry about waste – single use cameras are recyclable. This is what Kodak has to say about global sustainability and their single use cameras: Started in 1990, the Kodak Single Use Camera program works with photofinishing outlets to return used cameras to Kodak sorting centers, where they are then routed for recycling. Nearly every piece of the camera is either recycled or reused in the ongoing production of more Single Use Cameras, bringing down costs for consumers and keeping huge amounts of waste out of landfills. Laid end to end, the 1.5 billion cameras would stretch 120,000 miles, which is enough to circle the earth five times or reach more than halfway to the moon.

That’s a lot of recycled cameras! I’m impressed. I’m truly glad that single use cameras are recycled, and that Kodak has stepped up to the plate on this issue. Since the used single use cameras are sent right from the photofinishing outlets where the pictures are developed, there is much less chance of them ending up landfills.

Do you plan to use a Kodak Funsaver single use camera this summer? Have you used them before? What do you think about the picture quality? Tell me your opinions on twitter, Facebook, or just leave me a comment here.

Earth Day 2011 is quickly approaching! Involving yourself in different activities on the holiday is a great way of going green. Here are three Earth Day activities for April 22nd.

On April 22, 1970, Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator, founded the first Earth Day in an attempt to bring about a better understanding of the affect we have on our planet, and calling us to take action to make positive environmental changes in our community.

1. Attend a recycling event. Recycling events are held throughout most communities in the US on Earth Day. There are some simple rules to recycling events you’ll want to know about. For a full explanation check out Earth Day 2011.

2. Play a green related game. If you have children Earth Day is a great way to educate them on the importance of going green. Scholastic has a big list of Earth Day games you and your children can enjoy.

3. Make a donation. If this is your first Earth Day it might be easier to simply make a donation to an Earth activist group. Donating will get money in the right hands so they can help protect our planet.

For a full rundown on everything related to Earth Day head over to Earth Day Network.

If you have any Earth Day pictures post them up on the Stock N’ Go Facebook wall. Leave a comment below to tell everyone how you plan on celebrating Earth Day.

~ Claire

(Image courtesy of Earth Day Network)

Stock N’ Go is a leading supplier of health and beauty products with the lowest prices on the web.

St. Patrick’s Day is obviously for dressing green. But it is also easy to make it about going green. Hosting a St. Patrick’s party and molding it to your green lifestyle is easy. It also helps minimize your impact on the environment. Brandy’s Big Bargains have thrown together some great tips for a “green” St. Patrick’s Day party.

Host a “Green” Party with “Green“ ideas.

Okay, so you have the normal “Green” foods, like Green Sugar Cookies, Green Jello, Salad Greens, Cucumber Hummus Rounds, Green Frosted cupcakes, and the like…. Now take it one step further….

Offer your guests “Green” goody bags…  there are litterally hundreds if not thousands of low cost “green” items that will “wow” your guests.   Items like Reusable shopping bags, reusable lunch bags, reusable water bottles, with Spring on it’s way, it’s the perfect time for people to start planting.  Set them up with literature on “green” building materials… people you know may be planning to get some home projects done, and may not know about the different “Green” building materials that are available to them.

Too many gifts to provide everyone with their own “Green” goody bag?  Put together one or two of these goody bags, and hold a raffle.  Ask your guests to bring a canned good to the party to be entered to win one of the goody bags.  Not only will your guests have the chance to win a great gift bag, but they will also be helping a local food bank.

Remember that a truly “Green” party, uses reusable cloth napkins, real plates, and cups.

Make sure to head over to Stock N’ Go for the best deals on health and beauty products. Have a green St. Patrick’s Day!

(Image courtesy of Life123)

Recycling is one of the easiest ways of going green. It’s also typically simple. There are however a few things I sometimes question whether they can be recyled or not. Thankfully Yahoo has put together a list of five surprising things you can throw in the recycling bin.

You already know if newspapers, tin cans, or plastic bottles get picked up on your curb for recycling, but what about similar items?

Chances are phone books, aluminum foil, and other hard-to-know-what-to-do-with items can be mixed in with your curbside recycling.

Every town has different rules so you’ll need to check with your local waste or sanitation department to find out the specifics for your area.

In most cases, it’s easier to recycle these five unexpected items than you might think.

1. Phone books. If your city takes mixed paper, then phonebooks can generally be recycled, according to Jennifer Berry at Earth911. Be sure to remove magnetic inserts or any other non-paper elements before you toss. Has the Internet rendered the yellow pages obsolete in your home? You can choose not to have directories delivered in the first place or limit how many you receive. Here are 17 creative things to do with phone books for those who prefer to reuse or can’t easily recycle.
2. Aluminum foil. It’s just as recyclable as aluminum cans, but not accepted by all municipal programs. Check with your local waste department before you throw foil in with your metals. Make sure it’s clean first. Many people wash foil off with soap and water and reuse it for storing food. Or try crumpling up old foil and throwing it in the clothes dryer to reduce static cling.
3. Aerosol cans. You can include EMPTY aerosol cans with other metals. If it has any product in it don’t toss it in your bin. Ask your local recycling center if they’ll accept partially filled cans or bring them to your local hazardous waste facility.
4. Labels. Labels aren’t a problem on bottles and cans, says Berry, because recycling facilities are already set up to handle them so no extra steps are needed. It’s also okay to throw slightly dirty glass, plastic, and metal containers into your bin. So don’t let that lime wedge or last bit of peanut butter stop you from tossing a container into your recycling bin.
5. Metal clothes hangers. Some communities, such as New York City, Phoenix, Houston, and Portland, OR, accept metal clothes hangers in curbside bins. In most cities there are plenty of recycling centers where you can drop them off. Better yet, bring them back to your local dry cleaner so hangers can be reused.

Now that Yahoo has cleared up any questions on whether you can recycle these items or not lets get out there and do it! As always, make sure to head over to Stock N’ Go for all your discount hair products.

(Image courtesy of Getty Images)

Is there anyone who didn’t play with Crayons when they were young? They were so fun! Ok so maybe I had a trouble staying in the lines. Who didn’t? It turns out your old favorite toys can be recycled when they get down to the nub. But how can Crayons really make your life more green?

Crayola’s new Crayon Maker melts down used crayons to form new ones in three easy steps, allowing the creation of solid colors, multicolors, all of them eliminating the need to throw away perfectly functional crayons that would have ended up in the garbage. And perhaps in the digestive tracts of birds.

It’s supposed to be for kids to teach them recycling, but feel free to go ahead and borrow it.

Now you can release your inner child by using crayons and go green! Just wish this was around in the 80s….

(Image courtesy of geekosystem)

Is your mailbox filled with junk mail? “Going green” isn’t always about making a drastic change. Most times a simple change can seriously help the environment. Today so much paper waste is a result of junk mail. We all get it. And most of the times we have no idea what to do with it. Sometimes it feels like the only thing I get in the mail are catalogs or coupon booklets. The New York Times environment blog recently posted a great article on how to deal with with junk mail.

Direct mail companies advertise that direct mail accounts for “only” 2.4 percent of trash in landfill in the United States. And that the recycling of direct mail has in fact increased 700 percent since 1990.

I’m not too sure about you but direct mail accounts for close to 95 percent of the stuff in my mailbox. And I deposit it in the recycling bin without a glance. Plus is it just me? Or is it particularly bad this time of year? Just this week I got thick mailings from closet reorganizers, flower delivery services, credit card companies, furniture stores and even pet supply companies. Funny thing is I don’t even own a pet! 

It is hard to believe that only 2.4 percent of landfills are direct mail. 

Over the last few years various states and cities have considered bills that would create a “Do Not Mail” registry allowing customers to opt out of junk mail. But the Direct Marketing Association has vigorously lobbied against such legislation, promoting the benefits of direct mail for “consumers, businesses and the economy.’’

In the meantime, you can try to limit the flow of catalogs piecemeal, as I did this week, by signing up for services like catalog choice and DMAchoice But wait! The latter is run by the Direct Marketing Association, which has lobbied against the creation of Do Not Mail lists.

A site called Ecocyle offers ten easy steps, among them calling 1-800-No-THANKS, on how to deal with junk mail. Ecocycle has even more good tips  and if you are serious about junk mail they are worth checking out.

Tells us how you deal with junk mail at your house. Personally I prefer to keep in touch with businesses on social media or with enewsletters. And there are a lot of businesses out there that prefer to share their offerings in a way that doesn’t contribute to a landfill.

If you want to find out about Stock N’ Go deals and their discount hair products you can through FB, Twitter and by becoming a SNG Insider. We think green is important.

(Image courtesy of NY Times)

5 green tips for Valentine’s day. Typically, with Valentine’s Day you think of roses, chocolates, jewelry, and other gifts to let special people in your life know you care about them. This year we have some tips for you to stay environmentally savvy while celebrating the holiday. These suggestions help the environment and are a little more creative than a box of chocolates. This Valentines’s Day make green the new red courtesy of Think Green From Home. Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!

Image courtesy of Flickr

1•   Do It Yourself Greeting Cards:  Take a page from the Kindergarten crowd, bypass the store and make your own card on recycled paper.  A little elbow grease, some careful thought and recycled pictures can go a long way toward saying you care.  For an easy idea, use photos from an old magazine to illustrate the card and scan of copy a color photo of the recipient to create a tailor-made greeting.

2•   You’ve Got Mail: Speaking of Kindergarten, why not go back in time and make a Valentine’s Day mailbox to deliver your card.  Find an old shoebox, line it with recycled paper, cut a slot in the top and decorate with their favorite colors.  Plus, it’s something you can keep and use again, year after year.

3•   Forget Fresh Cut Flowers:  Resist the age-old urge to purchase fresh cut roses or the flower of your choice.  They don’t last as long as you think, then end up in the trash, adding to amount of waste generated at Valentine’s Day.  If your loved one has their heart set on flowers, go with a potted plant or flowers like tulips or a hydrangea that can be enjoyed on Valentine’s Day, then planted outside when Spring finally arrives.

4•   Bake The Best: Sure chocolates are a huge hit on Valentine’s Day, but you can easily ditch the pre-packaged treats and make your own.  The grocery store has plenty of specialty cookies, brownies, cakes and fudge you can bake.  Yes, you can do it, just follow the directly exactly.  It’s often cheaper than purchasing pre-packed products, there is less packaging waste, plus baking yourself adds to “the thought that counts.”

5•   Dine On A Dime:  Know your Valentine and plan accordingly for dinner.  If you can cook, fire up the oven or grill and make dinner for your sweetheart.  You can typically get more for your money by cooking at home, plus you save on gas money.  You can also go organic with your grocery purchase and be more environmentally savvy.

And don’t forget about buying in bulk!  SNG offers discount hair products so buying in bulk makes sense. And this year for Valentines SNG is also giving everyone an extra 10% off al items! We wanna make sure your Valentine’s Day is green and red.

Please share with us how you are planning on making green the new red.