CREATIVE RECYCLING: COSMETICS CONTAINERS

Some items are trickier to recycle than others. Take cosmetic containers--those lipstick tubes, bottles, jars, and caps that house our makeup, creams, and body elixirs.

Here are three programs I know of that help you turn those tubes into something new:

M*A*C makeup offers a free lipstick when you bring in six of its primary packaging containers. The cleverest part is that you can set the whole thing up online. See the Back to M*A*C program here.

Aveda is a shade greener than M*A*C and offers a  Recycle Caps program. Since most pesky bottle caps don't get recycled and end up hurting marine ecosystems in a major way, Aveda takes any bottle caps at its stores (from any brand cosmetics to shampoo to soda bottles) and recycles them for you.

Origins now accepts used but clean cosmetics containers of any brand for recycling. You can get the details and find an Origins store near you.  Origins is the most natural of the bunch and boasts a Plant A Tree program to prove it.

How cool is that?