So, some of you may already know about this and some may not. I, for one, am a fan of recycling in general and have been for quite some time. I believe it is both important and valuable. As such, I want to point a finger at Origins and applaud their new recycling program. As per their website: did you know? • Everyday consumer product packaging accounts for approximately 1/3 of all landfill waste. • Most community recyclers only take items made from materials that are easily recognized - such as soda and water bottles. • Cosmetic and toiletry bottles, tubes, caps and jars are among those items not easily recognized and therefore not often recycled.

Follow up:

So, they created a kick-ass recycling program:
Now you can bring your empty cosmetic tubes, bottles and jars, etc. - regardless of brand - to your nearest Origins retail store or department store counter nationwide. All returned packaging will be sent back to a central location where products will be recycled or used for energy recovery.

In an industry first, Origins will accept packaging from any cosmetic company regardless of the manufacturer. We believe that the more we collect from consumers, the more we can keep cosmetic packaging out of landfills. And we hope this program will encourage other companies into following our example.

To thank you for joining us in our commitment to the environment, we’ll treat you to a FREE sample of your choice of one of Origins high-performance skincare products.

You'll see I've bolded a couple of key words. Seriously, though, my hat's off to Origins for this one - offering a sample as a bit of extra incentive and they're taking packaging from ANY cosmetic brand?? Good work, Origins, good work. Now you just need to expand and make this available at Nordstrom's counters and in Canada and Puerto Rico, too.

To see the actual Origins page, go here!