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Lately, I've been avoiding listening to or watching the news. It seems that all sides and all forms of media thrive more and more on the negativity. A lot of it makes me sick. And for someone like me who tries to stay positive, it can be tough. What can I say? I'm an emotional dude. But I can't just avoid bad news. I have to continue trying to make and share my own good news. This tactic has worked for me for years and I think that's something that we all could AND need to do more of. No, sharing good news is not going to make the bad news go away. And I'm not trying to be clueless to the world around me. With media everywhere, that's not even possible. But over time, good news and the resulting positivity and happiness will eventually lead to less bad news. Have you ever noticed how hard it is not to smile when someone smiles at you? To me, it just makes sense that the more bad we put out there, the more bad will happen. But the more good that we put out in the world, the more good will happen. We all have a choice. And there are plenty of people out there screaming loud about negativity. We can be just as loud about positivity. So, if it ever seems like I'm ignoring reality, I'm not. I'm just choosing to escape wasting my time here by vomiting positivity. This is an updated social media post that I wrote in 2018. Still going...

I was recently telling this story to my friend Jess when we were discussing the importance of community; both large and small. It was 8 years ago, but it still hits the same. Back in 2018, I was setting up my STAY VOCAL booth at a tiny house festival in Massachusetts. It was raining and pretty windy. All of a sudden, a gust of wind decided that my entire rack of reuse shirts needed to be on the ground and in the mud. I was pretty upset at the thought of all the damaged merchandise. I had a whole bunch of white shirts, too. Some people might consider this waste and discard them. Nope. What happened next was absolutely amazing. My friend Sheena came right over and immediately offered to bring them to a laundromat. At the same time, my other friend John went and grabbed a bunch of quarters. Numerous others helped me pick the rack up and take the shirts off of the hangers. Within three hours, all of the shirts were cleaned with no signs of mud, back on the rack and secured to the tent. And people started buying them. The rescued shirts were rescued again. This was one of the many times where I experienced such a deep sense of community in the tiny house scene. People wanted to help their neighbor and come up with positive solutions to a problem ASAP. That's the kind of community that I want to be a part of. And that's the kind of world that I want to live in. As long as we're breathing, we're sharing this planet with everyone else and we are ALL in this together. Let's act like it. 🤝

As I wrote about in my previous posts, recycling is an overrated solution to our waste problem and this is not a big revelation. People have been seeing this for years. It's just been heightened recently, especially after China's ban on importing recycling from the U.S. Like writer Katie Klear stated so well, "your recycling bin at the end of the curb is not a golden miracle for the Earth or a way out of the climate crisis." Fortunately major organizations like Green America and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are on board that reuse is the more effective solution. As I make sure to point out, I’m not saying that we should not recycle and that I personally do not recycle. What I’m saying is that we should look to reuse existing items first and whenever possible. Reuse is a 2 for 1. You're using something again that's already here and reducing the amount of things that need to be made. With reuse, we don't need to figure out what to do with all of the stuff in recycling bins. We don't need to wish-cycle and hope things actually get recycled. Why spend all of this time and energy with recycling, when we could be knowing the impact that we’re making by reusing. And listen, I get it, single use items are convenient. Use something once, toss it in a bin and forget about it. But I'll say this until the end of time: our planet is not single use and that's the most convenient thing that we all share. So I go back to the same position. 2017: Billboard for #LetsRecycleRight of Alex showing that reusing is the way to recycle right. So, I want to look at some of the most commonly recycled items and share reuse alternatives or how to avoid them in the first place. These ideas will not only save resources, but also time and money. Some of these may seem like no-brainers, but we're all at different points in our journey. And let me know in the comment section below if you have some solution ideas. Cardboard Boxes - It's amazing how many essentially brand new boxes are just recycled, when they could be used multiple times; especially with so many purchases being made online. If you ship packages (or know someone who does), flatten them and store them for personal use. I once saw a store in California that was just used boxes. Imagine if every city had a leave it and take it area for boxes at the transfer station? And here's an example of an online shop for used boxes geared towards moving. Food Packaging (Paperboard boxes, Plastic containers, etc) - A lot of food packaging is mixed paper and plastic and hard to recycle to begin with. You can avoid a lot of this packaging by buying things in bulk and / or at refill shops. Here's a list of refill stores in the United States. Farmer's Markets and the produce section of grocery stores are other great places to avoid packaging with healthy food too. Alex using a reusable glass mason jar to fill with bulk goods at a California refill shop. Glass Jars - Buying items in bulk will avoid acquiring more of these. But if you buy items in glass jars, why toss them in the recycling bin, when there are endless amounts of uses: canning foods, storage containers, bulk food purchases, etc. I've even used jars as fun "gift boxes." Still from REUSE! Because You Can't Recycle The Planet. Paper  - Use both sides of sheets of paper before you recycle it. Save scrap paper for personal use, like printing in-house, note paper, drawing, etc. Paper or Plastic Bags - The majority of plastic bags are never recycled and just become landfill. This is why paper bags have become popular again. Sure, paper bags are better than plastic bags, but they're still single use bags that don't have to be made. Reusable bags are always the best option. And you don't have to go out and buy new canvas totes. Use any bag. After all, you're just bringing things home to put in your fridge and cupboards. Alex with a reusable shopping bag at a grocery store. "Paper" Coffee Cups - Most of these are not actually recyclable, as they have a thin plastic lining inside them. You can avoid these by bringing your own travel cup and at most shops, you'll get a discount too. If you're drinking coffee inside the shop, ask for an in-house mug. Most people would agree that drinking out of a ceramic mug is more comfortable than a paper cup. Plastic Bottles - Unfortunately, the majority of drinks these days are in plastic bottles. You can avoid these by bringing your own bottle/cup/jar to refill at water stations and soda fountains. In most cases you'll save money, especially when it comes to water. And the more we call for change, the better. Our cohorts at Story of Stuff are currently leading a "Bring Back Refill" campaign to change just that. Now, I know what many people are saying. "A piece of paper can only be reused so many times." "Jars break." "I don't have a refill store near me." For all of those reasons, I agree that we cannot be perfect with this. And again, I'm not saying that we should never recycle. I just know that my place here is to encourage reuse as much as possible and in as many different ways as possible before it gets to that point. The more we reuse, the less congested recycling will be and there is a possibility of recycling actually working. As individuals, we have so much untapped power when it comes to bettering the planet. With reuse, WE are in charge. We don't have to play the guessing game of recycling. WE use something and WE can use it again. WE see first hand that WE are doing a good thing for our planet. That is an empowering feeling for us and reuse is an effective solution for our waste problem. Thanks for hearing me out on these past few posts. Here's a fun, quick video I made to show how reusing is better. And as I mentioned above, let me know in the comment section below if you have some solution ideas. Cheers.

As I wrote about in my previous post, " Recycling Is Overrated: We've Been Misled, " I grew up recycling because I thought it was going to solve the waste problem. But I also grew up with a dad that saved all sorts of typical recycling and waste to use "someday." I didn't really understand it at first, but I certainly benefitted from it. My first skateboard ramp was actually an old door leaning on top of wooden railroad ties. It wasn't until my adult years that I finally understood the benefits of reusing. My first skateboard ramp. I could easily move it and use it in the basement during the winter too! In 2003, I started my company STAY VOCAL (originally VOCAL) as a skateboard and apparel brand. At the same time, I was also a touring merchandiser for rock bands. I was not only selling shirts at concerts around the world, but also ordering everything. And in 2004, one order changed everything. I received a batch of shirts for one of the bands and it was printed incorrectly. It was just a minor error, but understandably, the artist wasn't happy and didn't want to sell them. And when I called the printers about the problem, that's when I found out what happens to misprinted shirts. Those 144 brand new, never worn, shipped from California to Pennsylvania T-Shirts were going to be shipped back to California to be shredded and turned into rags. And that's when a lightbulb went off and exploded in my head. I'm a solutions guy, not a problems guy. So, I quickly figured out a better option and ended up buying the shirts at a discounted price and having my brand's patches sewn over the original design. The first STAY VOCAL cover up patch shirt: "Make Yourself Heard Double Face" After that incident, I started seeing the waste problem everywhere I looked and I wanted to use my brand to create the solutions. I used to drink coffee out of disposable cups, so I started making STAY VOCAL travel mugs. I used to get plastic grocery bags, so I created a line of canvas reusable bags. And of course, I made more and more reuse shirts. The first line of STAY VOCAL travel mugs and reusable canvas bags. At the beginning of 2008, I made the decision to switch STAY VOCAL to an entirely reuse apparel brand; no more skateboards; no more new items. Thinking back, this made complete sense. Reuse had been part of the brand since day 1, as I raised the money to buy the first batch of skateboards by printing on thrifted shirts and selling them at concerts. Shortly after this decision, I entered a best small business idea contest for my brand and I won! As people were starting to take notice, I knew that I was on to something. The Big Check presentation for winning the "Best Small Business Idea" contest. Because of my first hand experience with waste and reuse solutions with clothing and accessories, I was starting to look at all waste in a different way. But I was also looking at recycling in a different way. Just because a plastic water bottle was recyclable, why wouldn't I just reuse a glass one? It would save me money, time, and resources too. I was invited to the Environmental Protection Agency's 2008 private Earth Day event in Boston. Around that time, I came up with the slogan, REUSE! Because You Can’t Recycle The Planet . I couldn’t understand why people weren’t talking about reuse as a solution more than recycling. Why was there so much emphasis on recycling instead of reusing? When we recycle, we're wasting energy, time, money and resources. When we reuse, we're just using something again. I thought it was a no-brainer message that was not getting enough attention. Summer 2008: The STAY VOCAL "Reuse" Booth at the Chico, CA Farmer's Market A few months later, I designed a graphic for the slogan and the first series of REUSE! T-Shirts quickly followed. The REUSE! in bold letters is for emphasis and the open letters in the rest of the design is to represent that recycling is not the complete solution to save the planet that we had been told. Original 2008 Ad for the first REUSE! T-Shirts Since that time, I've made thousands of shirts with REUSE! Because You Can’t Recycle The Planet . on it. The slogan's message became a core component of the talks that I do. In 2015, I released my first documentary film with that as the title. But all these years later, I'm still seeing the same problems with waste and recycling. And in many ways, they've actually gotten worse. So, how did we get here? Why are people stuck on recycling? How and why is it not working? What’s it going to take to get people to see the easier and more effective solution? Because the fact is, it wasn't always this way. And it doesn't have to be. Talk to you next week. Coffee Shop in 2024: Given the options, customers regularly just put trash and recycling in both.

As I wrote about in my previous posts about recycling , people still focus on it, yet this supposed godsend to our waste problem has failed. But before we can move forward, we have to look backward. The concept of waste around the world is nothing new and solutions of what to do with it have always been there. It's just that these days, the amount of waste is astronomical, especially in the United States. The U.S. is the number one country in the world as far as the amount of waste per person, per day goes . The average American creates 5.69 pounds of waste per day. Hooray for being number one? School lunch in the mid 1900s with reusable plates and silverware. Getty Images / Getty Images One thing I always say is that the reuse solution that I've promoted through my brand and movies is nothing new. My parents and their parents grew up reusing. It was common place. Words like "single use", "disposable", and "recyclable" simply did not exist. Items like bottled water, fast fashion, and particle board furniture did not exist. People used things until they were worn out. Items were repaired. Clothing was mended. The earliest thrift stores were open over 100 years ago. And during World War 2, there were numerous campaigns for households to donate "waste" to be reused for various war efforts. Early 1900s thrift store (c/o PEMC Webster & Stevens Collection. Museum of History & Industry.) World War 2 Salvage Campaign Posters But in the years after the war and as the U.S. economy grew, the 1960's came along and the use of plastic exploded. The disposable society that most of us have known for years was born and the concept of throwing things away became the norm. People began to love the convenience of just being able to "toss-away" their waste. (I find it interesting that this coincided with the era of peace and love for our fellow humans.) A 1960s magazine ad for disposable plastic cups. In the 1970s, people began seeing that all of these "conveniences" were filling up the landfills. "Away" wasn't as far off as they thought. Many cities began burning trash, but inevitably, people saw the pollution that was being created. Curbside recycling programs began popping up as a way to appease that convenience for single use items. People also began seeing the economic benefit of taking things out of the waste stream . In the 1980’s, recycling began taking off and being billed as the number one solution for the waste problem. For people who wanted to help combat pollution and save the planet, recycling was the action of choice. More and more communities started recycling programs and it became part of curriculum in schools . I was one of the students that learned about it. 1988 Environmental Defense Fund Recycling Ad As the 90s and 00s continued, the idea of recycling being the godsend continued. Bins became much more widespread and the norm in schools, public buildings, airports and even city sidewalks. A lot of companies began boasting that their products were made with partially recycled content or how their products could be recycled. But then came the 2010s. People started seeing behind the curtain and realizing that recycling wasn't what it was cracked up to be. By focusing on single use as much as possible because "it can be recycled," the mantra seemed to be "make make make," without realizing that you can only recycle so much. With overwhelming amounts of recycling, companies in the U.S needed to find solutions for the recyclables, so they started shipping it overseas. But inevitably, other countries got fed up and China even put a ban on importing the U.S.' garbage.   In 2017, China officially banned the importing of 24 types of solid waste. Just because something is recyclable, doesn't mean it will actually be recycled. 2018: Bales of paper at a U.S. recycling company that would have normally been sent to China. As time went on, more and more people realized that there were simply a lot of myths around recycling. A recent study found that only 5-6% of plastic is transformed into new items and since recycling began, less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled! Personally, I have been seeing the recycling myth for years. I used to be a big time Dunkin' Donuts coffee drinker, but then I looked into their styrofoam cups. Their website used to boast that they were recyclable. The only problem was that there were only a handful of facilities in the entire US that recycled styrofoam. So, the majority of the cups ended up in the landfill. I'm wondering if that container of plastic recycling will actually get recycled. Recycling was a great idea in the 70s. They had a problem with the the influx of single use trash and they needed to figure out a solution. But as time went on and our recycling centers started filling up, the real problem became apparent (again). The real problem is making too much single use, disposable products. And recycling is just perpetuating single use. We've tried recycling for years and the experiment didn't work. On the small scale, individuals don't recycle everything that's recyclable. On a larger scale, some places say they recycle, but they actually don't. After 50 years, the US has only gotten up to 23% of the waste that we make being recycled. And now we can't send it off to other countries. Do we need any more signs that we need to be accountable for our waste? The real solution to our waste problem is one that was already here and if we’re going to continue to be here, that solution needs to come back in full force. Why recycle and hope for the best, "wishcycling", when you can immediately know the impact that you're making with reuse? There are a lot of easy reuse alternatives for things normally recycled and in my next and final installment of this series, that's what I'll be talking about.

On a recent visit to the recycling center, I was looking around at all of the people putting their paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass in the right bins. These people were surely feeling good about the choices that they were making; doing something good for the planet and keeping things out of the landfill. But the whole time I was wondering, "How much of this is actually going to be recycled?" Alex sitting on a mountain of recycling stored in a warehouse If you grew up anytime between the 1990s and now, you surely have heard that recycling was the solution to our waste problem. Instead of people throwing things to that magic land of "Away," recycling would actually do something with the waste. The waste would be broken down and made into new products. But unfortunately, as we have learned more and more with every passing year, recycling has not been the godsend it was cracked up to be . But through that same time, and for hundreds of years before, there was a waste solution with a positive impact that could be immediately seen. And if we're going to want our planet to endure for hundreds of years more, it has to increase exponentially. And that solution is reuse. Before anything else, I want to define the two terms "reuse" and "recycle". Many people tend to consider them one in the same, but this is something that I always try to clairfy for people. And like I exemplified in my first film , there is a simple and drastic difference. Still from REUSE! Because You Can't Recycle The Planet. Let's look at that difference a little closer, though. I always use a glass bottle as an example because that's what I've been using for water for years. I think in terms of juice bottles, but for this example, you can pretend it's soda, beer, whatever you prefer. So, if you have a glass bottle, here are the steps for recycling it: Put the glass bottle in the recycling bin. A truck will come pick the bin up. The truck will drive the contents back to the recycling center. Machinery will break the original bottle down. Machinery will turn the broken down glass into that same glass bottle again. The bottle will be filled with liquid and a new label will be put on. The bottle will be put in a package and shipped to a store. Now, let's look at the steps for reusing a glass bottle instead. Wash the empty glass bottle Use it again Repeat Isn't the difference clear? With reusing just one bottle instead of recycling it, you're saving a lot of time, natural resources and money; for both you and others. Glass juice bottles reused for years instead of recyclable single use bottles Now, before I go any further with this 4-part series on recycling (yeah, I have a lot to say), I want to say that I am not "Anti" Recycling. I am just "PRO" Reuse first, especially when it comes to the mass amounts of stuff that's already here. But I can only reuse a piece of paper so many times and sometimes my glass bottles break. Like many of you reading this, I grew up thinking that if there was excess paper, plastic, aluminum, or glass, it was best to put it in the recycling bin. But I also grew up in a house, where little beyond that was thrown away. There may have been loose screws, old chimney pipes or broken desks, but my dad saw potential. He always had plans on how to reuse things. And that was a message that really stuck with me. But I didn't realize it until I came face to face with a worldwide waste problem in 2004. Talk to you next week.

One of the many groups of students at the YES! Youth Environmental Summit in Delaware Wow. I can't believe that it's been a month already since I was in Delaware. I guess dealing with the preparing and aftermath of a giant snowstorm will make time go a bit quicker. But the amazing experience I had there was one that I talk about regularly. Well, what can I say? I t was an honor to be a keynote speaker at the YES! Youth Environmental Summit in Wilmington. I was surrounded by hundreds of high school students who share hope, vision, and a passion for the future of the planet. I was so glad that my words resonated with not only the students, but exhibitors, teachers and others as well. And seeing dozens and dozens of people walking around literally wearing my REUSE! message and taking instant action, was so rewarding. Cleon Cauley, from New Castle County, speaks at the Youth Environmental Summit in Delaware. Before my morning talk, I listened to Cleon Cauley , the Public Works General Manager for New Castle County in Delaware. His talk set the day off on a great tone for me with his shared beliefs of community, working together to make a bigger impact, and even his similar experience of growing up with a very supportive and involved mother. And like me, he knows that having fun can be a part of your work. My keynote talk to the students about reuse and responsibility definitely resonated with this group. After my introductory talk, the event was filled with so many other great speakers that I was happy to share the bill with: Heidi Pan , Founder of the 1.5 Degrees Podcast, Congresswoman Sarah McBride, the sole member of Congress from Delaware, Secretary Greg Patterson from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), and numerous student leaders from around the state. After our talks, Cleon and I shared some quick fun stories at my table. Logan Scott, a student leader for the YES! conference, was a huge help from start to finish. In addition to speaking at the event, I was also an exhibitor and my brand made the event shirts. By collaborating with STAY VOCAL to print their event shirts on rescued garments, the Youth Environmental Summit saved 108,376 gallons of water. That's enough water for 590 people to drink for an entire YEAR! Pam Bargren was slinging our collaboration T-Shirts at the Plastic Free Delaware booth. One of my favorites from the batch of REUSE! Delaware T-Shirts. Having worked with Nancy Downes from Oceana Massachusetts quite a bit, I had to introduce myself to John Weber . I guess this was before I added my stick figure themed signature to the sign. While behind my booth or walking around visiting exhibitors, I was able to have so many great conversations and learn about so much good happening in Delaware when it comes to our shared planet. And yes, I already started making tentative plans for a return visit. I'd like to send a big thank you to Dee Durham, Sherri Evans-Stanton and Logan Scott for making my visit a great one. Thank you for the invitation and I look forward to being involved in the YES! Conference again in the future! And a special thanks to Sam Wilson for the many great photos! The YES! team, student leaders, volunteers, and the conference's keynote speakers. When the event was over, my time wasn't done with my work in Delaware. On Saturday morning before I left, I teamed up with Plastic Free Delaware to launch my new Escape The Waste Pop-Up series. Anyone who brought a reusable mug got their coffee for free, on me. It was a great time and I have more planned for sure. Big thanks to Mike and the Brew Ha Ha! team for hosting the test run! If you own a coffee shop or work for an organization around New England (or beyond) that wants to team up, let's talk. The flyer for my first FREE Coffee event. Some of the people who I treated to coffee for avoiding single use cups.

Like I have done countless times over the past 30 years, I just had a conversation with a friend about why 311 is my favorite band. I simply told her, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for their music and positivity. If you want to take a deep dive into that and how that all relates to my work with reuse, here's my hour long podcast all about it . As last week was the band's official holiday, 311 Day, I've been listening to a lot of their music. And one song stuck out, just as it has since it was released a couple of years ago. As a deep thinker, the song "Friend" has always made me think about the fight for peace and a unified planet through positivity; missions the band has always band about. I know that I'm certainly "not ready to let go of this beautiful dream." But the song surely has a more direct message about close friends in our life. They are truly "worth more than gold." And so when I found out that a lifelong friend of mine (and fellow fan of the band) lost his father, this song came to mind. Enjoy. 🤝

Sometimes progress isn't literally moving forward. Sometimes progress is pausing, looking backwards, and realizing that we are making a mistake. Making mistakes and owning them is OK. And that's part of real progress. Sometimes progress is actually going backwards, so we can move forward.

Every day, we're faced with hundreds of choices to make: big and small. From how we eat to how we dress to how we shop to who we support to the coffee we drink to what we drink that coffee in, etc. And when we make a choice, we have the opportunity to ask, "What will benefit me the most?" or "What will benefit the most people?" The fact of the matter is that when we leave this planet, nobody is going to remember the choices that we made to benefit ourselves. But they'll surely remember the choices that we made to benefit others.

I am constantly reminded that there is more than enough of almost anything that we could need or want. It just may be in another form. I think about it when I go into a thrift store, when I pass by a brand new housing development near empty office buildings, and when I see a giant stack of nearly brand new cardboard boxes in the recycling bin. We always hear that we need more manufacturing jobs to sustain a good economy. I disagree. We need more remanufacturing jobs to sustain a good economy... and a good planet. We don't need to use up more of our non-renewable natural resources to create raw materials. There are plenty of renewable materials right here in front of us. If you don't have a good planet to live on, you can't have any kind of economy.

This morning, I got my daily email from the ever-inspiring Seth Godin . It was about heroes that have come before us and it ended with, "Today is a fine day to consider who’s on our wall." I couldn't agree more with that statement. Today, we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., a real leader with real ideas for real positive change; a man who truly wanted to UNITE people for the common good. One of the main inspirations behind the creation of my brand STAY VOCAL in 2003 was this handmade upcycled artwork of MLK on the bottom of one of my broken skateboards. And after having my second skateboard related surgery, I wanted to do something different with skateboarding that would be less impactful on my body and more impactful on the world. So, this artwork became my first skateboard design. Things have obviously changed over the years with my brand (now being a reuse clothing brand), but one thing that has not changed is the other main inspiration behind its creation. Too many of us sit idly by and let things happen, when we could be using our most powerful weapon that we're born with: our voice. So on this day when we celebrate one of the strongest voices in our country's history, we must remember that. We must remember that it is our right as citizens of this country, as citizens of the world, as humans, to make ourselves heard. And right now, our voices need to be heard more than ever. Our country needs us. MLK's legacy needs us. WE need us. Because as MLK said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Unity over division. Because no matter how you slice it, we're all in this together.