MG Gals on Sustainability & Recycling

Here are some questions we get asked a lot, and we wanted to take the time to address them here: 

In what way is MG green or sustainable? How do your customers know whether or not there is sweatshop labor involved in product creation? Do you have standards for where you source your clothing? 

Dear lovely, responsible, concerned citizen and Molly Green fans,

Thank you for your question. At MG we believe in people and treating each other fairly. We want to make a positive impact on the world and we’re working on this all the time. We source and buy goods from other manufacturers and don’t actually have our own production facility. We are working towards doing more of our own sewing and making…but, for now, we have to trust that other companies are doing their part too. One way to ensure that our product is ethical is by asking our vendors the same question you’ve proposed to us today. We work very closely with the companies who manufacture our clothing. Most of whom are family run and based in Downtown LA. Many of the clothes we carry are made with love in California-this is especially true of knit and jersey range of apparel. Our most popular denim style is made in LA. Most of the bags, belt, and shoes we source are vegan. We would never knowingly purchase clothing or accessories made with rabbit or angora…faux fur all the way baby. We recycle our cardboard and try our best to reduce waste when possible. Over the years we’ve sold vintage and bespoke items. We support local artists and makers by selling locally made candles and jewelry. I dream of the day we can make everything we sell in-house. Thank you for caring. Thank you for being a good person. Please trust that we are striving to do the same :) 

xo, 

Brittany
Owner & Founder of MG

And because we are committed to reducing, reusing, and recycling here are some tips on recycling for you. Recycling can seem daunting at first, BUT  it is super easy and 100)% worth it!  

We found these fabulous tips on America Recycles Day: 

• Tip #1: Plastic bottle caps are usually recyclable along with the bottle! Check with your  local solid waste & recycling office to be sure, but many recycling programs accept bottle caps, made from #5 and #2 plastics.
• Tip #2 Technology is always evolving! Pizza boxes can now be recycled – just dump out the crumbs and cheese before recycling. If your community doesn’t yet accept whole pizza boxes for recycling, half is better than none, so tear off the grease-free top and put it in the bin!
• Tips #3: When it comes to recycling, every community is different. Do some research to make sure you’re recycling all the materials accepted in your community. Check with your local solid waste and recycling office or americarecyclesday.org/find-recycling for information on your local recycling options.
• Tip #4: A trick up your sleeve: Many recycling programs don’t accept paper cups because of the waxy lining. Don’t forget to recycle the cardboard sleeve!
• Tip #5:  Look beyond the daily paper. Does your community recycling program accept cereal and tissue boxes? Magazines? Mail? Check with your local solid waste and recycling office to make sure you’re doing all you can to save trees!
• Tip #6: Plastic bag and film recycling doesn’t stop with grocery bags. Recycle your dry cleaning, newspaper, & bread bags and also the plastic film on products like paper towels. Visit AmericaRecyclesDay.org/find-recycling for the nearest drop-off point. It is likely a grocery store or retailer you frequent already!
• Tip #7: Reduce and reuse first to shrink your environmental footprint! Reduce your unwanted mail by unsubscribing via CatalogChoice.org.
• Tip #8: What you don’t put in your recycling bin is just as important as what you do recycle. Know what’s recyclable in your community so you don’t contaminate the recycling process with items like plastic bags and clothing hangers. Check with your local recycling and solid waste office for details on your community recycling program, and look up nearby drop-off facilities at AmericaRecyclesDay.org/find-recycling where you can bring those harder-to-recycle items.
• Tip #9: Keep bags for both trash and recycling in your car. Pre-sorting makes it easier to recycle on the go.
• Tip #10:  Recycling: it’s not just in the kitchen. Don’t trash your and shampoo bottles and toilet paper rolls just because they’re in the bathroom!
• Tip #11: Can it! Metals are among the most valuable materials in the waste stream and almost all recyclers welcome aluminum and steel. So, recycle your cans!
• Tip #12: Answer the call to recycle your wireless phone! 100 million of them go out of use each year, according to the U.S. EPA. Donate your out-of-use cell phone to a local charity or find a drop-off facility near you (AmericaRecyclesDay.org/find-recycling).
• Tip #13: Don’t exclude your food. Not ready to dive into composting just yet? Toss your eggshells and coffee grounds into the garden instead of the trash. You’ll be diverting a little waste and enriching your soil at the same time.
• Tip# 14: Close the loop by buying recycled content material. Recycling is the first step in the cycle, then the material is processed, and the last step is up to you:  Keep recycled content products in demand.
• Tip #15: You don’t need to rinse out your glass bottles and jars before recycling!

One of the BIGGEST items we recycle every month is cardboard boxes. Every month, we get new and fabulous arrivals in store from L.A., but that means that there are a lot of cardboard boxes. While our various MG stores have recycling pick up scheduled to make it easier, some times the recycling doesn't get picked up OR the bin is TOO full so we take the recycling ourselves. This past week we visiting our local East Nashville Recycling center to take all of East Nashville's cardboard boxes. 

STEP 1: Find your local recycling center.  East Nashville's address is 943A Doctor Richard G Adams Dr, Nashville, TN 37207. Need help finding a place to recycle?? Click HERE.

STEP 2: Break down the boxes. In order to recycle them, you need to flatten all the boxes and remove any and all packing material. Here is a BEFORE we put it in Jess' car and after (read as THERE WAS A LOT.)

STEP 3: Follow the signs! Once you're at the recycling facility, there will be signs on the bins saying what each bin is. Make sure you pay close attention to the signs. There are different bins for different types of plastic and different types of cardboard. When in doubt, Google is your friend! 

-SHOP THE LOOKS-