I am always amazed at what I see sticking out of my neighbors' recycle bins. I'm pretty sure brooms are not recyclable. Plastic bags, nope. Aluminum foil, yes (this one surprised me when I first found out). Check your recycle bin and see if there is any information on it. Mine has a sticker clearly outlining what items are recyclable. Another way is to contact your waste company or look on their website. If you don't know who your trash company is, next time you get the trash bill, see who you pay it to. Then look them up online. You can also try Google to find out. I typed "trash contra costa" into Google (Contra Costa is the county I live in ) and Allied Waste was the first thing to come up on Google which is my local waste management company. Your waste company's website is likely to have a host of information about what is acceptable for recycling with ideas on where to recycle the products that are not accepted. Each area is different, but here are some general rules of thumb.

• Plastic bags and styrofoam are not recyclable in household bins. There are places that recycle bags, but your recycle bin is not one of them. Take plastic bags to your local grocery store or drugstore. There is a law that says these stores (if they are over 10,000 square feet) have to offer in-store recycling programs for plastic bags. 
  
• Recyclable paper includes white office paper, corrugated cardboard, newspaper, phone books, brown paper bags, magazines, and junk mail. Papers should be free of plastics, food items, rubber bands, binder clips, and tape. Staples and plastic window envelopes can be recycled. Paper items that should not be placed in your recycle bin include waxed paper (including cartons and cardboards), laminated paper (including fast food wrappers and pet food bags), stickers, and photographs, to name a few.
• Other recyclable items include milk and juice cartons, egg cartons, aluminum cans, containers and foil, steel/tin cans, glass bottles and jars and plastic bottles, containers, and jugs with the acceptable recycle number. For example, in my area, plastics 1-5 and 7 are accepted. This means plastics with #6 should be placed in the trash (this is probably the case in most areas since it is very difficult to recycle). You can typically find the recycle number on the bottom of the item with the recycle symbol. If you don't see a number and the recycle symbol as shown below, it is probably not recyclable.
  

Every time you go to throw an item away, just be mindful of where it belongs—trash or recycle bin. If everyone in the U.S. separated the paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum products from the trash and instead put them in the recycle bin, the waste in landfills would be reduced by 75%!

Even I need a friendly reminder to keep it simple. Last week, I asked some of my running friends how they get the smell out of their running clothes. I use Trader Joe's laundry detergent which I like for my regular clothes, but I was starting to feel like my clean running clothes still had a smell to them. One of my friends, Rosaura, suggested I try distilled white vinegar. Why didn't I think of that, especially considering I use it to clean my house? I was ready to go out and buy a sport wash but using vinegar saves me money and aligns with my use of natural products. I simply put the vinegar in the "bleach" section of my washing machine and my clothes came out without any smell.

Because we have so much choice when we go to the grocery store or drugstore, we get caught up in the complexity of it all. Try to remember every now and then to go back to the basics. It is safer for you and the environment and will save you money to boot. For example, to clean my house, I use distilled white vinegar as my "windex" (1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water) and baking soda as my "comet". Many conventional cleaning products leave indoor air pollution because of the petrochemical VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and synthetic fragrances. These toxins build up in your home each time you use these products. As they evaporate, they can make their way into your body and be dangerous to your health, including dizziness, watery eyes, skin rashes, and respiratory problems. Vinegar and baking soda can be your new best friends. They are safe, economical, and can be used for much more than dyeing Easter eggs and keeping your refrigerator odor-free. Get creative. I just found a new use for the vinegar. I simply needed a friendly reminder to go back to the basics.

Have you noticed that people stop using their legs as soon as they get on an escalator? Are you one of them? It's dumbfounding to me. Notice it next time you get on one. We seem to go into autopilot and just allow the escalator to carry us up or down. The same thing happens on the moving walkways in the airport. Unless you have limitations that prevent you from using your legs on an escalator, don't just go along for the free ride! Okay, granted the escalator did start out as an amusement, not as a practical transportation device. It was first seen in 1859 as a novelty ride at Coney Island. Nonetheless, it is now used to get us from one place to another. Next time you get on an escalator, see it as a way to get to your destination faster, not slower. It is there to help you, but not carry you. The general rule of thumb is to try to get 10,000 steps every day. I highly recommend wearing a pedometer. If you do, I guarantee, you will be using your legs on your next escalator ride to help meet your daily goal of steps!

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." — Dr. Seuss

Perhaps if I had read more Dr. Seuss in my childhood, I could have saved myself a lot of time, effort, and heartache. It has taken me 40 years to figure out that being authentic is the best thing I can do for my health and wellness. I find that it takes work and causes me stress when I am not being true to myself.

Living true to yourself means following your own path despite what others are doing. It means not trying to be someone you are not in order to please others. It is easy to get caught up in what you think you should do, what society expects from you, or what your friends want you to do. This can take many forms—including how you eat, exercise, make your living, and spend your free time.

Think about what it feels like when someone loves you for exactly who you are, quirks and all. There is no condition on whom you have to be in order for this person to love you. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you are not. This is unconditional love and it feels great. Try to give this feeling back to the friends and family in your life. Love them, not just for who they are, but because of who they are.

You know what is right for you. You just need to be open enough to hear it and courageous enough to listen. Embrace the fact that you are unique. No one is exactly like you which means that what is authentic for you may not be what is right for someone else. And, what is right for someone else may not be right for you.

My friend Rachelle gave me a birthday card this year that said, "Be you. Nobody does it better." That’s right. No one does it better.

Do you feel free to be you? If not, how can you make it possible to feel that freedom?