Hippie Haven offering no-contact recycling at downtown store

Rapid City’s first zero-waste store wants to help residents live sustainably during the COVID-19 quarantine.   Eco-friendly Hippie Haven opened last year downtown to help customers reduce their environmental impact by offering plastic-free, vegan and cruelty-free alternatives to everyday products. The store stopped allowing customers inside on April 6, and now is offering no-contact recycling for items that cannot be recycled elsewhere in Rapid City.   Hippie Haven owner Callee Ackland said the store’s location at 806 St. Joseph St. has an entryway outside the store’s front door where people can safely drop off recycling without coming in the store or leaving recycling on the street.   “Everything changes so quickly (because of COVID-19), but we definitely plan to continue accepting recycling,” Ackland said.   In partnership with TerraCycle, since Hippie Haven opened last year it has participated in the Zero Waste Box program to provide solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste. Ackland said her store can accept the following: all razors and razor blades; contact lenses; contact lens packaging, contact solution bottles and plastic contact lens cases; pop can tabs; crayons; sunglasses and eyeglasses; tennis balls; shoes; any type of makeup and makeup packaging; shampoo, conditioner and hairspray containers; soap and lotion bottles; shaving cream packaging; toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and floss containers; and plastic straws.   In March, Hippie Haven also co-sponsored a TerraCycle Straws Zero Waste Box at Pure Bean Coffee House.   “There are so many pieces of plastic out in the world with more and more being made every day,” Ackland said. “These plastics break down into microplastics that impact all levels of life. Recycling every bit that we can and preventing new plastic from entering the ecosystem is crucial."   Hippie Haven is still accepting orders online or by phone for its eco-friendly home goods and beauty products. Customers can have products shipped or use the store’s curbside pick-up service, Ackland said.   For the health and safety of its customers, Ackland said Hippie Haven has moved its upcoming workshops online. A schedule of upcoming workshops will be finalized and announced later this week, Ackland said. Go to facebook.com/hippiehavenshop/ and at @hippiehavenshop for announcements and a schedule of upcoming virtual events.   Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender, in keeping with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control for slowing the spread of COVID-19, is urging everyone to stay home as much as possible. He said Monday he would likely soon make a citywide recommendation for people to stay home. One sustainable stay-at-home activity Ackland is especially excited to support is gardening.   “I’ve been so happy to see the resurgence of victory gardens. Food sovereignty is one of the most important issues of our lifetime. We want to help in any way we can,” she said.   Ackland and her staff encourage people to start with what they have at home; a recent social media post provided tips on growing vegetables from food scraps. On her weekly podcast at hippiehavenpodcast.com, Ackland recently explained how to grow $700 worth of food in 100 square feet. The podcast focuses on a range of sustainability topics.   “We’re going to be hosting a planting party on Instagram live soon and we’re inviting viewers to be planting gardens along with us,” Ackland said. “People can use this extra time they might have to learn how to reduce their waste, even in these changing conditions.”