Full Circle Sustainability

05/27/2026

When the veggie van is down, it really throws a wrench in our routine, so we were super thankful to Frye’s Auto Repair for working it in on short notice (and right after a holiday weekend)! Robert's back on the road this afternoon...picking up produce for deliveries tomorrow. 🚗🫜

05/27/2026

Foaming hand soap is BACK (now in tablet form)! Just dissolve one tablet with water in a foaming soap bottle and voila: you've got soap! We're also loving the all-purpose cleaner tabs, which use the power of simple ingredients like citrus to cut through all manner of household grime. Order online for delivery on Thursday, or come pick some up in the shop: Friday, 1-6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

05/24/2026

The Washed Ashore sculptures are here! Have you seen any of them yet?

We hope this artwork will prompt some deep reflection about the fact that "what you throw away doesn't go away." That message is truly easy to forget when your waste is taken away on a trash truck and you never have to think of it again.

But to be honest, we're worried the message won't totally get through. Admiring the sculptures is pointless if you go out to lunch afterwards and don't turn down the plastic silverware they offer you. Or if you stop to buy a pack of bottled water on the way home. The waste problem will not go away without serious mindset shifts and without action from businesses and governments that is prompted by demand from regular people. We believe that art can be powerful. But art alone will not "save the sea." People have to be moved deeply enough to translate thought into action.

The real creative challenge is not figuring out how to turn trash into art. It's figuring out how we can stop creating so much trash in the first place.

If you need a few ideas to get you started, check out our blog post (linked in the comments)—then go see the Washed Ashore exhibits! We hope they'll get your creative brain churning with ideas and inspiration...and the motivation to do a little bit more to waste a little bit less.

05/23/2026

ALERT, ALERT! If you're heading to the grocery store to pick up hot dogs for Memorial Day because you thought Full Circle didn't have any: reroute! We got our first batch of "prairie dogs" from Ancient Ocean Beef Co. Friday night...just in time to get them on the grill this weekend! We're also fully stocked on ground beef from Crooked Bar N Ranch, brats from MAD Farms, and plenty of green stuff from Mellowfields Farm to round it all out. Come see us Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.!

05/21/2026

We wrapped up our school-assembly tour yesterday with the last of six presentations about the Washed Ashore Project! Washed Ashore is a travelling exhibit of sculptures made from trash found in the oceans that’s on display in Topeka starting this week. And a group of students from USD 501 had the opportunity to create their own upcycled sculpture—a beautiful monarch butterfly! Our message at the assemblies was that by thinking creatively, we can come up with better things to do with trash than throw it away. If we reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle, we can keep waste out of the landfill…or even avoid creating it in the first place.

This project was a really cool opportunity for the kids, and a nice collaboration between Topeka Public Schools, the Washburn EcoBods, The Rotary Club of Topeka, and the Topeka Community Foundation. The monarch is officially on display in the Mulvane Art Lab (in the basement of the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn) now through mid-September. You can see it for free, so stop in for a quick visit to check it out!

05/19/2026

Last week's sunny theme continues! Flower bouquets this week will feature the first sunflowers of the year from Everbloom Flower Farm! We'll definitely order some extras for the shop, but they've been selling out fast, so reserve yours now by placing an order online. Link is in the comments.🌻

05/17/2026

It's calving season at Crown B Bison, with eight little "red dogs" born just in the last couple weeks! We've been itching to see the cinnamon-colored babies, so we went up to Holton yesterday for the tour. We got to (carefully) see them up close and feed them treats that they gobbled up—the nursing moms in particular! We also learned about gigantic ancient bison, the importance of bison wallows in a prairie ecosystem, and a variety of other fun facts. Check out our blog post about it in the comments...or contact Crown B to schedule a tour for yourself.

Finally, check out the selection of bison products on our website or at the shop. We have everything from ground bison to steaks and roasts to snack sticks and summer sausage. Supporting this local bison ranch is one is one way to help keep bison populations strong.

05/15/2026

The color of this week is yellow (with lots of sun & celebration)...and our new products are right on theme! We've got:

-Sunny Side Up Pickle from Wild Alive (featuring local sunchoke)
-Hot Chili Tofu from Central Soyfoods (with a bit of heat and some tasty turmeric)
-Jersey Milk Paneer from Skyview Farm (not bright yellow...but it has a lovely warm, creamy color)
-Citrus Lemongrass Dish Soap Blocks (the scent will brighten your entire kitchen!)
-Condaria Figs (a lot like our purple mission figs...but golden!)

Brighten up your Saturday with a stop at Full Circle! 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at 2303 SW College Ave.

05/14/2026

#1 Bottles ONLY in your curbside recycling bin! No clamshells. Here's a decent explanation of the reasons why: https://earth911.com/business-policy/recycling-plastic-clamshells/

Remember that you can recycle clamshells and other #1 plastic food containers at Full Circle. We send them to the recycling center in Lawrence, which accepts them even though they're a less desirable material. But because recyclers don't really WANT that stuff, it's ideal if you can just avoid it in the first place.

Welcome to Weducational Wednesday, where we wearn wabout wecycling.


All right folks, class is in session. Now listen up.

You, in the back. Take your seat and pay attention.

Yes, you.

Ok, if you remember from your homework assignment, we are going to start working our way through the common recyclables and briefly discuss what they are, what they are not, and why it matters.

So, to kick things off, we are starting with the ever-present:
Polyethylene terephthalate.

Or, for those of us who slept thru Mr. White’s chemistry class, it is commonly referred to as PET or PETE.

This is typically a clear, shiny, lightweight plastic with the #1 inside the recycling triangle.

Now, if you remember from your homework on how items are identified and sorted, the only #1 plastics that are currently accepted are, and I quote straight from the contract:
“PET bottles with symbol #1 — with screw tops only.”

That means:
Empty.
Rinse.
Leave the lids on.
Don’t crush.
Labels can stay on.

That’s it.
Pretty simple.

Now, not every #1 plastic container makes the cut. We are talking about #1 PET bottles with screw tops only. Not clamshell containers. Not random plastic trays. Not the mystery container from the back of the fridge that has taken up residency on the third shelf.

And before you come at me down in the comments, just remember:

I’m the rootinest, tootinest, don’t-even-think-about-it varmint wrangler west of the Pecos.*

So behave yourselves.
Class dismissed.

*Ok, that comment went over some of your heads… but that’s why we’re here on Weducational Wednesday.

05/12/2026

It's TerraCycle Tuesday, and while we may not be cool enough to appreciate the coolness of all the songs on this CD, we did enjoy the infusion of some early ‘90s rock vibes into our day!

Relatedly, if anybody wants a reggae mix CD, we've got a BUNCH and will be happy to dig one out of the TerraCycle box for you (Reuse > Recycling)!