Congrats to Clif Bar and Odwalla Bar for coming up with a great solution to the problem of non-recyclable energy bar wrappers. There is now an alternative to “throwing away” these wrappers and contributing waste to our landfills: Sign up here and TerraCycle will ship a couple of postage-paid envelopes to your door. All you have to do is fill them and pop them in the mailbox. To sweeten the deal, 2 cents will be donated to the non-prof or charity of your choice.

Four leading energy foods producers are sponsoring the TerraCycle program to recycle their wrappers into eco-friendly products and earn money for charities. So far, Clif Bar, Kashi, Odwalla and Bear Naked have helped keep more than 82 million wrappers and containers out of landfills and off roads and trails. Then they're recycled into things such as shower curtains and backpacks. Plus, the program contributes 2 cents to a school or charity for every recyclable item sent in. Participation and shipping are free. To date, TerraCycle says it has paid more than $900,000 to some 50,000 schools or non-profits. For more info or to get involved, click www.terracycle.net.

Since most recycling facilities don’t currently accept flexible plastic (that’s the stuff they use in the wrappers), these concerned companies teamed up with the eco-innovators over at TerraCycle to do the next best thing: find a way to reuse the wrappers.

Next time you purchase a box of Capri Sun drinks, a tube of Colgate toothpaste, a Clif bar etc.. consider hanging on to your trash and sending it to Terracycle! TerraCycle takes a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials and then makes affordable, eco-friendly products. Terracycle is hoping to eliminate the idea of waste by finding innovative, unique uses for materials others deem garbage. With over 50 products available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world. Consider what happens when your kids finish drinking a Capri Sun…they toss the empty juice box in the trash which eventually ends up in a dumpster or landfill. Instead of adding the drink pouch to a pile of other pouches at the landfill, TerraCycle converts the used drink pouches into unique fashion bags, tote bags, pencil cases, and other items for kids and adults (check out the adorable Skittles bag below made from recycled Skittles wrappers)!