Terracycle <http://terracycle.net> , an upstart up-cycling company that turns packaging material into affordable and high quality items, has teamed up with Malt-O-Meal <http://www.malt-o-meal.com/index_en.php> , the largest family owned cereal company in the U.S. By recycling Malt-O-Meal brand cereal bags through Terracycle's Recycling Brigades <http://www.terracycle.net/brigades> , consumers have the opportunity to create zero (cereal packaging) waste. The Recycling Brigades provide charitable organizations, including schools, an opportunity to help reduce our impact on the environment while earning some extra cash for the charity in exchange for the effort.

As a parent, you’d like your home, community, and children’s schools to be greener. Unfortunately, daily life can get in the way of that. You have limited time and budget in which to make the world around you a more sustainable place. But fortunately, going green doesn’t have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive. In fact, a smart and savvy parent can go green and save green at the same time. Here are a few easy ways you can change the world for the better, and even have fun while you’re at it: * Get trashy - As a parent you probably go through lots of food for your kids that comes in difficult- or impossible-to-recycle packaging, as far as you know. There’s a company called TerraCycle that makes products like umbrellas to backpacks, gardening products to recycling bins from recycled trash. TerraCycle works directly with the public, enlisting their help in the form of “brigades,” - self-organized groups of people, typically schools - that collect packaging. The newest collected product is Malt-O-Meal, the cereal company that long ago decided to “Bag the Box,” skipping the paper box that is typical of cereals; that alone already reducing the packaging by 75 percent.

Southwest-area schools are among many in the county earning cash by sending non-recyclable waste products to a New Jersey company that transforms the trash into new products like kites and backpacks. TerraCycle partnered with home city brand Malt-O-Meal Cereal Company to collect Malt-O-Meal packaging through “Cereal Bag Brigades” stationed in schools across the country. There are about 1,250 brigades, TerraCycle reported in June. Schools are paid 2 cents for every bag collected and sent to TerraCycle instead of the landfill.

Get trashy - As a parent you probably go through lots of food for your kids that comes in difficult- or impossible-to-recycle packaging, as far as you know. There's a company called TerraCycle that makes products like umbrellas to backpacks, gardening products to recycling bins from  recycled trash <http://www.terracycle.net/> . TerraCycle works directly with the public, enlisting their help in the form of "brigades," - self-organized groups of people, typically schools - that collect packaging <http://www.terracycle.net/> . The newest collected product is Malt-O-Meal <http://www.maltomeal.com> , the cereal company that long ago decided to "Bag the Box," skipping the paper box that is typical of cereals; that alone already reducing the packaging by 75 percent.

Fortunately, going green doesn't have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive. In fact, a smart and savvy parent can go green and save green at the same time. Here are a few easy ways you can change the world for the better, and even have fun while you're at it: * Get trashy - As a parent you probably go through lots of food for your kids that comes in difficult- or impossible-to-recycle packaging, as far as you know. There's a company called TerraCycle that makes products like umbrellas to backpacks, gardening products to recycling bins from  recycled trash <http://www.terracycle.net/> . TerraCycle works directly with the public, enlisting their help in the form of "brigades," - self-organized groups of people, typically schools - that collect packaging <http://www.terracycle.net/> . The newest collected product is Malt-O-Meal <http://www.maltomeal.com> , the cereal company that long ago decided to "Bag the Box," skipping the paper box that is typical of cereals, that alone already reducing the packaging by 75 percent.

Southwest-area schools are among many in the county earning cash by sending non-recyclable waste products to a New Jersey company that transforms the trash into new products like kites and backpacks. TerraCycle partnered with home city brand Malt-O-Meal Cereal Company to collect Malt-O-Meal packaging through “Cereal Bag Brigades” stationed in schools across the country. There are about 1,250 brigades, TerraCycle reported in June.

As a fan of the cereal and helping the environment – I’m quite excited about this little tid-bit of news. Malt-O-Meal are those wonderful people that make Tootie Fruities and Marshmellow Matey cereals as well as a range of other flavors. Last week, Malt-O-Meal announced that it was teaming up with those green-friendly TerraCycle folks to help keep more cereal bags out of landfills. To do that – they are setting up ‘brigades’ in schools all over the US where students are able to get together and collect the bags to raise money for their school. Bags stay out of bins, TerraCycle recycles them into great new products (like backpacks) and Malt-O-Meal donates money to schools.

What do you do with your trash?  There is only so much that can be recycled.  What about the stuff that can't be recycled?    TerraCycle works with over thirty major brands in the US (and in a growing number of other countries) to collect used packaging and products (chip bags, candy wrappers, juice pouches, pens, toothbrushes, etc.) that would otherwise be destined for landfills.  Malt-O-Meal has announced a new partnership with TerraCycle.  The partnership will create 1,250 Malt-O-Meal Cereal Bag Brigades in elementary and secondary schools across the country. Malt-O-Meal Cereal Bag Brigades will function as collection sites for Malt-O-Meal cereal bags and help prevent a significant amount of packaging waste from going into landfills. Individuals or school groups can sign up to sponsor a Brigade, with proceeds to benefit a designated school, school-sponsored club, or school-sponsored special interest group. There is no cost to start a Brigade, and all shipping costs are paid. For every Malt-O-Meal cereal bag collected and upcycled through TerraCycle, the designated school will receive a $.02 donation from TerraCycle.

TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net>  is the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste. TerraCycle works with over thirty major brands in the US (and in a growing number of other countries) to collect used packaging and products (chip bags, candy wrappers, juice pouches, pens, toothbrushes, etc.) that would otherwise be destined for landfills. Minneapolis-based Malt-O-Meal Company, the largest family owned cereal manufacturer in the country, today announced a new partnership with TerraCycle, an upstart up-cycling company that takes packaging materials and turns them into affordable, high quality goods. The partnership will create 1,250 Malt-O-Meal Cereal Bag Brigades in elementary and secondary schools across the country. Malt-O-Meal Cereal Bag Brigades will function as collection sites for post-use Malt-O-Meal cereal bags and help prevent a significant amount of packaging waste from going into landfills. Individuals or school groups can sign up to sponsor a Brigade, with proceeds to benefit a designated school, school-sponsored club, or school-sponsored special interest group. There is no cost to start a Brigade, and all shipping costs are paid. For every Malt-O-Meal cereal bag collected and upcycled through TerraCycle, the designated school will receive a $.02 donation from TerraCycle.

You’ve probably seen them in the cereal aisle at the grocery store: bags of bargain cereal with one-off names like Cinnamon Toasters, Apple Zings and Honey Nut Scooters. The titan of bagged cereals, the Minneapolis, Minn.-based Malt-O-Meal, has found a niche in offering cereals almost identical to name-brand products from General Mills, Kellogg’s, Post and Quaker Oats at a reduced price. But where do all those cereal bags go once their sweet contents are consumed? As it turns out, nine Springfield schools collect the bags for recycling – and they make a little cash for their efforts. The Malt-O-Meal Cereal Bag Brigade is a schools-only program sponsored by Malt-O-Meal and run by TerraCycle, a New Jersey-based start-up that pays a pittance for recyclable trash and makes it into new products like kites, durable totes and even fences.