TerraCycle’s entire line of products comes from recycled materials and can be found at Uncommon Goods. I received a dopp kit for my husband. He usually throws his toiletries in a plastic bag when we head out of town, but now he has a kit to store everything in and it’s made from upcycled tent material.

Albe Zakes is the 27 year-old Global VP, Media Relations at TerraCycle, Inc., the world’s leading ‘upcycling’ company, which converts difficult-to-recycle waste materials into eco-friendly, affordable products available at major retailers worldwide. TerraCycle partners with major CPG companies like Kraft Food, Nestle, L’Oreal, Mars and PepsiCo to run community based collection fundraisers that function both as innovative packaging reclamation initiatives and cause-related marketing programs.

Tom Szaky, CEO of Terracycle, grew up watching Captain Planet. In 2001, as a Princeton University freshman he started his company, Terracycle. TerraCycle’s purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste. They do this by creating national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste. You can send Terracycle your difficult to recycle waste, and they will turn it into any myriad of items, from handbags to raw materials. Szaky’s story is really inspiring, regardless of setbacks or diversions he has stayed committed to his vision – eliminating waste. In this CNBC video he makes a great point, nowhere in nature is there the idea of garbage, only in the human cycle does garbage exist.

TerraCycle, an award-winning company that specializes in recycling hard-to-recycle waste, wants to help small businesses achieve their green initiatives while giving back to the community. If your company signs up to a TerraCycle "Brigade" and begins collecting specific items such as Scotch tape dispensers, toner cartridges, pens, drink pouches, potato chip bags and more, TerraCycle will process those items and your company can earn money for the school or charity of your choice.

Once again TerraCycle is at the forefront of upcycling and reusing products for a brighter future for all of us. They are ready for Valentine’s Day with a few DIY upcycling ideas. While cleaning up trash doesn’t seem like a romantic way to spend the day, you can celebrate the holiday and effect real-world change with special Valentine’s Day items, products and decorations in Trash Tycoon, Facebook’s first upcycling game from Guerillapps and TerraCycle. In the game, you can clean up trash and upcycle it to fun products like necklaces, Valentine’s Day cards and heart shaped wreaths to send to friends or to decorate your town. Players’ hearts will swell because Trash Tycoon creates positive social impact by donating 10% of in-game dollars to environmental projects sponsored by CarbonFund.org.

Broward College's TerraCycle is one of nation's best collection program. TerraCycle pays for material collected. Money from the program go towards the Michelle Lawless Scholarship Fund which supports female Environmental Science majors. Last year the program collected more than 200,000 pieces. In 2012, the goal is 300,000. Trash to Treasure is a proud participant in the program. You can drop off your items at T2T during regular business hours.

The economy has undoubtedly impacted every aspect of American life, including the way people spend their money. The shrinking retail sales may be a tell-all about a reduction in consumerism — whether by necessity or because it’s trendy — but there’s one other number that may indicate America’s love for “stuff” is changing. For the past few years, the amount of garbage generated nationwide has been decreasing: According to the Environmental Protection Agency, between 2007 and 2009 (the last year available), municipal solid waste (a.k.a. garbage) generation went from 255 million tons to 243 million. Still, considering that amount is double that of four or five decades ago, it’s easy to understand the efforts to promote and encourage recycling. Consumers, of course, are complying, recovering about 34 percent of materials nationwide (from less than 10 percent 30 years ago). But while paper recycling has become second nature (and 64 percent of it is diverted from the landfill), a growing number of people are looking for ways to recycle various other things that usually go into the trash, from candy wrappers and Ziplock bags to potato chip bags and Elmer’s glue sticks.

In 2010 proof of the ever burgeoning green movement can be found throughout the stories that made it into the headlines of mainstream media. For instance, there were several stories of various young ladies creating prom dresses out of used gum wrappers and foil beverage pouches. In addition, more and more items made from recycled materials such as t-shirts made from ground up soda bottles began showing up in retail stores. This increase in repurposing materials has caused food and beverage manufacturers like Kraft Foods to stand up and take notice. Proof in point is the company's recent decision to add foil cheese packets to their pre-existing "Terracycle Collection Program."

We've blogged about TerraCycle before but they're continuing to make headlines. If you're unfamiliar with TerraCycle, they donate cash to charities in exchange for your cigarette butts, razors, expired pills, plastic food wrappers, etc, find new uses for them, and sell those products for a profit. See how they're doing all this while turning an enormous profit, after the jump.   TerraCycle already has their trash collecting and recycling operations in six countries and plans to launch in 11 more. TerraCycle is currently a $40 million company but owner Tom Szaky hopes they can become the "Google of garbage", according to an article in the Telegraph.