Nestled in the lowly depths of Trenton, NJ TERRACYCLE has been reusing waste for over a decade, giving it back to the consumer in the form of backpacks, non biohazardous cleaning products, scrapbooks, enviornmentally friendly fertilizers, and more. Check out this IPAD case made from what TERRACYCLE terms “upcycled” materials (think potato chip bags, and cliff bar wrappers). Triple nice!

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.

Nothing says summer more than flip flops.  The squishy sandals help you beat the heat and they can help build a new playground too.  The Old Navy stores in Spokane Valley and Moscow, Idaho are collecting used flip flops.  Collection boxes sit near the front door. . "When a customer comes in they just need to bring their old flip flops and pop them in the box.  It's Simple, " said Spokane Valley store manager Bridget Brooks.  The old sandals are mailed to TerraCycle http://www.terracycle.net in New Jersey and recycled into plastic equipment for new playgrounds.  TerraCycle also recycles used potato chip bags, candy wrappers and children's juice drink pouches.

A company called TerraCycle pays 2 cents for every pouch sent in. Carter wasn't sure how much juice Sand Pine students drank, but she was about to find out.

What have juice, cookies, or chips done for your schools, recently? Well, if your kids go to Garland Elementary, over the last year, the Parent Teacher Association has been collecting these empty bags, as well as Malt-O-Meal cereal bags, to fund projects like field trips. Melissa Skinner, this year’s Garland PTA president-elect, set up the recycling program after hearing about TerraCycle on a T.V. show highlighting Park City students who were recycling using a company based in Trenton, N.J. Skinner chose to focus on the following items: Nabisco cookie wrappers, Capri or Kool-Aid pouches, Frito-Lay chips bags and Malt-O-Meal cereal bags. So far, the school has collected 2,211 chip bags, 272 cookie wrappers, 2,222 drink pouches and after just starting the cereal bags in January, they have had 80 cereal bags. The total of $95.70 may not seem like much, but Skinner just sent another batch of bags to the company and will see another check at the end of April. Plus, she said TerraCycle pays the shipping expense. Skinner wants to get the word out, that anyone is encouraged to donate their used wrappers from these companies to Garland Elementary.

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)!

Last week on Facebook, I entered a contest all I did was leave my blog link (as a comment) on Terracycle's Fan Page. This morning I had a message saying that I won. Yay!!  I of course don't know what the prize is until it gets here. But I wanted to share this site with yall. I stumbled across Terracycle when I was ... yes I don't remember what I was doing. They recycle all kinds of things into new things. Some of these things will be available only next month(April) in Walmart Stores. Here is some more information about it; the information is copied in part with permission. "A whole bunch of brand new TerraCycle items will be available, during April for a limited time only, at every single Walmart across the country. Starting April 5th, nearly 60 TerraCycle products will be sold right next to the original items they were made from. Cheetos kites and tote bags made from Frito-Lay wrappers will be sold with bags of Frito-Lay chips, while notebooks and purses made out of skittles and M&M wrappers will be sold right next to bags of Mars Candy. For those of you unfamiliar with the trash to treasure company, TerraCycle, here is a little background information: TerraCycle collects traditionally non-recyclable waste from people all across the country by paying a non-profit of the person collectings choice, 2 cents for each piece they collect and mail to the company, with the use of a pre-paid shipping label they can print right from the TerraCycle website (www.TerraCycle.net). A majority of TerraCycle’s active participants are schools, because the students usually bring in the items TerraCycle collects during lunch; such as juice pouches, chip bags, and cookie wrappers, plus the money can go right back to the school. TerraCycle uses the waste it receives from its Brigade members to make hundreds of products that are not only eco-friendly, but are also very affordable because its made from waste!"