TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

Posts with term recycle X

Meet the boss: TerraCycle chief Anna Minns

It's fair to say that in most personal relationships the decision to move for one partner's career doesn't always pan out for the both parties. Luckily, that wasn't the case for Anna Minns. The former criminal lawyer had already switched to working on environmentally focused projects by the time her first child was born. Then, her focus was the Daily Lime website, a project Minns founded (and won awards for) to provide readers with green tips including from high profile contributors such as Kevin Rudd and Tim Flannery.

13 everyday items you didn’t know you could recycle

In an ideal world, it’d be easy to recycle everything we didn’t need. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple – but these 13 tips will make it a little easier to recycle more. Even if you were part of the generation of Australians who had ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ drilled into you during the last decade – recycling can be hard to do. It’s not always clear what can and can’t be recycled in your local council area. recycle bins Even if you were part of the generation of Australians who had ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ drilled into you during the last decade – recycling can be hard to do. It’s not always clear what can and can’t be recycled in your local council area For recycling plastics, we’ve put together this handy guide - but what about recycling beyond your yellow bin? Here are the best tips for recycling all that you can. SHAREONFBSHAREONTWSUBSCRIBE 1: ‘Green’ polypropylene bags, and plastic packaging that you can’t recycle at home, such as biscuit packets, bread bags, rice and pasta bags, can all be recycled in the dedicated bins at both Coles and most Woolworths supermarkets. They might even be remade into things like garden benches for schools. You can read more here. 2: Mobile phones (but not cables) can be left at Sony Centres and Leading Edge Computers. Here, mobile phones are recycled and the money raised will be used to build specialised youth cancer centres for 15 to 30 year old cancer sufferers through the charity YouCan. 3: Domestic batteries can be disposed of sustainably in bins at most ALDI stores. Learn more from our friends at Planet Ark. 4: Used stamps are accepted as donations by many organisations – for example, Guide Dogs in Tasmania. You can find a full list of organisations who collect used stamps at the Give Now website. 5: Used prescription glasses and sunglasses can be donated to OPSM or Personal Eyes, who will pass them on to someone who can’t afford glasses in a developing country. 6: Unused mini shampoos, soaps and lotions from hotels can be given to your local homeless shelter or women’s refuge. 7: Corks from wine or champagne bottles might be recyclable at a location near you. Use Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You tool to find a drop-off point. 8: Used bras and swimwear can be donated to Project Uplift, which sends them on to women for whom bras are unobtainable or unaffordable. You can find participating stores across Australia here. 9: Wire clothes hangers can be returned to dry cleaning shops. 10: Joggers that are not too worn can be given to Soles for Souls who will donate them to orphanages or use them to help fund microfinance projects in developing countries. 11: Used plastic children’s toys in good condition can be recycled with Second Chance Toys. 12: Empty toothpaste tubes, brushes, floss containers, some coffee capsules can be recycled with Terracycle. Just remember to check in and arrange it with them first. 13. Printer cartridges can be recycled at Officeworks, JB HiFi, Australia Post, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith. SHAREONFBSHAREONTWSUBSCRIBE 'Arctic 30' Take Part in a Recycling Day in St. Petersburg Being environmentally conscious on recycling day and sorting your rubbish into compost, recycling and general waste bins is fantastic – but it’s important to think about producing less rubbish to begin with. To help consume less ‘stuff’, try asking yourself these three questions when you’re buying something new: 1. What resources went into creating, producing, packaging, and delivering this product to me? 2. Will my use of this product achieve a good return on investment for those resources? 3. Is there another way? Do I already have something like this at home? Could I borrow this from someone I know? Is there a less resource-intensive alternative? Could I buy this second-hand? Could I make this out of something I already have? TIP: If you can’t recycle it, maybe you can upcycle your trash into something new. Learn more about upcycling and check out some easy DIYs here. Want to do more? Sign up to join 400,000 Greenpeace supporters and get opportunities to create change straight into your inbox!

TerraCycle & Retrash,recycling & upcycling unrecyclable waste!

Last week I attended LifeInStyle and the Home and Giving Fair in Sydney, and came home with some great businesses to share and some new products for our store. I will share a post about these events and my thoughts about them soon. But first, in a moment of “it was meant to be”, the very clever Nathan Devine, the author of the website and book Retrash, called me before I left on the off-chance I may have been able to come to Sydney for an event last Friday. I just happened to be headed to Sydney on Thursday so it was perfect! Retrash is a book of inspirational stories from people across the world, on ways they are reducing landfill through recycling, upcycling, repurposing and rethinking waste. Nathan gave me a copy and I will review it soon on the blog. Not only was the event at Google headquarters, which for a geek like me was a real thrill, but it was a presentation from both Nathan and the Chief Design Junkie (yes that is her actual job title!), Tiffany Threadgould, from one of the most clever upcycling and recycling organisations in the world – TerraCycle. TerraCycle basically take things you think are not recyclable, including DIRTY nappies (yes I know!) and cigarette butts (because they are essentially plastic, may be time to give up now) and recycles them. They recycle and upcycle pretty much everything and anything and you can even make cash sending your trash into them. Tiffany is an eco-lifestyle expert who spreads recycling inspiration with easy do-it-yourself solutions. Tiffany began with an MFA in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute, and now hones her upcycling know how as Head Design Junkie at the mega recycling company Terracycle. Her own company Tiffany Threadgould has been featured on CNN, Every Day with Rachael Ray, the New York Times, and countless magazines and blogs. Stay tuned for more as I am going to run an interview and feature with her soon. Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, then a 20-year-old Princeton University student, TerraCycle, Inc. began producing organic fertiliser by packaging liquified “worm poop” in used soft drink bottles. Since the inauspicious start, TerraCycle has become one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world. Today, TerraCycle is a highly-awarded, international upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products. TerraCycle is widely considered the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable, post-consumer waste. TerraCycle works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. and 24 countries overseas, including Australia, to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It repurposes that waste into new, innovative materials and products that are available online and through major retailers. Tiffany also told us about the new partnership with TerraCycle and Australia Post, that makes it easier for groups to collect waste and post it for free. You can collect your waste, print a postage label and send it for free. It is a great idea for schools and community groups, through the national programs -“Brigades” – where you collect previously non-recyclable or hard to recycle waste and in most programs, you receive a small donation for each piece of waste collected. It’s a great way for schools to fund raise. Find out more about the TerraCycle Brigades here. It was a fabulous session and so good to hear about the amazing things happening around the world. Have you heard of TerraCycle? And will you now be saving up waste to send to them?  I am starting special boxes here and will be speaking with my son’s school about getting involved. Helen