Another option for recycling certain brands of common products is a company called Terracycle ( www.terracycle.net <http://www.terracycle.net> ). Terracycle takes back a wide variety of food packaging and makes new products from the packaging. A bonus to this program is that Terracycle pays a bounty on the materials. The money is then donated to a charity, nonprofit or school of your choice.

I was sent a TerraCycle lunch box and pencil case and they are too cute!  I think it's great that something practical and stylish can be made out of CapriSun juice pouches and help the environment as well. I'm giving them to my girls to take to school where everyone can see what cool stuff can be made out of recyclables! Just a reminder that the TerraCycle giveaway ends tomorrow, 10/8 at noon!  Enter here!

A million dollars can go a long way in cash-strapped schools and nonprofits.  And, when all that's required is to save items from landfills, it almost sounds too good to be true.  True it is.  Schools and nonprofits across the country have now earned $1 million through the TerraCycle Drink Pouch Brigade program.

The 15 students of the high school's environmental club, SAVE, or Students Against Violation of the Earth, are participating in a recycling campaign sponsored by TerraCycle, a Trenton-based company that "upcycles" trash and turns it into reusable items that are sold at stores like Target, Walmart and Home Depot. The students are encouraging the whole district and even residents to participate in the campaign which started Friday and runs through Dec. 15. SAVE adviser Donna Pancari said the competition is open to all public schools in New Jersey and could net the district a hefty prize. A total of $125,000 will be awarded to the six schools that collect the most garbage with the first-place prize being $50,000. Winners will be announced in January.

In their latest move to increase their upcycling of materials that normally end up in landfills, TerraCycle has partnered with five East Coast Walmart stores to test a new collection system for 28 types of trash that TerraCycle will then turn into new products. The New Jersey-based company collects waste through their Brigades programs, which not only keep waste out of landfills but bring financial benefits to schools and organizations as well. This new collection system, which began October 1st, will allow anyone to drop off any waste that TerraCycle accepts in converted 20-foot trailers at Walmart stores in Secaucus, Vineland, Deptford East and Lanoka Harbor, all in New Jersey, and Tullytown, Pennsylvania.

GREENVILLE — The 25 students in Rochelle Eggebrecht’s fourth-grade classroom at Greenville Elementary School are learning how to turn trash into treasure. And they’re asking their peers and the community to join in the effort. The students have organized Project Upcycle, a district- and community-wide project that collects plastic waste such as drink pouches and Ziploc bags and sends it to TerraCycle, a company based in New Jersey. TerraCycle uses the plastics to create useful, eco-friendly products like tote bags, purses, kites, fencing, coolers, school pencil cases and binders.

Congratulations to TerraCycle Drink Pouch Brigrade Program  <http://www.terracycle.net/> - they have save 50 million pouches from being put in landfills and contributed a MILLION dollars to schools and non-profit organizations! The Capri Sun beverage brand was one of the earliest supporters of TerraCycle, a company that collects would-be trash and turns it into  useful items.  The collection program, called the "Drink Pouch Brigade,"  takes place mostly in schools, where children choose to deposit used  pouches in special receptacles rather than throw them away.  In  participating schools, each used drink pouch collected and sent to  TerraCycle earns two cents, with the funds going toward needed  educational programs and resources.  Does your school participate in this program?  If so, let us know.  Together, students and teachers at over 30,000 schools nationwide have  collected 50 million drink pouches for the program over the past two  years resulting in the 1 million dollars milestone donation!  AMAZING!

Congratulations to TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>   Drink Pouch Brigade Progam they have save 50 million pouches from being  put in landfills and contributed a MILLION dollars to schools and  non-profits!! The Capri Sun beverage brand was one of the  earliest supporters of TerraCycle, a company that collects would-be  trash and turns it into useful items. The collection program, called the  Drink Pouch Brigade, takes place mostly in schools, where children  choose to deposit used pouches in special receptacles rather than throw  them away. In participating schools, each used drink pouch collected and  sent to TerraCycle earns two cents, with the funds going toward needed  educational programs and resources. Does your school participate in this program, let us know?

Madison Elementary, Thomas Rivera Elementary, St. Francis de Sales and other Riverside schools have joined the Drink Pouch Brigade, a fundraiser that pays 2 cents for every drink pouch collected regardless of brand, TerraCycle said in a news release.

Any item that TerraCycle accepts for it’s upcycled products can now be dropped off at one of five East Coast Walmarts instead of being mailed directly to TerraCycle. According to GreenBiz, anyone can drop the items off at Walmart, not just the schools or non-profits that have signed up for TerraCycle’s Brigade.