Have you heard of TerraCycle <http://www.terracycleshop.com/> ? They make environmentally friendly and affordable products, made from non-recyclable waste materials. They have over 50 products that sell at retailers such as Walmart, Target and Petco. TerraCycle products range from fertilizers to household cleaners to backpacks and toys. Their goal is to find unique uses for items that would go into landfills, and eliminate the idea of waste.
TerraCycle also has a national program called TerraCycle Brigades <http://www.terracycle.net/Brigades> . This program allows you to earn cash for trash (money paid to schools and non-profits). You may choose which "Brigade" you want to join to begin collecting. Some of the Brigades include: Drink Pouch, Aveeno Beauty, Chip Bag, Writing Instruments and Cell Phone. Payout ranges from $.02 per item to $0.25 per item for cell phones.
These accessories take recycling to a whole new level. Check out these super cute bags and picture frames -- they're made from Capri Sun pouches and old billboards! Sporting one of these unique bags to school this year will show everyone you care about the environment -- and you'll look stylish too. We having one of each of these products to give away to four lucky winners. All you have to do to win is comment on this post! Be sure to sign in with a valid email address, so we can notify you. If you don't win, you can buy one at TerraCycle.net
We all shop for groceries, sometimes two or three times a week –- or more. Now turn those shopping trips into easy cash for your school, and encourage friends to do the same! Just look for the Box Tops logo on hundreds of products like Cheerios®, Hamburger Helper® and Kleenex®, in almost every aisle of the store. All you need to do is clip and send them to your school’s Box Tops coordinator —- each one is worth 10¢ for your school.
TerraCycle Denim LapTop Case
Price: $23.99
Why we love it: It's like designer jeans for your laptop.
Where to buy it: Dwell Smart
Made from pieces of scrap denim that would otherwise end up in a landfill, this eco-friendly case offers stylish protection for your laptop. Foam-padded interior, spacious front pocket and a luggage strap for easy traveling
Of course, recycling and being eco-friendly extends to arts and crafts as well. A group called TerraCycle uses what might be considered trash to re-purpose into a variety of new products. On their website <http://www.terracycle.net/> they have tote bags made of Capri Sun pouches, for example, as well as a multitude of other products for home, garden, school, and gifts.
TerraCycle contracts with schools and non-profits to collect their materials. You can join a Brigade and earn money for your non-profit organization by signing up here <http://www.terracycle.net/signup> . Portland, being the green city it is, has collected nearly 70,000 pieces of otherwise-trash, and made about $1,500 for schools and other organizations in Portland through TerraCycle. To date, Menlo Park Elementary School has the top spot in number of items collected, keeping almost 6,000 pieces of trash out of Oregon landfills.
The TerraCycle folks are sharing a DIY craft idea, designed by Tiffany Threadgould, TerraCycle's Chief Designer. Here are the plans for a toothbrush caddy, or maybe you want to use yours as a pencil holder. Either way it's a cute idea for re-purposing used toothpaste tubes. The directions call for Colgate, but presumably any brand would work.
Terracycle's multicolored kids backpack is made from recycled drink pouches, thoroughly washed and sanitized before the product is sewn. It's water-resistant and has zippered compartments. It's $12.99 at www.terracycle.net. The company also offers lunchboxes, tote bags and pencil cases made from recycled drink pouches.
Tom Szaky's ambitions to turn one of America's fastest-growing private companies into a multi-billion dollar global empire didn't have glamorous beginnings.
Szaky's Trenton-based TerraCycle got off the ground eight years ago out of a Princeton University student business plan contest. Szaky's idea was to establish a company that would transform biodegradable waste into high-yield fertilizer made from worm poop.
Szaky, 28, drew his inspiration for the fertilizer plan from the success he and some of his Canadian high school buddies had in growing robust plants in fertilizer made from worm poop. He decided to drop out of Princeton during his sophomore year to give his full attention to the waste-into-fertilizer business he dubbed TerraCycle.
Today, the company that Szaky founded in 2002 with a $20,000 machine for feeding organic waste to millions of little worms that would turn that waste into fertilizer has moved well beyond being merely a fertilizer-specialty manufacturer.
It is a high-profile player in a niche corner of the recycling market known as "upcycling," in which used materials such as aluminum drink pouches, plastic soda bottles and plastic food wrappers are collected and transformed for use in new products without being broken down into their raw material components.
Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> is always coming up with fun and cool ways to recycle, but they also have come up with a way (actually 6 ways) Moms can go green, reduce waste at home, AND raise money for their kids school and/or favorite charity. Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> realizes Moms have enough things to think about without wondering how to reduce the amount of waste leaving their home and heading to the local landfill. So they have come up with six new Brigades (read as free collection programs!) to make it easier than ever for parents to eliminate waste from their home while raising money for a school or charity of their choice. All they need to do is collect and send in the packaging you discard every day, TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> pays the postage and contributes two cents per unit of waste returned. I keep mine in a bag by the pantry next to the bag for Box Tops to make things easier.
The average school lunch generates 67 pounds of waste during one school
year (EPA.gov).
That total is just for one child. Can you image the huge amounts of waste for every school child in the country? TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> is a company that is working to upcycle some of that school lunch waste along with other products that we normally toss in the trash can, without giving them a second thought.
Here is how Terracycle works: Your school or group collects items like Capri Sun pouches, candy wrappers, and chip bags. There is actually 27 different collection brigades <http://www.terracycle.net/brigades?show_all=true> ! You send the "trash" that you school or group has collected to Terracycle. Terracycle upcycles the trash into tote bags <http://www.terracycle.net/products/18-Drink-Pouch-Tote> , lunch boxes <http://www.terracycle.net/products/22-Round-Drink-Pouch-Lunchbox> , and clip boards <http://www.terracycle.net/products/78-Circuit-Board-Clipboard-> , just to name a few items!
