The National Geographic’s “Green Guide” ranked The Willow School as the nation’s second greenest school for its sustainable design initiatives and the Travel Channel’s Show, “Extreme Green” recognized The Willow School as “the most eco-friendly school in the continental United States.” The Willow School is one of the first schools in the nation to adopt sustainability as an integrated concept on its campus and in its curriculum.

Have you seen the store aisle for back to school?  There is so much there and hundreds of little and big sized crayons, papers, notebooks, backpacks, totes, etc... How do you decide what to buy? Do you take the kids and let them pick? Do you tackle the supply shopping solo for sanity? I take my youngest, but my teen can care less about shopping with me for supplies. We just do the clothing. I will find things on my own I know he will need. When in doubt, why not buy a product that has up-cycled the hard-to-recycle waste. Eco-friendly bags, lunch sacks and pencil cases from TerraCycle are fun and sport popular brands your child and teen love.

Last school year, Madison Simis Elementary Green Team students earned money and prizes for their school by collecting and recycling the drink pouches they use at home and in the lunchroom. Madison Simis Elementary students reached the third level of TerraCycle (www.terracycle.com) and Capri Sun’s Drink Pouch Brigade milestone contest by collecting more than 40,000 drink pouches. For their accomplishment, the school earned 50 TerraCycle wristbands and a vinyl banner announcing their achievement.

3 September 2014 - The NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Team has joined with global recycling and upcycling pioneers TerraCycle® on a programme to recycle used coffee capsules. TerraCycle is the world leader in developing solutions for recycling “un-recyclable” items and has kept more than 2.6 billion pieces of waste from landfills around the world. NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® plastic ‘smart capsules’ will now be given a second life through TerraCycle’s innovative recycling programme called “Brigades® ”. New Zealanders can now send their used NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® coffee, tea and milk capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled into new products and materials. “The commitment of the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® team to providing quality coffee goes hand in hand with our commitment to sustainability. We are pleased to partner with TerraCycle to provide consumers with a free recycling scheme for our single-serve capsules. NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® is the first NESCAFÉ® brand to partner with innovative company TerraCycle in New Zealand” said Nestlé Australia, Head of NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Australia and New Zealand, Tracy Hardwick. “The NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade will salvage single-use capsules otherwise destined for landfill. Brigade participants can send their capsules to TerraCycle to be recycled via New Zealand Post by simply downloading a free shipping label from the TerraCycle website. Participants also have the opportunity to generate two cents per capsule collected to donate to a charity of their choice,” said TerraCycle New Zealand, General Manager, Anna Minns. “NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® capsules don’t have to be discarded after one use at your morning coffee break but can be recycled at no cost to the consumer. TerraCycle’s Brigade programs like the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade also aim to engage the community around sustainability and to re-think where our consumer waste and packaging ends up.” TerraCycle will collect used NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® capsules sent in from the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsules Brigade then recycle them into two streams. As part of the recycling process, organic material such as residual coffee grounds will be separated and sent to an industrial composting facility. The plastic capsules will be melted down and made into new products. TerraCycle New Zealand is also tackling other difficult to recycle waste streams including a new programme to recycle oral care waste such as used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers. For more information about the NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Capsule Brigade visit www.terracycle.co.nz

In exchange, they receive positive PR and “a nice feather in their hat, if you will, as it pertains to corporate social responsibility,” Mr Szaky said.

A floating swimming pool in New York’s Hudson river and a business turning cigarette butts into plastic pellets, hope to change perception of pollution and waste. By definition, a circular economy is a term for an industrial economy that is by design or intention, restorative.

Students and teachers at Sacred Heart School are the top collectors of lunch kits in the Lunch Kit Brigade, a free, national recycling program created by the trademark student lunch and snack company Lunchables Lunch Combinations and New Jersey-based waste recycler TerraCycle.