TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

Give TerraCycle products as gifts this year and help outsmart waste!

capri-sun bear naked Include USA M&Ms USPS
A few weeks ago I was sent a set of M&M Eco Speakers from TerraCycle to try. I have to say, I am pretty impressed with the quality of sound these tiny little speakers can project. The best part, they are eco-friendly!   The M&M Eco Speakers are portable, lightweight speakers that are made with recycled materials. Their 3.5 mm universal plug allows you to play music from your iPod, iPhone, MP3 player, laptop, or computer. I was very excited to try these out on my iPod, iPhone, and iPad.  When you get them, they come flat and you simply fold them to form the speakers.  It is very easy to do!
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Keine Chance für Schubladendenker: Jungunternehmer lernen im Beratungs-Camp der Leuphana von Experten

TerraCycle Include Germany
kg Lüneburg. Sie nennen ihn den "Tetra Pack Man". Der Held des 21. Jahrhunderts, eine Mischung aus Al Gore und Supermann. Für das junge Recycling-Label "Usedful" erobert er die Welt. So zumindest lautet die Marketing-Strategie zum Maskottchen des jungen Lüneburger Unternehmen. Seit rund neun Monaten sammelt die vierköpfige Crew Getränkekartons und anderen Müll ein, bastelt daraus Geldbörsen, die sie verkauft. Wie soll es nun weitergehen? Wieviel Zeit und Geld wollen die Jung-Unternehmer, allesamt Studenten im dritten Semester, in ihr Projekt investieren? Über diese und ähnliche Fragen diskutierten sie am Wochenende im SCHub-Camp der Universität mit Experten und anderen Gründern. Der dreitägige Workshop ist der Preis für die Sieger des Wettbewerbs "Schubladendenker - Der Award für Andersdenker", einer Initiative des Social Change Hub (SCHub) der Leuphana. [...] Für die vier Teilnehmer von Usedful lauten die aktuell größten Baustellen Marketing, Produktentwicklung und Arbeitsstrukturen. Als Gesprächspartner wünschten sie sich Wolfram Schnelle, General Manager für die deutsch-sprachigen Länder bei "TerraCycle". Das 2001 in den USA gegründete Unternehmen sammelt Abfälle, die bislang nicht recycelt werden, und macht diese wiederverwertbar, indem sie die Produzenten der Waren als Sponsoren für das Recycling gewinnen. Schnelle stellte einen Nachmittag lang das Konzept von Usedful mit seinen Gründern auf den Kopf. "Mit Tetra Pack-Mäppchen werdet ihr keine Karriere machen, die Produktion ausbauen ist ebenfalls schwierig. Ihr könnt nicht Experte für alle möglichen Sorten von Produkten werden", beriet er das Team ehrlich. "Da gibt es Leute, die können das viel besser als Ihr und im wesentlich größeren Stil." Stattdessen könnten die Studenten ihre Internetseite zu einer Plattform von recyclebaren Produkten umbauen, über die auch andere Hersteller ihre Waren verkaufen können, empfahl der Manager. Das wäre etwas Neues, das die Studenten mit überschaubarem Aufwand neben dem Studium realisieren könnten. Wie dieser Verkauf am besten organisiert wird, wie es mit Tetra Pack Man weitergeht und wie das nachhaltige Label seine Glaubwürdigkeit bewahren kann, waren weitere Fragen, die besprochen wurden. "Wolfram Schnelle hat sich viel Zeit für uns genommen und sich intensiv mit unserem Label auseinander gesetzt", bilanzierte Theo Haustein begeistert, der gemeinsam mit Studienkollege Max Irmer Usedful leitet. "Die Idee mit der Internet-Plattform kam uns vor einigen Tagen schon selbst. Nun fühlen wir uns darin bestätigt und werden ernsthaft darüber nachdenken." Doch erstmal geht's weiter im Programm. Der nächste Coach, extra aus Großbritannien angereist, wartet schon, um mit der Gruppe das Produktdesign ihrer Geldbörsen zu besprechen.
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Review: Terracycle Binder and Pencil Case

capri-sun kraft foods Walmart home depot Include USA drink pouch brigade
I have been in love with Terracycle items for a LONG time now. They have been “in the works” since 2001, but major sales began in 2004, with items being sold at The Home Depot and WalMart in Canada. They made their way to the US in 2005 with fertilizer and plant food. They grew quickly, and in 2007 they started making the items that I have fallen in love with, recycled waste everyday use items, such as backpacks, binders, pencil cases and folders. In January of 2008, TerraCycle met with Kraft Foods and by February, Capri Sun signed on as the leading sponsor in the Drink Pouch Brigade, and this is where the items that I received for review come in.
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Eco-friendly Halloween Tips

TerraCycle Solo Cup Include USA Candy Wrapper Brigade (Mars)
Halloween is the second largest consumer driven holiday of the year, yet the scariest component of the holiday is the bite it takes out of the environment. Currently, the candy market consumes nearly as many resources as the meat industry, due to the use of milk in chocolates. In addition to the carbon footprint left behind by mass candy production and companies pumping out costumes and plastic pumpkins, Halloween has a significantly adverse effect on trash streams and landfills. Greening Halloween on a national scale has been slow in comparison to efforts to improve other holidays, such as Christmas. To take part in these efforts on a large scale, check out GreenHalloween.org. The site offers volunteer opportunities and action kits to help your neighborhood go green for Halloween. For those who cannot resist the tradition of trick or treating be sure to log on to Terracycle and join their Candy Wrapper Brigade. TerraCycle accepts individual wrappers, large bags and multi-pack bags. Earn points for Earth friendly products and donate to charity all at the same time.
Cocoa, Florida
28.351669311523 ; -80.726181030273
Even though Hallow’s Eve quickly approaches, it isn’t too late to take an active part in reducing your scary footprints during this year’s festivities. Encouraging green practices and spreading the word in your neighborhood could be the best treat of the season. Tips for an EEK-o-friendly Halloween: • Create your own unique costume. Child or adult, costumes are expensive and disposable. By using materials from home or other reusable items, your costume is sure to be one of a kind and eco-friendly. If you are at a loss for ideas, check out do- it-yourself blogs for simple costumes or get really into the spirit with video-tutorials on special effects make-up. Just be sure to research alternatives to toxic make-up and adhesives before getting started. • Donate store bought costumes to thrift stores, costume shops, play houses, or drama clubs. Many times, these organizations thrive on donations. • Use green shopping bags or create your own treat bags out of old pillowcases instead of buying any. • Save and reuse your candy wrappers for art projects or crafts. Earth911.com has a small list of ten projects to put those wrappers to use instead of sending them to the landfill. • Decorate using natural elements that can be saved for reuse, returned to nature, or composted after the holidays. Use gourds, squash, pumpkins, fall leaves or garden/wild flowers. Plant bright orange mums in your garden or make your own wreath from branches lying around in the yard. Disposable decorations account for a large amount of Holiday waste. If you have commercial décor, be sure to store it for reuse, or donate it to a local play house, thrift store, or other charity. • Compost jack-o-lanterns and un-carved pumpkins or gourds along with leaves or flowers used in decorating. • Remember to keep seeds for roasting or throw them out for wildlife in your backyard. Unfortunately, most pumpkins sold for carving lack the taste and texture suitable for eating, so for an extra green advantage, try to buy organic food pumpkins and paint them instead of carving, then they can be eaten. • To encourage others to join the green initiative, staple small eco tips to the treats that you hand out. Inform others in your area about the environmental cost of Halloween or offer them simple green tips for daily living. Use ideas from GreenHalloween.com action kits or check out Reverse Trick or Treat hosted by the Global Exchange. • If hosting a party, try to use non-disposable tableware. If disposable is the only option, sign up for TerraCycle’s Solo Cup Brigade so that they can be recycled. Most plastic disposables will be accepted through local curbside recycling programs. More than ever, national holidays are contributing to environmental and social detriment through unfair trade practices, overconsumption and increased waste. It is imperative that daily eco-conscious living is carried over into holiday practices. Don’t buy into the ever-growing commercialism of the season. Instead, challenge yourself to be as green as possible and focus on deep rooted traditions. Simply researching the basis of traditions can provide an outlook that is sure to be more Earth friendly than the modern day equivalent.
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Four ways smart companies make greener products

TerraCycle Include USA

With consumers complaining about excessive waste in the packaging of products they buy, companies are being forced to pay attention to the issue. The paths they might take are illuminated by Deloitte in a downloadable paper on its website. The paper highlights environmental and economic benefits that can flow from radical, substantive changes to the packaging chain. The paper lists four opportunities to make changes, and steps to follow:

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1. ‘Passive’ materials switch

Using non-toxic, bio-based, or recycled materials rather than materials drawn from non-renewable resources can help, even if the product and package otherwise do not change. This approach is called passive because consumer behaviour does not need to change to secure the gains.

The consultants cite Vermont-based Seventh Generation’s plastic bottles, which now contain at least 80 per cent post-consumer recycled content, more than three times the industry average of 25 per cent.

2. ‘Active’ materials switch

In this approach, materials are altered to use recyclable, compostable, or reusable materials. Then consumers must change their behaviour in order to maximize the environmental benefits. “Market research can help companies determine whether consumer adoption rates will be high enough to justify a switch, and help guide marketing campaigns designed to encourage the desired behaviour,” the paper notes.

3. Design changes

The environmental footprint of a product can be significantly reduced if changes are made to its design, or to its packaging. That is what happened with B.C.-based Method’s creation of an “eight times” concentrated laundry detergent. That move reportedly reduced overall packaging volumes by 36 per cent, compared with its two-times concentrated product, and reduced the average carbon footprint by 35 per cent.

The Deloitte consultants advise that modifications affecting the size, weight or shape of the product should be co-ordinated with distributors and merchandisers, because it will affect how the product is shipped, stored and displayed.

4. Supply chain redesign

Redesigning the product supply chain can be powerful, as companies have found when they take packaging waste from other products and use it as inputs for manufacturing something else. The consultants note that Massachusetts-based Preserve and New Jersey-based TerraCycle are creating consumer goods such as toothbrushes, pencil cases and tote bags out of discarded yogurt cartons and drink pouches. Some companies are nearly eliminating packaging altogether through better integrated supply chains.

“The goal is to deliver the product – or better yet, its function – directly to customers. An analogy is the digitization of media – why produce CDs when you can … disseminate the data to your customer’s computer or smartphone?” the paper points out. How to implement changes The consultants stress that achieving these results require more than engineering prowess. It also involves a savvy approach that draws on many aspects of your firm’s expertise. Start with an assessment of the environmental impact of the current packaging to understand which elements contribute most to the footprint, and what tradeoffs you face in various types of environmental impact, such as water, energy, or waste. Determine which packaging attributes are most important to customers. Collaborate with suppliers as you design changes, to develop the most effective approaches. And market your efforts credibly. “Communications around sustainable packaging efforts (including marketing/labelling of the product itself) should be truthful, objective, and supported by measurable facts,” the consultants advise. “In other words, avoid green-washing.”
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Solmonese playground equipment being replaced

TerraCycle Include USA Drink Pouch Brigade (Capri Sun
Norton —
Through fundraising the Solmonese Parent Organization (SPO), of the J.C. Solmonese Elementary School, has been able to fill budget gaps and provide the school with necessary support over the years. Annually the group raises approximately $15,000 it puts towards different projects at the school, according to SPO co-chairman Jill Bercovitch-Blake. “We are unique in that we are all about the JCS and work to build a community and a sense of family in the school,” Bercovitch-Blake told the school committee on Monday, Oct. 15. Over the last three years the SPO has raised enough money to replace the outdated 27-year-old wooden playground structure that students have used for generations. “Hopefully it will be climbed on for the last time this year,” Bercovitch-Blake said. She told the board the structure will be replaced by the end of the school year and need volunteers to help break down the old and install the new equipment. “We need the help of the community to take it down and to build it,” Bercovitch-Blake said, adding how impressed she is in regards to the volunteers that have already stepped forward and offered a hand. “They are amazing,” she said. The SPO hosts two major fundraisers annually, a cookie-dough sale in the spring and the Muffin Meadow Contest, held at the JCS Fall Festival this past weekend. Other ways the group raises funds is through recycling juice pouches in conjunction with www.terracycle.net. They receive two to three cents for each pouch. Another way they bring in money is through the Box Top program (www.boxtops4education), earning 10 cents for each Box Top. Combined, the two programs bring in anywhere between $3,000-$4,000 each year, Bercovitch-Blake said. “Ten cents at time, it adds up,” she said. Activities the SPO supports include; bus fees for field trips, teaching supplies, and graduation night for graduating seniors at Norton High School. Bercovitch-Blake said the group works to create a positive learning environment for all students within the district. “In a community you help each other out,” Bercovitch-Blake said. For more information on the SPO email SPO.JCS@gmail.com.
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Exchanging Waste for Awesome Gifts with TerraCycle #NGgiftguide

capri-sun bear naked Include USA M&Ms USPS
What if you could reduce waste and get some awesome gifts at the same time? No seriously. What if you could give someone garbage and they create the coolest gifts for those special people in your life? I’m for real!
TerraCycle upcycles and recycles traditionally non-recycable waste (including drink pouches, chip bags, tooth brushes and many more) into a large variety of consumer products. These products keep waste out of our landfills and contribute to a cleaner world.
I was provided some of the coolest items ever to review (and to add to my gift giving list!) I received the Upcycled Mail Sack Tote that as soon as I opened the box, hubby and I were fighting over it!
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