Direkt aus den Sommerferien rein in den anstrengenden Schulalltag: Vom 24. September bis zum 30. November 2012 tanken Schüler bei der Aktion „Der erfrischende Schulstart 2012“ frische Energie für das neue Schuljahr. Wer in diesem Zeitraum die meisten leeren Trinkpacks an das Upcycling- und Recycling-Unternehmen TerraCycle schickt, gewinnt 100 €, die er an eine gemeinnützige Organisation seiner Wahl spenden kann. Unter allen, die mehr als 200 Trinkpacks sammeln, werden außerdem monatlich 150 Trinkpacks der neuen „Capri-Sonne Bio-Schorly Gelbe Früchte“ verlost.

Kugelschreiber, Druckbleistifte, Marker oder Filzstifte – in der Schule werden sie ständig benutzt. Einmal aufgebraucht füllen sie die Mülleimer der Klassenzimmer. Warum also nicht aufbewahren und Geld damit verdienen? Schulen, die vom 24. September bis zum 30. November 2012 leere Stifte sammeln statt sie wegzuwerfen, können bis zu 600 € gewinnen. Bei den „BIC Schulmeisterschaften 2012“ treten Schulen aus ganz Deutschland gegeneinander an.

A l'école nous collectons les vieux crayons, stylos et feutres pour les recycler et gagner des points... Par le biais d'Elise et Kevin, nous pourrions envoyer du matériel neuf ou faire un don pour les écoles qui n'ont pas beaucoup de moyens !

Hva er Tassimobrigaden? Det er en innsamlingsordning for kaffekapsler. De nye kapselmaskinene for kaffe skaper utvilsomt mye mer søppel. Dette har Bosch og Tassimo gjort noe med. Tassimo er foreløpig eneste norske søppel som er med i internasjonale TerraCycle. TerraCycle resirkulerer søppel over hele verden. Tassimobrigaden samler inn brukte kapsler og folieemballasje og gir 10 poeng (10 øre) pr enhet man sender i retur. Disse poengene veksles inn i en pengedonasjon til en veldedig organisasjon. Det er gratis å melde seg inn, og man bestiller veldig enkelt en forhåndsbetalt fraktseddel til kapslene man har samlet. Det eneste kravet er at man må samle minst 100 kapsler/folieemballasje før de sendes inn.

I think most people are at least aware of the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling as much as possible, even if they don’t do it.  I think the problem for a lot of people is that sometimes they don’t know how to go about it. For example, we do not have recycle pick up at our new home, so we have to head into town to (like 3 minutes) to recycle our glass, plastics, and paper. I recently was introduced to a company that takes the phrase, “someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure” to a whole new level. TerraCycle is a company whose purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste. By creating national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste. Anyone can sign up for these programs, called the Brigades, and start sending TerraCycle waste. TerraCycle then converts the collected waste into a wide variety of products and materials. With more than 20 million people collecting waste in over 20 countries TerraCycle has diverted billions of units of waste and used them to create over 1,500 different products available at major retailers ranging from Walmart to Whole Foods Market. Their goal is to eliminate the idea of waste by creating collection and solution systems for anything that today must be sent to a landfill.

Porter's is pleased to continue its partnership with TerraCycle, a company that collects and upcycles trash into new products. As a TerraCycle partner school, Porter's collects specified trash items, such as energy bar wrappers, chip bags, and juice pouches, to donate to TerraCycle, who upcycles the trash into useable items. Porter's participation in the program is spearheaded by the school's Earth Club, led by co-heads Kelsey Perkins '12 and Abbie Gantner '13 along with faculty advisors Ellie Lindenmayer and Jon Thomas. Founded in 2001, TerraCycle is one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world. TerraCycle creates national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste, with the goal of eliminating the idea of waste by creating collection and solution systems for anything that currently is sent to a landfill. For more information on Porter's environmental initiatives, please visit www.porters.org/green.

LOWELL -- The YWCA Green Team started without a name. As a small group of committed youth and staff volunteers, they piloted recycling efforts at the 2000 Lowell Folk Festival. Today, 12 years later, the group is about to surmount the half-million mark in recycled beverage containers -- plastic soda, water, sports drink and juice bottles, as well as metal soda cans and plastic No. 6 PS drinking cups. Working closely with Lowell's Solid Waste and Recycling Office, the Green Team formalized its name in 2008. Now, in addition to the Lowell Folk Festival, the Green Team assists with recycling at a variety of events, including the Textile River Regatta, National Night Out and the Bay State Marathon. The Green Team has also forged relationships with approximately 20 local nonprofit, municipal and private organizations. The partnerships establish recycling drop-off stations and provides on-call pick up of their recyclables -- like toner cartridges, cellphones, button-cell batteries and bottles and cans. Some of the valuable partners include Merrimack River Valley House, the American Textile History Museum, Community Team Work Inc., various Lowell municipal offices, The Boys and Girls Club, Miracle Ear and the Lowell Teen Coalition. Most recently, the Green Team has started collecting and recycling yogurt/dairy tubs. One of the most prized partnerships has been forged with Coca-Cola of New England in Lowell. The local Coke facility has generously accepted all collected noncarbonated No. 1 PET plastic (nonnickel) bottles -- including those of a competitor bottling company -- that the Green Team has collected at the Lowell Spinners baseball home games, nearly 10,000 bottles and cans from this season alone.

While writing a previous article on green dental care, I found out about a great company called TerraCycle, which offers a program to accept “non-recyclable or hard to recycle waste,” such as toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes. After looking at the website , I decided TerraCycle deserved an article of its own! Started by a young Princeton student, TerraCycle began as a small business that sold worm casting fertilizer in used soda bottles. TerraCycle started expanding its business by producing various products out of post-consumer waste, such as pencil cases out of used CapriSun drink pouches. This process, called upcycling, involves producing new, useful products out of waste materials and useless products that otherwise would go to the landfill. So, upcycling helps reduce landfill waste and reduces resource use. TerraCycle quickly grew into a global project with over 20 countries now participating in their upcycling efforts.

Kugelschreiber, Druckbleistifte, Marker oder Filzstifte – in der Schule werden sie ständig benutzt. Einmal aufgebraucht füllen sie die Mülleimer der Klassenzimmer. Warum also nicht aufbewahren und Geld damit verdienen? Schulen, die vom 24. September bis zum 30. November 2012 leere Stifte sammeln statt sie wegzuwerfen, können bis zu 600 € gewinnen. Bei den „BIC Schulmeisterschaften 2012“ treten Schulen aus ganz Deutschland gegeneinander an. Die Schule, die während des Wettbewerbs die meisten leeren oder defekten Stifte an das Upcycling- und Recycling-Unternehmen TerraCycle schickt, wird mit einem Preisgeld von 500 € belohnt. Das fleißigste Sammelteam jedes Bundeslandes erhält jeweils 100 € sowie einen Baumsetzling als Anerkennung für sein Umweltengagement.

Direkt aus den Sommerferien rein in den anstrengenden Schulalltag: Vom 24. September bis zum 30. November 2012 tanken Schüler bei der Aktion „Der erfrischende Schulstart 2012“ frische Energie für das neue Schuljahr. Wer in diesem Zeitraum die meisten leeren Trinkpacks an das Upcycling- und Recycling-Unternehmen TerraCycle schickt, gewinnt 100 €, die er an eine gemeinnützige Organisation seiner Wahl spenden kann. Unter allen, die mehr als 200 Trinkpacks sammeln, werden außerdem monatlich 150 Trinkpacks der neuen „Capri-Sonne Bio-Schorly Gelbe Früchte“ verlost.