UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State wants to collect 5,000 candy wrappers during the 2012-13 season to benefit the charity Feeding America. Through a TerraCycle program called the Candy Wrapper Brigade, which awards points for each wrapper collected, the Center for the Performing Arts would be able to provide 200 meals through Feeding America, a national charity with the mission to provide nourishment to America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks. “We’ve had lots of requests to do something to help people more locally,” said Peg Lucas, a member of the Center for the Performing Arts Green Team. “Since we have participation from people who live in numerous counties, and it’s more profitable through TerraCycle® to use points than actual monetary value in return for wrappers collected, we decided that the Feeding America program is about as local as we can get. Our goal of 5,000 wrappers is equal to 200 meals versus $250.” Last season the performing arts center collected more than 6,400 wrappers that were redeemed to provide clean drinking water for a year to 43 people in developing countries. Patrons attending events at Eisenhower Auditorium, on the corner of Shortlidge and Eisenhower roads at University Park, may place used candy wrappers in lobby collection boxes. Eligible waste -- from auditorium concession sales or from home or office use -- includes individual candy wrappers, large candy bags and multi-pack candy bags. Candy wrappers and bags may also be dropped off at Eisenhower during regular business hours, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (146 S. Allen St., State College), weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Penn State employees may send candy wrappers and bags via campus mail to Pam Aikey, Eisenhower Auditorium, or Shannon Bishop, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center. Each year millions of candy wrappers are needlessly thrown away, and most end up in landfills. TerraCycle® partners with Mars®, Wrigley® and Cadbury® to create a second life for candy packaging, but all brands of wrappers and candy bags are accepted for the recycling program. Learn more about the program at www.terracycle.net. Find out what else is going on at the Center for the Performing Arts at www.cpa.psu.edu.

Well, a great example is our work with TerraCycle. They have consumers send them non-recyclable packaging and then reward consumers for sending it back rather than putting it in the trash. They have a great, unique business model. TerraCycle had approached us with a novel way of turning used packaging into brand new products like tote bags and folders. We wanted to find solutions to help divert packaging that can’t be recycled from going to landfill, and we knew that working with TerraCycle would raise our brands’ profile and influence our consumers to make better choices. We were the first major company to partner with TerraCycle when they were still very small. Our Capri-Sun beverage brand took a risk. Because TerraCycle gave us a unique solution, that relationship has blossomed. Today, several of our brands are working with TerraCycle and we’re the largest sponsor of TerraCycle brigades, which we’ve helped expand to 11 countries. We now have more than 130,000 locations around the world with around 2.5 million people collecting post-consumer waste. TerraCycle has enabled us to divert more than 170 million household packages and 3,800 tons of manufacturing waste from going to landfills or incineration.

Albe Zakes is the 27 year-old Global VP, Media Relations at TerraCycle, Inc., the world's leading 'upcycling' company, which converts difficult-to-recycle waste materials into eco-friendly, affordable products available at major retailers worldwide. TerraCycle partners with major CPG companies like Kraft Food, Nestle, L'Oreal, Mars and PepsiCo to run community based collection fundraisers that function both as innovative packaging reclamation initiatives and cause-related marketing programs. Read more.. Under Albe's management, TerraCycle's PR department has secured over 10,000 unique media placements since 2007 and secured over $200 million dollars in ad value for TerraCycle's partners and products. He helped secure appearances for his CEO on Oprah, Good Morning America, The Today Show, 20/20, CNN, CNBC and many more.

Coranimaux'Services rejoint TerraCycle dans sa lutte contre les déchets! TerraCycle est une entreprise qui propose des programmes de collecte et de recyclage de produits pour lesquels il n’existe pas d’autres solutions de recyclage en France. Dés aujourd'hui, Coranimaux'Services collecte les TDISCS et emballages aluminium Tassimo. Selon les déchets collectés, la participation de Coranimaux'Services (et la votre ^^) permet également de collecter des fonds pour soutenir les actions de 30 Millions d'Amis (par exemple). Si vous souhaitez participer, et laisser à ma disposition vos déchets Tassimo, vous pouvez me suggérer une association que vous souhaiteriez aider. Si vous possédez une machine Tassimo et souhaitez recycler les dechets, contactez-moi! Pour plus d’informations, rendez-vous sur www.terracycle.fr

With the official first day of Fall just a few days away it’s time to pack up those summer clothes and shoes, especially the flip flops!  Instead of just throwing them away in the trash consider the Old Navy endorsed Flip-Flop Brigade.   Through TerraCycle’s partnership with Old Navy, consumers can do the right thing for the environment and their wallets and recycle their old flip flops for free through the Flip Flop Brigade. For every 25 pairs collected, participants receive a coupon for free flip flops and a packet of coupons for $10 off an Old Navy purchase to share with those that helped in the collection efforts. These might come in handy for Back-to-School shopping! The program is open to anyone, free to join, and all shipping costs are paid. For more info, please visit http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/oldnavy.html.   Be sure to check out all the details here.   What an easy way to earn you a FREE pair of NEW Flip Flops as well as some HOT Old Navy coupons for getting rid of your old flip flops!

Durante este 2012 ¿puedes recordar cuantos mensajes “verdes” has recibido diariamente? Actualmente existe un boom por los productos y servicios “verdes”. Existen centenares de estrategias que seguro alcanzan alguno de tus sentidos cada día. Todo esto es detonado por el #verdeelectrico que comentábamos en la pasada edición. En realidad te sorprenderías si te dijera que estos llamados productos verdes actualmente presentan un decremento de manera generalizada en sus ventas. Esto lo digo, englobando aquellos que no poseen el fundamento necesario para apelar al verdadero sentido ecológico del ciudadano del mundo actual. Cuando más lo analizas, te das cuenta que el calentamiento global y otros grandes fatalismos mediáticos en realidad lo que buscan es solo eso, fatalismo. El consumidor actual busca soluciones fáciles y sobre todo accesibles y compatibles con su vida diaria para sumarse al esfuerzo comunitario por un mejor planeta. Piensa por ejemplo en tu edificio de departamentos o en las oficinas donde trabajas. Actualmente, ¿separan la basura? Están haciendo algo por la educación ambiental de sus inquilinos o colaboradores (Respectivamente). El mercado es el depurador perfecto de productos, servicios y novedades. Gracias al consumo responsable, los sistemas de producción y distribución hoy enfrentan una tarea adicional; demostrar que como ciudadanos del mundo, ellos también contribuyen y aportan a la naturaleza. Lo anterior lo notas en las botellas de agua hechas con plástico reciclado, en los servicios de recolección de empaques vacíos, en los esfuerzos de ahorro en combustible de la industria automotriz o la generación de energía “limpia” por parte de gobierno e iniciativa privada. Arriba hablamos de la primera mitad del pastel (el producto verde). Ahora hablemos de cada uno de nosotros: el consumidor verde. En la industria en la que trabajo (Reciclaje), se utiliza mucho el término huella de carbono. Este término lo utilizan de manera científica y en veces no tanto, para representar a manera estimativa, el equivalente en emisiones de contaminación de alguna actividad, producto, o incluso, persona. Veámoslo como la manera en la que podemos ir midiendo cuánto impactamos de manera individual y directa a nuestro planeta. Vayamos más a fondo. Por ejemplo, un mexicano promedio emite entre 5 y 6 toneladas anuales de CO2. Sin entrar en tecnicismos, veamos esto como el resultado de sumar los 365 días (y 366 en bisiesto) de nuestra rutina diaria. Hagamos juntos el ejercicio de repasar nuestra rutina de cada 24 horas de nuestra vida. Habitualmente, las primeras horas del día te las pasas descansando, pero aun aquí estamos generando CO2 con nuestra respiración, al utilizar aparatos electrónicos como despertadores, refrigeradores y demás. Posteriormente te arreglas y mediante combustión directa o resistencias, generas un poco más de contaminación al utilizar tu boiler. Al transportarte a tus actividades diarias probablemente utilizas un medio de transporte, el cual genera emisión contaminante. En el transcurso del día ingeriste alimentos preparados o comprados, analizando cada uno de estos desde su proceso productivo hasta que llega a tus manos, somos responsables de una parte de la contaminación generada. El párrafo anterior en ningún momento pretende generar aquellos fatalismos de los que hablamos al inicio. Simplemente busco que generemos una conciencia individual de la manera en la que estamos utilizando recursos y de nuestra responsabilidad sobre la propia “huella de carbono” solo como una de las maneras de medir el impacto de dichos recursos. Ya sea por la “huella” o por cualquier otro método desde muy científico hasta muy simple, el consumidor actual esta siendo ahora el juez de su propio mercado. Ahora es cuando entonces hacen sentido las famosas 3 Rs (Reusa, Reduce, Recicla). De esta manera, es que cada uno de nosotros hacemos más verde nuestro día. En esta oportunidad, quiero aprovechar para invitarlos a conocer un poco más acerca de los esfuerzos privados y gubernamentales por generar más consumo verde y menos producto verde. Con mucho gusto les comparto que en cualquiera de sus estados, ya existen excelentes programas que nos ayudan a por ejemplo, darle un mejor destino a los residuos. Busca también iniciativas, eventos, congresos o sitios verdes, donde seguramente encontrarás más voces hablando este mismo idioma, el de la responsabilidad individualmente verde.

Now that Summer has ended….and we are putting up the Summer clothing and shoes and breaking out our Fall and Winter items….it is a great opportunity to get rid of your old, worn-out flip flops. Instead of just tossing those in the trash, check out Flip-Flop Brigade  and you can earn you a FREE pair of NEW Flip Flops (so you’ll be ready for next Summer) as well as some HOT Old Navy coupons….   Through TerraCycle’s partnership with Old Navy, consumers can do the right thing for the environment and their wallets and recycle their old flip flops for free through the Flip Flop Brigade. For every 25 pairs collected, participants receive a coupon for free flip flops and a packet of coupons for $10 off an Old Navy purchase to share with those that helped in the collection efforts. These might come in handy for Back-to-School shopping! The program is open to anyone, free to join, and all shipping costs are paid. For more info, please visit http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/oldnavy.html. Aside from this program, flip flops are not widely recyclable and usually have no end-of-life solution besides the landfill. It is estimated that 1.3 million tons of flip flops are thrown away each year. After a couple of hundred years, when flip flops finally start to break down, they can leach chemicals into the ground and the air. TerraCycle and Old Navy had a month-long flip flop collection program in 2011 and the year-round collection program was instituted by popular request. In addition to the Flip Flop Brigade, TerraCycle collects about 45 different kinds of products and packaging including personal care and beauty waste, household cleaner packaging, Solo cups, chip bags, drink pouches, writing instruments and much more. TerraCycle awards points for each one of these items sent in. These points can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to a favorite charity or school. Since 2007, we’ve kept 2.3 billion pieces of waste from ending up in landfills and paid over $4 million to schools and non-profits. People who are interested in signing up for these or any other TerraCycle programs should visit www.terracycle.com.

L'entreprise de recyclage Terracycle propose aux écoles un programme de récupération des instruments d'écriture usagés habituellement non recyclables. Sponsorisé par l'entreprise BIC, le programme peut permettre de sensibiliser les enfants aux gestes de recyclage.