Ever want to know what to do with an old mattress? How about used cooking oil? The Green Team at Albany United Methodist Church has a new pamphlet telling recyclers that and much more. The group, which started in 2010, released “Places to take Unusual Recyclables — the Albany-Corvallis Directory” in April. It also revised its first publication, “Albany Area ReUse Directory,” which was released in the spring of 2011. After the first pamphlet’s release, the group received inquiries about where to take unusual recyclables not listed in the guide. Members did the research and answered the questions as they came up, and after a while decided to put together the new pamphlet. “United Methodists feel they have social responsibilities in many areas including natural resources,” said Ann Bateman, one of the group members and a Master Recycler. “So this team’s commitment is very much in keeping with who the United Methodist Church is.” Soon the Green Team will add Philomath to its unusual recyclables directory and hopes to eventually have it be a directory for both Linn and Benton counties. The group has also made changes at the church building. There is now a bin to recycle bulletins and the preschool recycles paper as much as possible. “Paper can be used on both sides,” said Karla Long, another member of the Green Team. “We have also had classes to teach children and adults how to recycle.” The group has asked the church’s board of trustees to make a policy not allowing any styrofoam food containers in the building. “There is no place to recycle that stuff in the state of Oregon,” said member Melinda Sorte. All groups meeting at the church are asked to use mugs or paper products for food. “Everyone has been very agreeable to this,” Sorte said. “The bridge group that meets here even has their own place in our kitchen for their cups.” Reverend Rinya Frisbie has been at the church for about a year and wasn’t surprised to learn about the Green Team. At the last church she was at in Idaho, a man collected recyclables in the back of his truck every week to take to the recycling center. “It’s not unusual to have churches do environmentally friendly things,” she said. “It’s exciting to see people live out their faith in this kind of way.” Earlier this month, the group joined with TerraCycle to become an official collection site for shoes and flip-flops. The old shoes will be recycled and turned into new products. They will hold collection days for a back-to-school event from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Aug. 22 and Aug. 29, in the church parking lot, 1115 28th Ave. S.W. “It will be drive-through and very easy,” Sorte said. “Let’s keep all those old shoes and flip-flops out of the landfill and have them turned into new products.” The new and updated pamphlets are available in print at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and the Albany Public Library. They are available online at www.albanymethodist.org, www.corvallisfumc.org and at the Allied Waste website at www.sanitation.com.

The Bedford County school’s program, done in conjunction with TerraCycle, promotes recycling items not typically thought of as recyclables: drink pouches, chip bags, used writing instruments and Elmer’s glue containers. Recycling can be gross. Imagine encountering tobacco juice spat into an empty soda can. Nasty. Fifth-graders Chris Akers, 11, and Jason Williams, 10, scrunch their noses at the recollection. Imagine the aroma of a gallon jug bearing a crusty milk residue that's traveled well past sour. Phew. Fifth-graders Hannah Nichols, 10, and Hannah Wood, 11, said students have learned to leave all the milk jugs capped. And it turns out that mostly empty yogurt cups and drink pouches draw pesky swarms of fruit flies. Bring 'em on. None of it matters much to the recycling brigades at Huddleston Elementary School in Bedford County who don disposable vinyl gloves and brave these conditions to participate in the school's comprehensive and moneymaking recycling program. Working with a New Jersey-based company called TerraCycle, the students recycle many items not typically collected. Such as potato chip bags, glue sticks, baggies, cookie packages, drink pouches, candy wrappers, even writing utensils. And more. The K-5 school began its collaboration with TerraCycle in October 2010. Since then, students at Huddleston Elementary — all 214 are invited to participate in one way or another — have kept an estimated 65,000 items out of landfills and earned nearly $1,300 for the school's PTA account. "Anybody can help," said Amy Mallow, a teacher of fourth and fifth grade history and reading who coordinates the school's TerraCycle program. "Usually, I'm flooded with kids who want to help. They are quick to volunteer." For one thing, volunteering can get them out of class for a little while. But more altruistic motives play a role too. "It helps out the community," Nichols said. "It helps the Earth and keeps it from being polluted." TerraCycle transforms the collected packaging into new products such as tote bags, recycling bins, watering cans and backpacks. Lauren Taylor, a spokeswoman for the company, said Huddleston Elementary is one of the top collectors in the company's nationwide programs. That money has helped buy school supplies, contributed toward a fundraising Valentine's Ball, funded a family fitness night and allowed a theater group to visit the school to perform a program about Martin Luther King Jr. "Our recycling efforts at Huddleston Elementary School have exceeded our expectations," said Principal Aprille Monroe. "Our students actively help save space in landfills, energy consumption and natural resources," Monroe said. "Teachers have the added benefit of offering hands-on lessons so students understand why we recycle. Recycling has become a way of life at Huddleston and students are taking the message home to their families." Parent volunteers help collect items to bring to school and the students sort materials consumed at school. The custodians participate, too, by keeping an eye on kids headed toward garbage cans with a potentially recyclable item. "The janitors will catch you if you try to sneak it into the trash," Wood said, smiling. For more information about TerraCycle, go to www.terracycle.net.

The Student Environmental Association (SEA) at Pinecrest High School is launching a new countywide recycling program to dispose of chip bags and Capri Sun pouches. The program is an extension of the SEA's earlier recycling initiatives, which sought to collect recyclable goods other than the obvious paper and plastic products. "We were always recycling paper and plastic," says SEA president Aayushi Patel, "but we wanted to know what else we could do. We found out about this really cool company called Terracycle that turns plastic chip bags into purses, bags and asphalt, and we thought, 'Well, everyone eats chips.'" The SEA had a competition to see which classroom could collect the most chip bags. "In April and May alone, we collected more than 1,000 chip bags," says Patel. "We were hoping to implement this in the community, and see if more people could help out with the recycling and the good cause." Terracycle is a New Jersey-based private company that manufactures consumer products from recycled material. Established in 2001 by college freshmen, it has become one of the fastest growing green businesses in the country. The company receives recyclables from nearly 30 million people in more than 20 countries and manufactures more than 1,500 products, which are available in such major retailers as Walmart and Whole Foods. Partnering with Terracycle is only the latest of the SEA's endeavors to promote environmental sustainability. Other initiatives include raising money to preserve the rainforest, auditing teachers at Pinecrest to make sure they weren't wasting energy, and the "Do One Thing" initiative, in which students were made to pledge one lifestyle change that would promote sustainability. What sets this recycling program apart, however, is that it will be open to the entire community rather than merely the school. "It'd be great if the community could help out for a good cause like this," says Patel. "Recycling is important because all the stuff we throw away right now is going to landfills. There's only so much land that you can throw trash in. Every month you have so much trash; just think about it building up over time. When we don't have enough land to throw away trash, what happens? Recycling is a good way to change that, to change trash into something useful." For more information on how to get involved with the SEA's recycling program, email Aayushi Patel at aayushipatel45 @gmail.com, or contact the SEA at pinecrestsea@gmail.com.

Conforme o diretor Tom Szaky da multinacional Terracycle os lixos não recicláveis são 5 vezes superiores aos recicláveis. E completa 99% de tudo que compramos estará no lixo em 1 ano. O Brasil gera mais de 240 mil toneladas de lixo diariamente. Apenas 2% desta quantidade é reciclada. Somente 39% das nossas cidades oferecem destino adequado ao lixo. Isto inclui o aterro sanitário.

After launching the Method Refill Brigade® in 2011, Method, a leading innovator in premium, environmentally-conscious household and personal care products, and upcycling/recycling pioneer TerraCycle, Inc. have now expanded the program to accept pumps, triggers, refill pouches and almost any cleaner product packaging, regardless of brand. Schools, offices, families or individuals can collect traditionally non-recyclable cleaner packaging and send it to TerraCycle to earn money for charity gifts and donations through the newly dubbed Cleaner Packaging Brigade. The collected packaging will be turned into trash cans, coolers and other home goods.

À l’école élémentaire des Piedalloues-La Noue, les élèves de CM1, encadrés par Nathalie de Secundo, collectent les stylos usagés pour protéger la planète.

À l’école élémentaire des Piedalloues-La Noue, les élèves de CM1, encadrés par Nathalie de Secundo, collectent les stylos usagés pour protéger la planète

Reduce your carbon footprint while directly benefitting the zoo! The Elmwood Park Zoo Docent Council runs a program to recycle/upcycle items that typically can't go in your regular recycling collection. We've partnered with TERRACYCLE to save these items from the landfill and turn them into fabulous recycled products. The zoo earns money from the items we collect, so bring us anything and everything you can from the following list of items: Stackable yogurt containers (any brand) Empty toothpaste tubes Toothbrushes (any brand, no boxes) Chip, pretzel, or tortilla chip bags (any brand) Candy wrappers and bags (even mini) Energy bar wrappers Juice pouches Cookie wrappers, bags and plastic inserts (no boxes) Personal care packaging (shampoo, shaving, hairspray, conditioner, soap, gels, lotions) Tortilla wrap packaging Brand cheese packaging All Kashi packaging Ink carts Cell phones and electronics Keyboards and computer mice Empty tape dispensers and/or round plastic centers All brands plastic wrapping from around paper products (paper towels, toilet tissue) We'll be collecting your items at our Admissions counter. Thank you for your commitment to conservation and your contribution to the zoo!

Las Brigadas nacionales de recolección y reutilización de sobres de bebidas en polvo que Tang y TerraCycle lanzaron en marzo de 2011 llegaron a recolectar 1 millón de packs para convertir en nuevos productos ecológicos. Además, donaron más de $ 100.000 a distintas organizaciones del país. En solo tres meses, se recolectaron 500.000 sobres de jugo, que sumados a lo recaudado durante el primer año, acumulan 1.000.000 de packs que ya no serán basura y se utilizarán para fabricar nuevos productos amigables con el medio ambiente. Por cada sobrecito recolectado, Tang y TerraCycle donan 10 centavos a la organización social o escuela pública que el equipo participante elija y, gracias a la recaudación, en 15 meses, se donaron más de $ 100.000 a distintas instituciones del país. Con este panorama, las Brigadas de recolección seguirán vigentes durante 2012 y en poco tiempo se podrá participar del nuevo concurso para anticipar la llegada de los 2 millones de sobres.