Any consumer who tries to make responsible purchases knows the challenges. Disposable bags at the grocery store are still free in most states, but reusable bags are not. Most natural beauty products are more expensive. Grass fed, hormone-free beef is more expensive. It’s not surprising that a common perception of “eco-friendly” is “more expensive.” Still, cost is one of the most frequent barriers to moving towards more sustainable habits or programs. Other concerns include difficulty of program implementation, low interest of the consumer, or a lack of understanding. In all of these cases, there are solutions, and the benefits of implementing a program far outweigh the costs, including time and energy.

The College is taking steps to implement TerraCycle, a new waste management program, which will hopefully be introduced to the student body during Spring Term. MiddCORE suggested the program over Winter Term, and the group has since been working out the finer details of the project. Founded in 2001, TerraCycle is a recycling system that converts collected waste into a variety of useful products. The organization currently collects waste from over 28 million people in 20 participating countries. MiddCORE, a Winter Term course that focuses on social entrepreneurship, originally developed the idea to bring TerraCycle to Middlebury in early January “This started as a MiddCORE project where an alum and senior vice president of business development for TerraCycle, Jo Opot, challenged my students to identify waste streams at Middlebury that could be diverted from landfills and upcycled into usable products,” said Associate Professor of Economics Jessica Holmes.

TerraCycle er et nyt genbrugskoncept, der indsamler og genbruger det affald, vi i tonsvis kasserer hver dag. Efter årtier med overflod følger forhåbentlig århundrede med ansvarlighed. Men indtil alverdens forbrugere ændrer adfærd fra "nyt er gud", til genbrug er guld", er det herligt med nye, innovative ideer, der kan skubbe den gode handling på vej.

Bo Bedre interviewer Chris Baker, TerraCycles europæiske manager. Chris fortæller om TerraCycles samarbejde med Kraft Foods’ varemærke Tassimo, hvordan danske forbrugere kan indsende brugte Tassimo-kapsler og foliepakker, som så bliver genbrugt til nye produkter samt hvordan forbrugere kan støtte Rainforest Alliance.

Fødevarevirksomheden Kraft Foods og miljøvirksomheden TerraCycle har startet et unikt samarbejde, der begynder med Tassimo, en ny kapselmaskine til kaffe og andre varme drikke, og indsamling af mærkets brugte kapsler og foliepakker.

Drammensprest Per Erik K. Brodal var en av de første i Norge til å gi brukte kapsler og folieemballasje et nytt liv.

TerraCycle société américaine fondée en 2001 par Tom Szaky et Jon Beyer est pour moi un exemple à suivre.

“If you just leave your bag of garbage by your front door I’ll stop by and grab it on my way to work.” This probably isn’t something most people Facebook message their friends about at 10:00 at night. But, not only is this really a message sent to me from a friend a few nights ago, but I also really did run and, excitedly, pull a bag of garbage I’d been saving for her out of the closet and set it by my front door.