Ozark Trail coolers, a line at Walmart stores, have a hard plastic line made entirely from snack packaging that has been recycled by a company called TerraCycle. The coolers range in size from 6-can to 42-can (on wheels) and range in price from $5.88 to $29.88. Anyone can send in their used wrappers to the company for free and for every piece of packaging that TerraCycle receives, participants are awarded with two points, which can be put toward buying a specific charity gift, or converted to money and donated to a charity of the participant's choice For more information, look at http://www.terracycle.net.

Boughton said a major contributor to the Co-op’s recent growth is their recent partnership with New Jersey based recycler, TerraCycle. TerraCycle’s purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste. With more than 14 million people collecting waste in 11 countries, the company has diverted billions of pieces of waste that are either upcycled or recycled into at least 1,500 products available at major retailers.

Das Recyclingprogramm von TerraCycle schenkt Schreibgeräten ein neues Leben und belohnt Sammler erst noch mit Wohltätigkeitspunkten.

Ein US-amerikanischer Jungunternehmer hat das Recycling entdeckt. Nun versucht er es in Deutschland

Thorsten Schröder

WASHINGTON. Meterhoch stapelt sich der Müll in der riesigen Halle im kleinen Ort Trenton, New Jersey, eine gute Zugstunde außerhalb von New York. Zwischen zusammen gepressten Getränketüten, Kaffeebechern und Chipstüten gibt es nur schmale Gänge. Aus dem ganzen Land kommen die Lieferungen in der 24000 Quadratmeter großen Halle an. Jeden Tag, die ganze Woche über. Amerika ist das Reich des Mülls, und Tom Szaky ist sein König. Wenn man ihn nach der Geschäftsidee fragt, gibt sich der 28-Jährige bescheiden. "Einerseits sammeln wir Müll, andererseits machen wir daraus neue Produkte."

While I was reading Daniel Goleman’s book Ecological Intelligence, I was struck by the phrase cradle to cradle. I had heard cradle to grave before, meaning that most of the items we purchase end up in landfills, or essentially the “grave” to sit for endless amounts of time never really going away. The notion cradle to cradle means that everything we buy should in some way biodegrade and go back to nature or be recycled into a new product (Goleman, 2009). My guess is that many of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this concept or where our products go after we get rid of them. I was so struck by this notion that products could actually go from cradle to cradle that I started looking into this a little more. A few years ago the PTA at my school decided to start collecting Frito Lay bags for an organization called Terracycle (terracycle.net). Perfect timing. I hadn’t heard of Terracycle at this point, but was looking for a way to get away from the cradle to grave habit. When I looked at the website, I realized Terracycle has a handle on this cradle to cradle concept! They take common household garbage (Frito Lay bags, Mars candy wrappers, etc.) and make new products from it. Backpacks, purses, you name it! I was eager to get started with this school-wide project, so I introduced it to my 5th grade class and for an entire school year we collected Frito Lay bags. This snack seemed to be a class favorite, producing about 5-10 bags per day for snack time! While we never calculated the total amount of bags we collected, I’d have to easily guess it was over 800 bags. Imagine that from just one classroom! I don’t think too many of my colleagues shared my enthusiasm for this project, but I was still happy to do my share. If my calculations are correct, there are about 2 million classrooms in the USA! Wow, could there really be about a billion Frito Lay bags floating around schools in the US?

I recently read an article that claimed our steps to going green, as a country and as a world, have not been as scalable as we imagine. A consumer can’t see the carbon footprint they leave, and this makes it challenging for them to realize how much of a difference they are actually making in cutting back and cleaning our atmosphere. Since the affects of a consumer’s efforts are essentially invisible, it is a challenge to both engage consumers and keep them in engaged in the green movement to be more. People are less likely to be adamant for a cause, or willing to make as big a sacrifice for that they can’t see, touch, and feel the effects of directly. Tangibility makes a difference. It follows logically that to engage consumers, the green movement needs make both the threats and rewards more tangible. Many companies, including TerraCycle partners Capri Sun, Bear Naked, and Clif Bar, rely on consumers to make environmentally friendly choices after they use a product. Instead of simply encouraging consumers to recycle – throw the packaging in a bin and then forget about it forever – they’ve started encouraging upcycling, with which consumers can see their reuse and recycling efforts firsthand.

En las tres sedes del Jardín, formando parte de un proyecto de TerraCycle, pueden acercarse sobres vacíos de jugos en polvo. Así, además de colaborar con el medio ambiente ya que dicho material se recicla, la institución recibirá diez centavos por cada sobre entregado. “Debemos educar para saber que reciclar ayuda al planeta, pero esto se hace practicando, si todos recicláramos, la salud de la Tierra sería mejor”. (Por: Prensa Jardín) - Todos podemos contribuir a una mejor calidad de Vida cuidando el medio ambiente y colaborando con el Jardín de Infantes San Carlos N°1213. TerraCycle es un emprendimiento en el que participan personas de diferentes países para que sea posible realizar productos ambientalmente amigables y económicos a partir de desechos. En un país en el que la basura representa uno de los principales problemas ambientales, hoy TerraCycle cuenta con Brigadas que se encargan de recolectar sobres usados de bebidas en polvo para que luego se conformen con ellos novedosos y prácticos productos. Además de ayudar al medio ambiente, la iniciativa tiene un importante rol social al destinar lo recolectado escuelas y organizaciones no lucrativas que reciben diez centavos por cada sobre que juntan. Las recolecciones son posibles gracias a la conformación que tienen lugar en cada región. En nuestra ciudad, Santiago Porporato propuso dicha campaña y destinaría lo que la empresa paga al Jardín San Carlos. “Por eso -expresaron- pedimos la colaboración de toda la comunidad para que junten y acerquen al jardín sobres de jugos en polvo y los depositen en lugar destinado para tal fin que se encuentran en los tres barrios donde funciona el Jardín de Infantes San Carlos Nº 1213″.

Mit leeren Stiften können ab jetzt natürliche Ressourcen geschont und soziale Zwecke unterstützt werden. Ein neues Sammel- und Recycling-Programm für leere Schreibgeräte und Korrekturmittel ermöglicht es Bildungseinrichtungen, Organisationen, Vereinen und Unternehmen ihre leere Stifte zu sammeln und kostenfrei einzusenden, anstatt sie wie üblich in den Restmüll zu werfen. So werden sie zum Rohstoff für neue Produkte und verhindern den Abbau von natürlichen Rohstoffen. Zudem werden den Teilnehmern pro Stift €0,02 gutgeschrieben, die sie an eine gemeinnützige Organisation ihrer Wahl spenden können.