MINNEAPOLIS, MN--What could your school do with $2,500? Plenty, as Malt-O-Meal® and TerraCycle® found out through their Greenest Classroom contest, which invited schools across the country to submit their best ideas on how to make their classroom the most earth-friendly for a chance to win a $2,500 grant. Inspired by Malt-O-Meal's new Bag The Box™ movement and its partnership with TerraCycle, the contest challenged entrants to submit their ideas and then vote for the classroom with the best earth-friendly concepts. The top 10 vote-getters were then narrowed down to four by a judging panel. The top prize of $2,500 went to River Place Elementary School (RPE) in Austin, TX, and the three first place winners included Don Roberts Elementary School in Little Rock, AR; UUCF-Circle of Life Cooperative Preschool in Frederick, MD; and Ridge and Valley Charter School in Blairstown, NJ who were each awarded $500.

 have been interested in recycling since I took an Environmental Studies class in college. The problem was in our area there were no recycling facilities. I saved whatever I could--aluminum, cardboard, and paper products--but otherwise I had to trash everything else.  Finally, a few months ago, our community started their own recycling program. I immediately informed my hubby we were saving plastic, tin, and glass. My husband was a bit daunted by this and asked where I was going to store these items.

Esta historia empieza en una maceta. En la Universidad de Princeton, Nueva Jersey. Cuando los amigos de Tom Szaky lo invitaron a crear un cultivo de marihuana. El sí que dio de respuesta puso la primera piedra de un proyecto que iba a cambiar su vida.  “Todo empezó cuando quisimos mejorar la calidad de nuestra marihuana”, explica Tom Szaky, hoy director de una exitosa empresa de reciclaje, TerraCycle.

Cork can’t be recycled curb-side, but a company called Terracycle will recycle cork to be made into corkboards. You can request a mailer from the company (for 15 lbs. of cork at a time). Also, most Whole Foods Markets accept corks for recycling.

Tom Szaky, es el dueño de TerraCycle que durante el año pasado, generó ingresos globales por US$15 millones –más del doble de lo obtenido en 2009-, a través de sus sucursales en 12 países, que incluyen México, Brasil y Argentina, en América Latina.

There’s an old Yorkshire expression that says, “Where there’s muck, there’s brass.” Translated into 21st-century American, it means there’s money in garbage. Read how a young Canadian immigrant is making millions from “muck” and saving the environment at the same time.

No Brasil, a PepsiCo também há muito tempo tem dedicado esforços para tratar os resíduos. Em 2009, a empresa assinou acordo com a TerraCycle, empresa especializada na transformação de resíduos em bolsas, estojos e lancheiras. Além disso, a companhia também produziu mais de 20 mil displays reciclados de BOPP em 2010 para os pontos de venda. Para 2011 a meta é conquistar esse mesmo número de displays BOPP. Soma-se a isso a preocupação em conscientizar consumidores a reciclar, bem como informar as cooperativas de catadores de lixo. Para tanto, foram lançadas ainda em 2010 as Brigadas PepsiCo, que têm o objetivo de engajar os consumidores no processo de reciclagem de resíduos.

To enter, comment on this post through 11:59 PM Central on Sunday June 5 and let me know why a baby you know would love to try it. One entry/comment per person, and U.S. entries only, please. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Giveaway — Sprout…”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter. Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment. The fine print Sprout and TerraCycle provided the information and prizing for this giveaway. All thoughts and opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 6/6/11 through random number generation at random.org. The winner will have two days to respond to email notification; Mashup Mom reserves the right to pick a runner up winner in the event I don’t receive a response.

No Brasil, a PepsiCo também há muito tempo tem dedicado esforços para tratar os resíduos. Em 2009, a empresa assinou acordo com a TerraCycle, empresa especializada na transformação de resíduos em bolsas, estojos e lancheiras. Além disso, a companhia também produziu mais de 20 mil displays reciclados de BOPP em 2010 para os pontos de venda. Para 2011 a meta é conquistar esse mesmo número de displays BOPP.

Aproveitando a popularidade irreversível das redes sociais, Tang, da Kraft Foods Brasil, acaba de repaginar seu site seguindo um formato mais interativo e social. Como o público-alvo de Tang gosta de reunir os amigos em um único canal, o Esquadrão Verde Tang (www.esquadraoverdetang.com.br) passa a ter sua própria rede social, cuja plataforma é o engajamento em torno de uma única causa: cuidar do planeta.