One local school in Rockford, Illinois does a great job collecting non-recyclable items and sending them to TerraCycle.

TerraCycle continues to expand its reach into all types of packaging waste with its latest collection programs for tortilla and cheese bags. The New Jersey-based upcycling company will take the tortilla packaging and use it to make new tortilla holders and other consumer products. It will also collect packaging from the companies' dips and salsas. TerraCycle already collects waste from various Kraft Foods products like Capri Sun and Lunchables, and will now take packaging from its Kraft Naturals, Velveeta, Philadelphia, Athenos and other cheese products.

Add upcycled style to any gift with this easy do-it-yourself gift bow and gift wrap. You can make them from any kind of food wrapper, but the coffee style will be sure to wake up your inner crafty self. And if you find yourself with more Tassimo coffee wrappers than you can turn into gift bows, collect and send them to TerraCycle – www.terracycle.co.uk – and we’ll not only upcycle them into new products, we’ll donate money to your favorite charity for each wrapper collected. Now that’s a great gift!

Innovative New Jersey-based company Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net>  has made a name for itself by collecting and recycling literally tons of trash into an ever-growing array of fun, unique consumer products, from plant food for gardeners to clocks, coasters, bags, office products and much more. These colorful speakers are made from discarded chip bags, and they don't require any additional power source (they are designed to plug directly into an MP3 player or other audio source).

P.E. teacher Trish Peterson says Nashold joined a TerraCycle Brigade last year. TerraCycle pays the school two cents for each drink pouch, they make them into new products like lunch boxes. Fifth grade teacher Shelly Cascio says the kids have really picked up on it. "They stop at home and say mom, dad, wait, we need to recycle this instead of throwing it away because we don't want to put it in our landfills." Lucas Buczynksi washes the pouches every couple of weeks. Other kids help dry and pack them in groups of 25. Once they have 500 packed, the box gets mailed to TerraCycle.

Kraft Foods has added cheese packaging to its TerraCycle collection programs. Called the Cheese Brigade, TerraCycle and Kraft Foods will pay postage and two cents per unit of packaging to a charity of the collector’s choice for any packaging from Kraft Naturals, Philadelphia, Philly, Athenos, Kraft Singles, macaroni and cheese, Easy Mac, Cracker Barrel, Polly-O, Breakstone, Velveeta and Knudsen. TerraCycle finds new uses for the packaging, thereby keeping it out of landfills. Kraft Foods has had previous success with upcycling packaging with its Capri Sun, Nabisco and Lunchables products.

Anyone who has a fondess for Tassimo coffee makers but who might be concerned about the waste created by the 'pods' - they can be recycled via terracycle.

Since the beginning of October, Countryside Elementary School and its Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) have been participating in an ongoing eco-capitalism initiative in conjunction with a partnership between Walmart and TerraCycle. The contest ended Dec. 15 and results will be released in January.

With a little research you can find a green wine, beer or liquor to suit your holiday meal. For example, the Cooper Mountain Vineyard uses excess grape skins and stems for compost. Then, after you finish the bottle, you can send the corks to TerraCycle, where they're recycled into corkboards.

On top of this, you can give your Kenco pouches to Terracycle and they’ll upcycle them into products.