There are many companies out there that do really cool things to help recycle. One of my favorites is Terracycle. You can mail in your items such as caparison pouches or candy wrappers and they will make really neat items for instance lunch bags and pencil cases!  I love that Terracycle makes recycling fun for the kids. They are here to help our environment and make the kids look "cool" while doing it!

As part of the "How I Made My Millions" series, CNBC.com asked the founders and CEOs of these companies to share their experience on a variety of topics. What follows is advice for starting a business even in a tough economy from TerraCycle's Tom Szaky. Recession. Depression. Just plain tough. Whatever you call the economy today, the sane among us would have you believe it’s a lousy time to start a business. Except it isn’t. I’ve been operating TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> in a recession-smart way since the start, and have four ways you can, too:

Have you heard of TerraCycle? They have a great mission. I received the Drink Pouch Lunch Bag and a Drink Pouch Pencil Bag.  I love the thought that when into making these products! The lunch bag is excellent! We used it recently on a field trip and I was able to get everything needed in it!

An exceptional fourth-grader from Southwestern Central School is showing her classmates and community that there can be more to recycling than simply placing one's paper, tin, glass and plastic on street curbs for collection once a week. In order to do this, Erin has received permission from her principal, Bill Caldwell, to set up boxes in her school's cafeteria to collect all the empty juice pouches that would otherwise be tossed in the trash. The plan is to mail the pouches to the Terracycle organization everytime the boxes are full, and in return

Going green isn’t just about saving the earth anymore; it is a bit of a fashion statement and one that TerraCycle products are working so hard to create. TerraCycle products are made out of recycled goods and their products are becoming widely known. TerraCycle products come in different items including those for holidays, cleaning products, office supplies, and much more. Going green is much easier with TerraCycle products since their products are made out of recycled material and are earth friendly.

You know it's pretty amazing what you can make from trash!  You've heard me mention TerraCycle  <http://www.terracycle.net/> a few times and you may have just entered the giveaway we ran a couple of weeks ago!  If you haven't checked out the TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  website, please take some time out of your day to do so!   Seriously, with just a few extra steps that each of us take it really does make a difference!

TerraCycle, a Trenton-based company which specializes in upcycling or making eco-friendly products from post-consumer waste, partnered with Walmart in forming the Trash to Cash Collection contest. The free program will reward the top collecting New Jersey public schools with $125,000 dollars in aggregate school grants. The grand prize is $50,000, with grants ranging down to $5,000.

Saintly Recyclers mail in their trash. Terracycle.net will recycle (usually postage is free) and donate to charity your candy wrappers, yogurt cups, drink pouches, cookie wrappers, Flavia Freshpacks, Frito-Lay chip bags, energy and granola bar wrappers, Bear Naked wrappers, Kashi packages, cell phones, Huggies and Scott tissue wrappers, Aveno tubes, Scotch tape dispensers, corks, cereal bags, Sharpies and Papermate writing instruments, Neosporin tubes, coffee bags, lunch kits (like Lunchables), Colgate tubes and packaging, Ziploc bags and containers, Inkjet cartridges, and Sprout and Revolutions food containers. Preserveproducts.com recycles your No. 5 plastics (same company that has the receptacles at Whole Foods) and water filters into toothbrushes and razors.

The items will be recycled by Terra Cycle when goals are reached and the program is aiming at collecting more than 500 items from each category each month. Following is the list of items which can be dropped off: Mars or Wrigley brand candy bar wrappers; energy bar wrappers; drink pouches; Nabisco cookie wrappers; Kashi brand wrappers or boxes; toasted chip bags; Bear Naked brand wrappers; wine bottle corks; Aveeno product tubes; Scotch tape dispensers and cores; Frito Lay chip bags; Malt-O-Meal cereal bags or boxes; Elmer's glue; Huggie's brand diaper or pull-up bag packaging; Scott's brand packaging; Neosporin brand packaging; lunchable kits; spread (butter) containers; gum wrappers; cell phones; Colgate brand packaging; yogurt cups; writing instruments; Starbucks coffee bags; plastic bottle lids; and used gift cards

The Village of Orland Park Recreation Department is accepting no longer usable pens, markers, highlighters and mechanical pencils. For every writing instrument collected, Terra Cycle will donate two cents to Open Lands of Orland Park. Terra Cycle will upcycle or recycle the depleted writing instruments into other fun and innovative products.