Incentive programs aim to spread environmental awareness to more-mainstream consumers
\ TerraCycle's program benefiting nonprofits and schools
The company collects what is typically nonrecyclable waste, such as candy and snack wrappers, pens, coffee bags and toothpaste tubes, from consumers, as well as recyclable items such as cell phones, plastic containers and more. It uses the trash to make new products sold at major retailers including Target, Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Consumers who make the effort to get their trash to TerraCycle earn monetary rewards that go to nonprofits of their choice. Some manufacturers, such as skin care products maker Aveeno, even encourage consumers to send their brands' empty product containers to TerraCycle for repurposing.
Let customers participate. Make customers part of the solution by telling them how supporting your business will further your sustainability endeavors. They will feel more inspired if they know they are contributing. Consider TerraCycle, a fast-growing company that sells products made from waste. Its Web site gives an ongoing tally of how much trash it’s diverted from landfills. It launched a
program that lets consumers join “brigades” that collect various kinds of waste the company will recycle.
A million dollars can go a long way in cash-strapped schools and nonprofits. And, when all that’s required is to save items from landfills, it almost sounds too good to be true. True it is. Schools and nonprofits across the country have now earned $1 million through the TerraCycle Drink Pouch Brigade™ program.
At 2 cents a piece that equates to 50 million drink pouches collected over the past 2years. Enough waste to cover the Grand Canyon 9 times. Enough waste to cover 2,000 football fields. Enough waste to weigh as much as 20 full school buses! That's a lot of juice!
Winte learned about TerraCycle, a company that pays for trash and makes items out of it, about two years ago and started saving some of the acceptable items last spring. At about the same time, she started talking to other people about it and was led to Grow Berlin Green, the nonprofit that will benefit from the sales proceeds of trash collection. TerraCycle will send checks to Grow Berlin Green to pay for the items deposited in the containers at the park.
When she accumulates enough of any one item, she will mail it to TerraCycle. The pay is not much, about 2 cents per item, and many items must be accumulated.
For example, TerraCycle pays 2 cents each for 500 empty drink pouches for a grand total of $10. For some other items, like candy wrappers, the sender is told to fill a provided box, but is not told how many should be sent.
Boxes or bags for mailing the items are provided. Pre-paid postage labels are also provided.
Marketers switching from traditional to compostable packaging because others have been successful with it = good peer pressure.
What’s my point? My free samples of Boulder Canyon chips arrived today. Across the top in a two-inch banner read, “Compostable Packaging!” Seriously, it’s probably the first thing you see. Nor can you miss it on the SunChips bag, where it takes up the top quarter of the package. Even my Keebler chocolate chip cookies container asks consumers to “Turn this wrapper into a good cause,” an invitation to get involved in upcycling (keeping cookie wrappers and other packaging out of landfills by turning them into new products) wrapped in a 2 1/2″ x 4″ green leaf that fairly leaps out of the brown and caramel package.
Also, Keebler, if you’re listening, “details on back” (inviting consumers to turn the package over for details on the Terracycle program) works in the store, but not after consumers have opened the crackle-y, flappy cookine container at home. If you’re going to invite people to turn over the package, you need to make it resealable. I’ll leave the unfortunate results to your imagination. Let’s just say the dog had a great night.
TerraCycle has hit $1 million in drink pouches! That is a lot of juice! They have paid out $1 million to non-profits and nearly 50 million drink pouches collected and kept out of landfills.
A million dollars can go a long way in cash-strapped schools and nonprofits. And, when all that’s required is to save items from landfills, it almost sounds too good to be true. True it is. Schools and nonprofits across the country have now earned $1 million through the TerraCycle Drink Pouch Brigade™ program.
The Capri Sun beverage brand was one of the earliest supporters of TerraCycle, a company that collects would-be trash and turns it into useful items. The collection program, called the Drink Pouch Brigade, takes place mostly in schools, where children choose to deposit used pouches in special receptacles rather than throw them away. In participating schools, each used drink pouch collected and sent to TerraCycle earns two cents, with the funds going toward needed educational programs and resources.
Fashionable Starburst Speakers shown in Ad
ABC also partners with Nomacorc and TerraCycle to recycle wine corks.
The
Capri Sun beverage brand was one of the earliest supporters of
TerraCycle, a company that collects would-be trash and turns it into useful items. The collection program, called the
Drink Pouch Brigade, found in 42% of elementary schools in the U.S., is a free nationwide program that pays schools and non-profits to collect non-recyclable waste that would otherwise go to landfill. In participating schools, each used drink pouch collected and sent to TerraCycle earns two cents, with the funds going toward needed educational programs and resources. By choosing not to discard their drink pouches, students demonstrate their concern for the environment.
