TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

Cool craft to make with empty toothbrush tubes!! Plus, link for Colgate coupons.

TerraCycle Toothpaste Tube Toothbrush Holder Upcycle your toothpaste tubes into this fresh bathroom caddy By: Tiffany Threadgould Looking for a refreshing alternative to throwing away your toothpaste tubes? This easy do-it-yourself project upcycles your empty tubes into a simple toothbrush holder. Upcycling materials like these are a great way to reuse without costing a mint. Materials: 5 empty toothpaste tubes scissors ruler clear tape hole punch ribbon or plastic lanyard binder clips

Eco-friendly school tools that pass the test

Terracycle's multicolored kids backpack is made from recycled drink pouches, thoroughly washed and sanitized before the product is sewn. It's water-resistant and has zippered compartments. It's $12.99 at www.terracycle.net. The company also offers lunchboxes, tote bags and pencil cases made from recycled drink pouches.

It began with worms - Trenton-based TerraCycle has become a high-profile player in a niche corner of the recycling market known as 'upcycling

Tom Szaky's ambitions to turn one of America's fastest-growing private companies into a multi-billion dollar global empire didn't have glamorous beginnings. Szaky's Trenton-based TerraCycle got off the ground eight years ago out of a Princeton University student business plan contest. Szaky's idea was to establish a company that would transform biodegradable waste into high-yield fertilizer made from worm poop. Szaky, 28, drew his inspiration for the fertilizer plan from the success he and some of his Canadian high school buddies had in growing robust plants in fertilizer made from worm poop. He decided to drop out of Princeton during his sophomore year to give his full attention to the waste-into-fertilizer business he dubbed TerraCycle. Today, the company that Szaky founded in 2002 with a $20,000 machine for feeding organic waste to millions of little worms that would turn that waste into fertilizer has moved well beyond being merely a fertilizer-specialty manufacturer. It is a high-profile player in a niche corner of the recycling market known as "upcycling," in which used materials such as aluminum drink pouches, plastic soda bottles and plastic food wrappers are collected and transformed for use in new products without being broken down into their raw material components.

Terracycle DIY Project

I found a great way to upcycle your toothpaste tubes - check it out! TerraCycle Toothpaste Tube Toothbrush Holder Upcycle your toothpaste tubes into this fresh bathroom caddy By: Tiffany Threadgould Materials: 5 empty toothpaste tubes scissors ruler clear tape hole punch ribbon or plastic lanyard binder clips

A Coffee Conundrum

Other coffee companies are also wrestling with the waste issue. Businesses that use Flavia pods, which is made by Mars, are able to ship the used pods to the New Jersey company TerraCycle, which will compost the coffee or tea and reuse the plastic in products like pavers and fencing, a TerraCycle spokesman, Albe Zakes said. More than 2.5 million Flavia packs in the United States have been recycled in the last year. Mars sells a billion drinks a year in 35,000 workplaces worldwide. In Britain, Mr. Zakes said, TerraCycle has processed more than 800,000 coffee discs from Kraft’s Tassimo single-serve system. The results are being evaluated for possible application in the United States, a Kraft spokeswoman, Bridget MacConnell, said. Kraft and Mars are paying for collecting the pods, including shipping costs to TerraCycle.

TerraCycle: Money for your School

Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>   is always coming up with fun and cool ways to recycle, but they also  have come up with a way (actually 6 ways) Moms can go green, reduce  waste at home, AND raise money for their kids school and/or favorite  charity. Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  realizes Moms have enough things to think about  without wondering how to reduce the amount of waste leaving their home  and heading to the local landfill. So they have come up with six new  Brigades (read as free collection programs!) to make it easier than ever  for parents to eliminate waste from their home while raising money for a  school or charity of their choice. All they need to do is collect and  send in the packaging you discard every day, TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  pays the postage  and contributes two cents per unit of waste returned. I keep mine in a  bag by the pantry next to the bag for Box Tops to make things easier.

Back To School Cool- Terracycle Giveaway!

The average school lunch generates 67 pounds of waste during one school year (EPA.gov). That total is just for one child. Can you image the huge amounts of waste for every school child in the country?   TerraCycle  <http://www.terracycle.net/> is a company that is working to upcycle some of that school lunch waste along with other products that we normally toss in the trash can, without giving them a second thought. Here is how Terracycle works:  Your school or group collects items like Capri Sun pouches, candy wrappers, and chip bags.  There is actually 27 different collection brigades <http://www.terracycle.net/brigades?show_all=true> !  You send the "trash" that you school or group has collected to Terracycle.  Terracycle upcycles the trash into tote bags <http://www.terracycle.net/products/18-Drink-Pouch-Tote> , lunch boxes <http://www.terracycle.net/products/22-Round-Drink-Pouch-Lunchbox> , and clip boards <http://www.terracycle.net/products/78-Circuit-Board-Clipboard-> , just to name a few items!