OK I admit it.  I LOVE trash!  I love seeing that Upcycle It! barrel filled to the brim at the Farmers Market.   It certainly shows Westford's support and commitment to sustainability. Many of us are parents. Seems like the “green bug” bites a little harder when you look at those tiny faces.  TerraCycle has a few new Brigades ideal for parents. Which would you like to see us join? 1) The AVEENO Beauty Brigade – ANY brand and ANY type of personal care beauty tubes. Examples include lotion, sun tan lotion, face wash tubes, body wash tubes. A tube is a container that is crimped at one end and has an opening at the other. 2) The SCOTT Brigade – the outer plastic from ANY brand of paper towel, napkin, toilet paper or similar paper products – no paper wrappings 3) The HUGGIES Brigade – the outer plastic on ANY brand of diaper/personal product packaging; excluding boxes and bins (from baby wipes). Examples would be the overall outer plastic package wrapping on diapers, depends, pull ups, pads, etc.  Does not include the clear plastic wrapping inside a box of diapers. 4) The Home Storage Brigade – This brigade includes ANY size storage bags (freezer, storage, regular, sandwich) and containers. We would need to remove any crumbs and pieces of food, but stuck on ingredients (i.e. peanut butter) are acceptable. 5) The Neosporin Tube Brigade – Any size Neosporin brand antibiotic and ointment tubes 6) The Sprout Brigade – Sprout baby food pouches; excluding glass baby jars.

In every residence hall, there are Terracycle bins. Terracycle is an organization that collects wrappers that normally would not be recycled and turns them into eco-friendly products. Ramirez said some of the items they collect are Lays chip bags, Mars candy wrappers, Nabisco cookie wrappers, and foil-lined energy bar wrappers. “Buy products that have wrappers that can be Terracycled, and keep many snack food wrappers out of the trash,” said Kenneth Armstrong, residence life recycling coordinator. You can also purchase eco-friendly school supplies and other items made from Terracycled products on the Terracycle website

This is a guest post from Tiffany Threadgould, TerraCycle’s <http://www.terracycle.net/>  Chief Designer. 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.

15. Sweet speakers. A must-give gift for the iPod generation: A set of TerraCycle portable speakers made from upcycled M&M wrappers.

"We'd see kids throwing out their Capri Sun pouches after every class party," recalls Blacow Elementary Booster Club President, Emily Swanson. "It was such a shame to see so much waste." It did not stop with just Capri Sun pouches; paper and food waste desecrated the school with waste. Collecting ideas on solutions to the problem, the school now earns money from students' litter. Blacow Elementary recently joined with a nationwide "Brigade" program operated by TerraCycle, a recycling company. TerraCycle accepts waste materials and recycles them to form new products. The company pays about two cents for each acceptable wrapper or bag collected. For example, for an empty Lays chips bag, the school receives two cents. Brigades are basic areas that collect and pay for the donated items. Officially founded in the fall of 2001 by college student Tom Szaky, TerraCycle has grown to create various products ranging from Capri-Sun rectangular lunch boxes to a circuit board clipboard. This merchandise is sold to leading corporations such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot. Instead of going into a landfill and increasing carbon emissions, waste is turned into something useful.

Terracycle Brigades Terracycle is a wonderful organization that partners with schools to “upcycle” juice pouches and food wrappers. School and non-profit groups receive “cash for [their] trash” when they send in the required materials. The great thing about this program is that it’s easy to get started. There are Terracycle Brigades, and you register for the one you want to focus on. One of the parents at our school started with collecting drink pouches from kids. If you decide to participate in a brigade, you’ll need to provide incentives for kids to bring in what you’re collecting. Set up a system that works for you, like setting up a bin in the cafeteria specifically for drink pouches. Each week, give a small prize to students who bring in drink pouches in a Ziploc bag labeled with their names. If you want to boost your collection, seek out businesses that may already be collecting the items you’re looking for. Our Terracycle parent found out that a local party place for kids was willing to donate juice pouches to our school as long as someone picked them up. That’s easy “cash for your trash”!

If you don't already know, TerraCycle is an ingenious company! They upcycle trash into fabulous, new products. In doing so, they save some landfill space and pay those that sent the products in. Pretty good deal. Because they are so great, they are sponsoring a giveaway for my lovely readers. One lucky reader will win all of this: This includes: Circuit board coasters Pencil case made out of juice containers Tote bag made of Luna wrappers Spray bottle of Dig Stop for pets Spray bottle of Trash Can Protector

Once in a while, you come across an idea that just makes so much sense that you wonder why it hasn’t been done before.  I had that feeling when I received an email from Emily Bradford-Sytsma, spokesperson for eco-friendly company TerraCycle. <http://www.terracycle.net/> Emily sent me a recycling craft project that uses five empty Colgate® toothpaste tubes to construct this colorful Recycled Toothpaste Tube Toothbrush Holder <http://www.allfreecrafts.com/recycling-crafts/toothbrush-holder.shtml> . But, more than that, she explained the new recycling program at TerraCycle, which provides an opportunity for non-profit organizations to make a little cash, while diverting waste products from the landfill.

By: Tiffany Threadgould, TerraCycle’s Chief Designer 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.

TerraCycle makes eco-friendly products from typically non-recyclable items i.e those awesome CapriSun drink pouches.  So fun to drink from but not so fun to throw away.  (As a wise person once told me…there is no away.  Unless that’s what they’re calling garbage dumps now. ) TerraCycle helps run free collection programs for non-profits & schools (no cost for shipping the trash to TC).  A few things they collect are…. drink pouches, energy bar wrappers, yogurt cups, cookie wrappers, and chip bags.  They pay 2-cents for each piece of trash so volume is a must for any significant fundraiser.  A few things they make are….tote bags, backpacks, lunch boxes and kites.