TerraCycle is a company that makes eco-friendly products out of recycled and upcycled items.  For instance, I am on their cork brigade.  I collect corks, save them, and then send them into TerraCycle.  There they upcycle them into cork boards.  I have friends and businesses help me save, and collect the corks.  They do this with many products such as juice pouches, cookie wrappers, chip bags, candy wrappers, soda bottles and milk jugs.  Those are just a few of the items they reuse.  They always need more “brigaders”.  The brigades are a wonderful school fund-raiser.  You can also raise funds for other organizations.  For instance, I donate the funds from my cork brigade to The Nature Conservancy.   Please take a look at TerraCycle and consider being a “brigader” for them.  It’s a win-win for all involved.

Nomacorc has joined with TerraCycle to upcycle corks.

TerraCycle's Green Up Shop in New York City is profiled in a Japanese magazine.

There are similar projects to Trashy Bags in other countries. "Bazura Bags " in the Philippines makes bags from offcuts left over by packaging companies, India's "Thunk in India," makes all kinds of recycled products, including pencil cases made from fruit juice cartons, and "TerraCycle " in the United States makes a range of items, including backpacks made from cookie wrappers.

Where in this is environmental education? In most cases, non existent. This is a problem—How can we expect the children of today to be capable stewards of our troubled planet when they don't have the basic knowledge of what's going on, what their role is, and what they can do? That's why I'm really proud to have launched the free TerraCycle Curriculum <http://www.terracycle.net/curriculums/overview> , with a lot of help from the preeminent sustainability education designer Cloud Institute <http://www.sustainabilityed.org/> . What is it? Well let me start with what it's not: Another rehashing of the basics of, let's face it, how to be a "better consumer." Don't get me wrong, of course I'm in support of more people making greener purchase choices, recycling, using CFLs, etc. But that's being covered everywhere you look these days, in all manner of media. What kids need is a solid foundation of environmental knowledge, that can be applied in the rest of their lives—From where they live, play and work, to what they create at work and then what they do with it at the end of its useful life. From there, they can apply it to help shape the world in a positive way, rather then feeling like a victim of it.

As part of a new collaboration, a handful of residents is turning trash into cash. It's an effort to go green while getting green. Gloria Gilbert, founder of the Westford Farmer's Market, recently launched Sustainable Westford -- a nonprofit platform created to organize local groups with the common goal of promoting green initiatives. "There are many groups covering a range of topics including water pollution, organic farming to alternative energy however there is not one platform. They're spread out all over the place," Gilbert said. "I wanted to partner with local programs with the same mission as ours -- to create an eco-friendly and vibrant Westford." One of the first programs Gilbert teamed up with in town is Upcycle It! created by fellow resident Kristina Greene. The initiative collects non-recyclable items such as chip bags, candy-bar wrappers, coffee bags and juice pouches in a number of drop-off bins around town. The bins are collected weekly and then sent to Terracycle, an international company that takes the "trash" and makes it into a number of products. Skittles wrappers become an insulated cooler tote bag. Crushed computers and fax machines are morphed into flower pots. Circuit boards are reused as clipboards and drink coasters. Oreo Cookie packaging is transformed into a kite and much more. The innovative "recycling" is not the only benefit to Westford. Each piece of trash that's collected and sent in is worth anywhere from two cents for chip bags to 25 cents for cell phones. All the money Greene collects from Upcycle It! is then donated back to Westford schools.

Health Magazine includes TerraCycle's Glass Cleaner as a Best Home Buy.

As the grand marshal of Sunday’s Strawberry Festival parade, Rita Materni may be waving, but she won’t be chucking candy at crowds. But if she did, she’d probably shout out, “Recycle that wrapper!” She’s joined two “brigades” through www.terracycle.net, collecting used cookie wrappers and juice pouches and getting paid 2 cents for each. These items are turned into unique accessories and other products, according to TerraCycle, which says that over 10 million people worldwide have collected 1.8 trillion units and earned over $1 million for charity.

TerraCycle is included in Entrepreneur Magazine's Top 100 Most Brilliant Companies To Watch

It seems not a day goes by when you hear about school budgets being radically cut, or even closed, and as a result the educational future of our next generation in uncertainty, lacking in depth & breadth. Theater, music, even the always preserved sports are being left to the side, in favor of focusing on how to train good test takers, to better secure funding. Where in this is environmental education? In most cases, non existent. This is a problem—How can we expect the children of today to be capable stewards of our troubled planet when they don't have the basic knowledge of what's going on, what their role is, and what they can do? That's why I'm really proud to have launched the free TerraCycle Curriculum, with a lot of help from the preeminent sustainability education designer Cloud Institute. What is it? Well let me start with what it's not: Another rehashing of the basics of, let's face it, how to be a "better consumer." Don't get me wrong, of course I'm in support of more people making greener purchase choices, recycling, using CFLs, etc. But that's being covered everywhere you look these days, in all manner of media.