TerraCycle was founded by a brainiac college student back in 2001 & started as organic fertilizer company {ever see the  worm poop in an upcycled soda bottle?} in addition ~ they run free national collection programs to collect wrappers from tons of products from companies like Frito Lay (Pepsi), Kraft Foods, Stonyfield Farm, Mars Wrigley {and many more.} from schools & non-profits & regular people like you & me!

TerraCycle takes drink pouches, wrappers, corks, yogurt cups, chip bags and other waste. Each is shipped to a specific "brigade" which in turn takes the material and crafts it into unique and functional items for kids and adults. The recycling program allows almost any school or non-profit organization to save items, keeping them from landfill. TerraCycle will pay 2 cents or more for each item, giving the funds directly to the donating organization. Since the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, Sloman Primary has earned more than $325.

Sharpie, Paper Mate and EXPO have partnered with TerraCycle to collect and reuse pens, markers and other writing instruments in a way that helps schools, charities, and non-profits to raise funds. Groups that want to participate can print pre-paid shipping labels from TerraCycle’s website. The collected writing instruments are then shipped to TerraCycle. Once received, TerraCycle upcycles trashed pens into new products.

Nancy Baiche would have an entirely green school if she could, but for now she's happy believing that teaching the prekindergarten classes at Williams Ledger Elementary School about recycling could impact the world and maybe save the earth someday. "They love it," she said. "They're becoming little voices that I'm hoping in the future will become bigger voices." Recycling is part of the curriculum in prekindergarten classes every year, but this year the eight classes at Williams Ledger are getting hands on experience while earning extra money for the school. Baiche, a prekindergarten aide in Bernadine Wagner's class at Williams Ledger, said she was looking for lessons and educational tools to help her students understand recycling when she came across the TerraCycle program. "There's a lot of information out there for adults, but it's really hard to teach to a 3- or 4-year- old," she said. TerraCycle is a company that takes trash such as drink pouches and chip bags and turns it into products such as CapriSun tote bags and pencil bags made from cookie wrappers.

  Lee Elementary School students turned juice pouches into pencil cases, chip bags to lunch boxes and candy wrappers into backpacks as part of a national initiative that combines fundraising and recycling. Students collected nearly 6,000 pieces of non-recyclable waste, such as bags, wrappers and bottles, and shipped them to TerraCycle, a company that makes new products from lunchroom garbage. TerraCycle turns food packaging destined for the landfill into products for home, school and the office. The company’s tote bags, trash cans, picture frames and more are made from the waste and sold at major retailers like Target, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot.

In recent years, after the initial honeymoon of broader consumer interest in all things green, it’s now settled squarely in the space of “prove it to me.” Yet proving something’s greenness, sustainability, fair trade status, organic certification, carbon footprint has resulted in a dust storm of competing certifications, labels, very few of which are gaining traction with the public as credible or recognizable. For all they know, the company could be making it up, doing it themselves, or something similarly “greenwashy”.

Look at the bottle of juice you just drank. The detergent you're going to use. The plastic backer on the desk calendar. What's on all of them? That familiar "chasing arrows" graphic with a number in the middle. That means it's recyclable, right? Sorry, but not quite. For all but the most forward thinking (and deep pocketed) locales, primarily only #1 and #2 plastics are regularly recycled. "Excuse me, what? How can that be? It says it's recyclable on here, are we being lied to?" you say? No, but you are in some ways being passively deceived. Companies are generally careful not to explicitly say that their packaging is recyclable, but they don't go out of their way to let you know it likely won't be, either. So why are so few types of materials getting recycled? Simple. Economics. As I've been witnessing, and you may have too, recycling is a business based on demand for the resulting materials.

While recycling statistics show the U.S. making little strides every year, there are certain items that still fall in the "what the hell am I supposed to do with this?" category. Throwing them in the trash is never the best option, as many of these items, such as light bulbs and batteries, can be toxic. Don't let that burnt-out light bulb intimidate you-- If there's a will, there's a way to recycle everything from light bulbs to Capri Sun pouches. So if you will, here are some recycling options for those harder to recycle items.

Greenwashing comes in many forms. Vague language. Overstated claims. False associations. And the packaging you yourself are responsible for creating and/or processing. Come again? Yes. You know it well. The chasing arrows logo on packaging, with 1-7 in the middle. Yes, it’s a convenient identifier for recyclers and waste processors. But there’s a problem here. The general public thinks it means it means it’s recyclable. Not that it’s possible to do so “where facilities exist,” as some in the product world would say on their packaging. No, they think, across the board, this means they can toss their used packaging in the recycle bin, and voila, poof, it will get recycled, they’ve done their eco duty!