Click on each finalist below to find out more about the story behind their award entry:

Ricoh Mega Efficiency Innovation Award

Asaleo Care

Ecotricity

Energy and Technical Services Ltd

Method

MyCarYourRental

Terracycle

With a new school term starting up next week, GLAD has joined with global recycling and upcycling pioneer TerraCycle to show teachers, parents and kids how they can achieve a zero-waste lunchbox. A typical school lunchbox is traditionally packed with food and other items that kids might choose to throw away, such as uneaten sandwiches, unwanted fruit and vegetables, and used plastic food storage products. New Zealanders throw away over 122,000 tonnes of food per year, with bread, fruit and vegetables the foods that are thrown out most. But it’s possible to teach kids and parents that a litter-less lunch is entirely feasible if they take a few easy tips on board. Parents can minimise food wastage by cutting up fruit and vegetables so children won’t be tempted to throw them away after a bite or two. If the kids come home with an uneaten sandwich, the bread can be given a new life by being made into croutons, or even ground into breadcrumbs to be used as plant fertiliser or birdfeed. Parents can also get kids excited about what they’re eating by involving them in the making of their own lunch. Trying new lunchbox recipes that are fun and easy for kids to make is also a great way of getting the kids involved in cooking. Keeping food stored in individual GLAD food wrap or containers will also ensure food stays fresher for longer. While used plastic food storage products might have been thrown away in the past, it’s now possible to recycle them through the GLAD Food Storage Brigade. The innovative programme provides nationwide access so all New Zealand schools can recycle and divert these products from landfill using an easy ‘collect, store and ship’ method. Participants are encouraged to simply start collecting their GLAD food storage products in any used cardboard box or re-usable bin, claim their free shipping label from the TerraCycle website, then ship their used items locally via New Zealand Post. Those GLAD products will be pelletised and then recycled into sustainable items such as park benches. If parents are on the hunt for extra ways to teach their children about waste and to further minimise the amount of waste that gets sent to landfill, TerraCycle and GLAD have put together some fun DIY projects, such as a mini tote or a tic-tac-toe set made out of used GLAD products. “GLAD is focused on reducing waste and wants to show kids, teachers and parents that it is possible to enjoy a litter-less lunch by just being a little more conscious,” said Rachel Faulkner, GLAD New Zealand. “By preparing and storing food correctly and then recycling your GLAD food storage products, you can easily reduce your footprint on the environment at lunchtime.” Anyone collecting for the GLAD Food Storage Brigade can also earn $1.58 per 2kg of GLAD food storage products sent in to TerraCycle, which can then be redeemed to go towards the school or charity of their choice. TerraCycle is the world leader in developing solutions for recycling ‘un-recyclable’ items and has kept more than four billion pieces of waste from landfills around the world. TerraCycle New Zealand is also tackling other difficult to recycle waste streams with popular programmes for oral care waste, coffee capsules and yoghurt pouches. Visit www.terracycle.co.nz to download a GLAD ‘My litter-less lunch kit’ and sign up to the recycling programme.  

Collection boxes 9Rv have set up REUSE collection boxes and each class member is responsible for managing a collection. Please save the following items and deliver to the REUSE station in the covered area where the vending machine used to reside: ... Please support these initiatives. In doing so, as a community we can significantly reduce waste to landfill. Each product collected as part of the Terracycle program earns Rangi Ruru 2 cents. This quickly adds up and we can earn money from waste to support our nominated charity Cool Earth. Cool Earth is proven to be an effective charity making a difference in protecting/supporting rain forests and their communities. We also have the opportunity of winning $1000 through the Colgate Oral Care competition by collecting tooth brushes, tooth paste, floss containers and all associated packaging (any brands)

It’s Halloween weekend, and no doubt a lot of you are headed off to a party, parade or some other costume-themed event this weekend — not to mention the actual trick-or-treating day on Monday. Halloween is big business these days, with Americans spending more than $6.9 billion last year on costumes, candy, decorations and such, or an average of $74 per person. That’s got the potential for a lot of waste, trash and excess. I’ve written before on reducing your Halloween waste, but here I am doing it again, since I’ve run across a couple of brilliant new ideas. • One problem with those fun-sized candies is that just about all of them are encased in wrappers made from mixed materials, which are notoriously hard to recycle. But here’s a thought: Terracycle, the company that has become a global leader in recycling oddball items, has greatly expanded its programs of late. It’s now offering Zero Waste Boxes specifically for candy and snack wrappers. Go to zerowasteboxes.terracycle.com and you can order a Zero Waste Box for this need. Then you load up the box and ship it to the company, and they’ll handle the wrapper recycling. The cost of the box includes the shipping fee, and the least expensive box is $85. If this isn’t within your budget, consider splitting the cost with neighbors, family, friends or workmates. Also be sure to check out the many, many Zero Waste Boxes for different types of recyclables — from action figures and art supplies to vinyl siding and water filters.

October is arguably one of the most colorful and festive months of the year, and we are almost at the end of it! The leaves have turned, there’s a chill in the air, and Halloween is mere days away.  There’s nothing wrong with throwing together some finishing touches for your Halloween costume or spooky party décor at the last minute, but in case you’ve missed all of the plastic skeletons and jack-o-lanterns around you, time is running out! It’s the little details that take things over the top, but to save you a trip to the store, some money, and the product and packaging waste from the seasonal odds and ends you only use once a year, here are 5 last minute upcycled Halloween DIYs you can whip up using things you already have.

1. Capri Sun Halloween Mask

Never underestimate the allure of a well-placed masquerade-style mask. Are you Zorro? A debutante? A superhero? Who knows! But even without full disguise grab, this nifty Halloween mask is an instant costume and adds interest and intrigue with its eye-catching, unconventional material. Click HERE for Capri Sun Halloween Mask DIY Instructions

2. Wellness Dog Cape

Dogs are the real MVP. They love us unconditionally, and just want to spend time with us. Include your furry friend in the Halloween festivities by crafting a handmade costume that speaks to the hero they are inside. Super dogs super upcycle! Design Tip: This sizing is for a smaller dog; scale accordingly for your pet. Click HERE for Wellness Dog Cape DIY Instructions

3. Nespresso Capsule Bracelet

It’s been said that 25% of your wardrobe budget should go towards your accessories; we disagree. Give your Halloween costume (and your everyday ensemble) that je ne se quoi at little cost; if you have all of the materials, it would be a negative cost since you’d normally throw out used coffee capsules and are tapping into a new resource for your DIY supplies: positively energizing! Click HERE for Nespresso Capsule Bracelet DIY Instructions

4. Chocolate Wrapper Barrettes

Don’t forget to jazz up your hair! Perfect for children who need a bit of help keeping their mane tame and tidy in general, this fun, voluminous hair barrette lends itself well to a costume for a baton twirler, a faux flower for a hula dancer, or, more literally, a topping for a sweet confectionary treat like a cupcake or lollipop. Click HERE for Chocolate Wrapper Barrettes DIY Instructions

5. Shampoo Bottle Chandelier

Get togethers and parties are an excellent reason to decorate, and this DIY shampoo bottle chandelier gives off a ghoulish green ambiance that’s perfect for All Hallows’ Eve. Bold, bright and boo-tiful (we had to!), a centerpiece you made yourself is sure to be a conversation starter. Don’t have enough bottles? Swap in some empties of other containers like lotions, conditioners, or beverages—better yet, ask your friends for their recyclables! Click HERE for Shampoo Bottle Chandelier  DIY Instructions Holidays are about having fun. Best part about these Halloween DIYs is that they allow you to use your creativity and your rubbish to make something amazing with items you already have. If you can make something out of “nothing,” just think of what else your resourceful self can do! Another option: make nature-inspired Halloween crafts from the world around you. Happy Halloween Upcycling!

Within the broad range of sustainability concepts and activities, recycling is without doubt the most easily understood and accessible: individuals and groups, old and young, communities and institutions can participate. When we buy a candy bar, we own the wrapper after the short life of the product; doing something with that branded possession, rather than adding to waste, feels good. Recycling is empowering to consumers and, in the case of traditionally recyclable materials such as glass, paper, rigid plastics and certain metals, economically viable. Recycling not only diverts potentially valuable materials from landfills and incinerators, it also offsets demand for virgin materials, helping to keep carbon in the ground. Recycling aligns human consumption with nature’s activities. But as human-generated waste streams continue to evolve in diversity and volume, the global community faces the mounting challenge of developing viable recycling and waste management solutions at a comparable pace. For example, electronic waste is currently the fastest growing solid waste stream, increasing two to three times faster than other waste streams. More broadly, industrial activities currently generate nearly 7.6 billion tons of solid waste in the US each year - that’s 3000% of the total municipal waste generated by Americans annually. As the world enters the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the ecological implications of not prioritizing sustainable resource management are dire. Economics, not high science, is what determines recyclability: a material is recycled only if one can make money collecting, sorting and recycling it. The environmental and health costs associated with trash are not currently included in the equations. These costs are considered externalities: society as a whole, rather than the manufacturer, retailer or consumer, absorbs those longer-term costs. Since the costs of not recycling are excluded from the value equation, linear disposal methods, such as land-filling and incineration, are the principle waste management options for most post-consumer waste streams. These linear solutions have come to haunt us: islands of plastic in the Pacific have begun to disintegrate, fish are eating the micro particles and humans eat the fish. Only by emulating nature and implementing the circular economy can humans arrest and, in time, reverse this vicious cycle. It is unlikely that manufacturers, retailers or consumers will voluntarily take responsibility for the end-life of their waste unless they are required to bear the cost of solutions for the products and packaging they produce, sell or consume. With varying degrees of success, governments across the world are implementing producer responsibility schemes; most of these, including the well known Green Dot programme in Germany, finance the collection of packaging, with much of the waste being incinerated - not much better than land-filling from an environmental perspective. Recycling is the more expensive option, but as the late, great eco-capitalist Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, posted on the side of her company’s trucks said: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” With evident limitations on what governments can or will realistically do, the impetus falls on the private sector. How can we find ways to provide incentives to cover the costs of collecting and recycling? For the past decade, my company TerraCycle has developed technologies to apply to difficult-to-recycle post-consumer waste streams that usually end up in the trash. Examples are cigarette butts, pens, water filters, used toothbrushes and toothbrush tubes, packaging waste, industrial adhesive containers and even dirty diapers, which have been processed into materials that are used to manufacture new products. Our R&D team is extremely innovative, but our true innovation is finding reasons for brands and manufacturers to justify paying for recycling when they don’t have to. We have found that recycling has become a sufficient priority for consumers, who patronize brands that enable the recyclability of their products and packaging. We have created business models allowing brands to see that incremental spending on recycling will produce incremental ROI; as a result, many waste streams that were previously unrecyclable are now being recycled. To achieve scale and generate efficiencies, we recently partnered with SUEZ, one of the largest waste management companies in the world. Through the deal, SUEZ can bring TerraCycle’s consumer-facing programmes to its customers in France, the UK, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, and we gain access to perhaps the world’s largest sales force dedicated to the circular economy. Recyclability is among the top purchase drivers for a range of consumer products and consumers around the world today have demonstrated a willingness to pay a premium for sustainable goods and services. We’ve demonstrated that sponsoring recycling can be a pathway to migrate a company’s post-consumer products and packaging from the linear economy to circular economy. While I’m proud of our accomplishments, there remains a huge values-action disparity, or “green-gap,” where changes in consumer attitudes have not yet translated to changes in action. Recycling rates have stagnated in the last decade in relation to the volume of waste produced globally, and while many countries in the developing world work without a formal recycling system, the US still only recycles about 34% of its trash. Recycling almost everything we use is already possible. Consumer buying power, with the right social and political commitments, can drive demand for comprehensive recycling solutions at multiple levels. The scale of the world’s waste problem mandates that everyone in the consumption cycle act together to work towards regenerative, circular solutions that bridge the gap to zero waste.

Em 2012, a Faber-Castell estabeleceu uma parceria com a TerraCycle e lançou um programa de coleta que permite a transformação de instrumentos de escrita em matéria prima reciclada, que substitui o material virgem que seria utilizado e evita o descarte de resíduos no meio ambiente.