On the national level a company called TerraCycle believes in a bold goal of eliminating the very idea of waste. Through an extensive network of collection and manufacturing locations, Terracycle is teaming with organizations to have schoolchildren collect trash products such as Ziploc bags, candy wrappers, chip bags, drink pouches and toothpaste tubes — paying 2 cents per product to the charity of their choice. These materials, rather than going to a landfill, are diverted into manufacturing to produce products such as coolers, trashcans, benches, and even fences. Started in 2001 by a college student, TerraCycle has already collected more than a billion different waste products and turned them into a range of products that are sold at stores like Walmart and Whole Foods <http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110107/APC03/101070461/1028/Cheryl-Perkins-column--Waste-goes-beyond-the-kind-that-s-thrown-away#> . So far they have yielded more than $1 million for charity, and the numbers continue to grow. Read more: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110107/APC03/101070461/Cheryl-Perkins-column-Waste-goes-beyond-the-kind-that-s-thrown-away#ixzz1ANwHi5RZ