Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> is a company that is dedicated to recycling everyday products - like candy wrappers, aveeno bottles, Cellphones and more. And to top it off, for every item sent in, they donate money per unit of waste to charity. With all the items donated, they make products such as Lunchboxes, Coolers, Clipboards, Scrapbooks and even Recycling bins. You can sign up here <http://www.terracycle.net/signup> to create a collection team for one of their brigades.
Have you heard of TerraCycle <http://www.terracycleshop.com/> ? They make environmentally friendly and affordable products, made from non-recyclable waste materials. They have over 50 products that sell at retailers such as Walmart, Target and Petco. TerraCycle products range from fertilizers to household cleaners to backpacks and toys. Their goal is to find unique uses for items that would go into landfills, and eliminate the idea of waste.
TerraCycle also has a national program called TerraCycle Brigades <http://www.terracycle.net/Brigades> . This program allows you to earn cash for trash (money paid to schools and non-profits). You may choose which "Brigade" you want to join to begin collecting. Some of the Brigades include: Drink Pouch, Aveeno Beauty, Chip Bag, Writing Instruments and Cell Phone. Payout ranges from $.02 per item to $0.25 per item for cell phones.
Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> is always coming up with fun and cool ways to recycle, but they also have come up with a way (actually 6 ways) Moms can go green, reduce waste at home, AND raise money for their kids school and/or favorite charity. Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> realizes Moms have enough things to think about without wondering how to reduce the amount of waste leaving their home and heading to the local landfill. So they have come up with six new Brigades (read as free collection programs!) to make it easier than ever for parents to eliminate waste from their home while raising money for a school or charity of their choice. All they need to do is collect and send in the packaging you discard every day, TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> pays the postage and contributes two cents per unit of waste returned. I keep mine in a bag by the pantry next to the bag for Box Tops to make things easier.
With its innovative Upcycle Program, TerraCycle encourages consumers to “be a part of their eco-revolution!” Started by a Princeton student in 2001, it is the company’s endeavor to minimize what most toss as trash. In order to reduce waste in landfills, TerraCycle establishes turn-key operations that make it easier for schools and non-profit organizations to save, collect and donate non-recyclables, and to earn cash from the donations for fund drives.
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.
Terracycle realizes that Moms are the main shoppers, organizers, and most involved in the school activities. Because of this, they have new, Mom focused brigades. Parents want to make their children's world greener. Unfortunately, daily life can get in the way of that with limited time and budget, but going green doesn't have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive. In fact, a smart and savvy parent can go green and even earn green at the same time!
Upcycling is, “simply put - using those items that cannot be recycled and remaking them into reusable items,” says DiColandrea. He uses energy bar wrappers as an example of how materials can be reused when they can’t be recycled.
“Its [energy bars] packaging remains very high as a waste, and recycling the packaging is not easy for some local recycling centers to do. Reusing the packaging to create another product is a simple and low-cost answer,” he added.
Green Starkville has created a team for Terracycle, a company which collects materials that can be reused to manufacture new items – upcycling. For each item received, Terracycle will give $0.02 to Green Starkville, and Terracycle turns the materials into everything from clipboards, bags, and toys to fences.
The Road to Healthy Skin tour gives consumers the opportunity to receive full-body skin cancer screenings conducted by local dermatologists, who are volunteering their time and expertise.
The tour is sponsored by Aveeno and TerraCycle, which pays schools, families, and communities to collect non-recyclable waste, which is then upcycled or repurposed to make fun, eco-friendly products like backpacks, picture frames, and notebooks.
TerraCycle <
http://www.terracycle.net/> has the best business model — “Send us your trash… we’ll make it into cool products!” If you despair of all the waste generated by things like Capri Sun pouches, sign up your school or nonprofit organization for various TerraCycle “brigades.” <
http://www.terracycle.net/brigades> Collect used pouches, candy wrappers, and other items, send them in to TerraCycle, and get paid a couple cents for each. (Given the amount of these products kids go through, that can add up pretty quickly…)
