Solorio Elementary School students in Fontana earn money and prizes for their school by collecting and recycling the drink pouches they use at home and in the lunchroom. Solorio's students have just reached the second level of TerraCycle and Capri Sun’s Drink Pouch Brigade milestone contest by collecting more than 18,000 drink pouches. The students have earned more than $2,400 for their school by collecting the drink pouches. The Drink Pouch Brigade is a nationwide free recycling program that rewards people for collecting and sending their waste to TerraCycle to be recycled or upcycled. The Milestone Program began in September of 2013, when Capri Sun added prizes for collecting certain amounts. Now, in addition to the money they earn for each piece of waste collected, participants can win prizes made from recycled drink pouches, such as park benches, recycling bins, a playground, and other fun rewards. To learn more about the program or to sign up, visitwww.terracycle.com. The program is free to any interested organization or individual, and all shipping costs are paid.

Run in partnership with the Terracycle recycling company and Kraft Foods, owner of Capri Sun, the "Drink Pouch Brigade" program awards points to schools that recycle the popular drink pouches, which can then be used to purchase useful, recycled products.

VINELAND – By caring for the Earth, D'Ippolito Elementary School students are able to help classmates in need. TerraCycle Inc., an international recycling firm based in Mercer County, is awarding the North Valley Avenue school more than $1,800, which was based on the number of drink pouches the school recycled. "We have been participating in this program for the past three years," said Gail Curio, the school's principal. Stephanie Staffieri, the school's student health services coordinator, oversees the program. She was the one who found the opportunity and suggested that D'Ippolito get involved, said Curcio, who endorsed the school's participation. "We use the money to fund our Crisis Team Fund, which is used to help families in crisis throughout the year," Curcio said. Students recycle the drink pouches during breakfast and lunch, the school principal said. "It has become routine," she said. Allison Gove, who will be a fifth grader this September, explained that after meals the students don't toss their empty drink pouches in the trash. "We put them in a special bin," she said. It's a red recycling container. Allison said she is a fan of Capri Sun Orange and estimated she's contributed about 50 empty pouches to the recycling program. When she learned the students' efforts earned the school more than $1,800, she said, "That's pretty neat." The check should arrive in October, Taylor said, explaining the firm pays out the awards twice per year. TerraCycle Inc. focuses on reusing difficult-to-recycle packaging and that includes the drink pouches made from a combination of plastic and aluminum, said Lauren Taylor, a media spokeswoman for the company. Where plastic and aluminum can easily be recycled on their own, it is the combination of the two that poses the challenge, she said. Drink pouches are just one of about 50 specific areas, dubbed "brigades" by the company, addressed in its recycling program. Groups enroll in the recycling program and earn rewards on a points-per-item basis. The award funds must be earmarked for a nonprofit purposes, Taylor said. Used pouches are sent at no cost to TerraCycle Inc. in packages that must weigh about 5 pounds, which is about 430 pouches. The straws do not have to be removed. More than 217,594,991 drink pouches have been collected from more than 78,000 locations, earning organizations more than $4.1 million, according to TerraCycle Inc. The pouches are recycled into items including lunch boxes, pencils cases and tote bags. Other recycling brigades offered by TerraCycle Inc. include Elmer's Glue bottles and sticks, chip snack bags, energy bar wrappers and GoGo squeeZ pouches. For more information about the TerraCycle Inc. recycling program, click on www.terracycle.com.

Boon Elementary's Environmental Club earns money and prizes for its school by collecting and recycling the drink pouches used at home and in the lunchroom. Boon Elementary's Environmental Club has just reached the second level of TerraCycle and Capri Sun’s Drink Pouch Brigade milestone contest by collecting more than 18,000 drink pouches. The students have earned more than $3,000 for their school by collecting the drink pouches. The Drink Pouch Brigade is a free recycling program that rewards people for collecting and sending their waste to TerraCycle to be recycled or upcycled. The Milestone Program began in September 2013 when Capri Sun added prizes for collecting certain amounts. Now, in addition to the money they earn for each piece of waste collected, participants can win prizes made from recycled drink pouches, such as park benches, recycling bins, a playground and other rewards. "The Milestone Program is meant to inspire individuals and organizations to collect more waste while receiving prizes for their achievements," said Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle. "It is rewarding to see the students and administration get so involved in making this work. It’s an incredible achievement to have kept so many pouches out of the waste stream."

TEWKSBURY - Tewksbury students at the Heath Brook Elementary and Trahan Elementary have achieved Second Prize level in TerraCycle and Capri Sun Contest. The schools have collected 18,000 juice pouches combined to recycle, earning them more than $1,600! The Drink Pouch Brigade is a free recycling program that rewards people for collecting and sending their waste to TerraCycle to be recycled or upcycled. The Milestone Program began in September 2013 when Capri Sun added prizes for collecting certain amounts. Now, in addition to the money they earn for each piece of waste collected, participants can win prizes made from recycled drink pouches, such as park benches, recycling bins, a playground, and other fun rewards. The Terracycle recycling program will continue this summer. The Heath Brook School will be hosting one on July 17 from 5-7pm and the Trahan School will be hosting theirs on August 20 from 5:30-7:30 pm. Items that can be donated include cell phones, electronics, inkjet and toner cartridges, jewelry, food packaging etc. For more information or a more detailed list on what they will be collecting e-mail TewksburyTerraCycle@gmail.com. Schools all across the United States participate in the Drink Pouch Brigade. The program is free to any interested organization or individual, and all shipping costs are paid. In addition, for each piece of waste received, participants earn money for a charity of their choice. To learn more about the program or to sign up, visit www.terracycle.com.

Saving juice boxes at home and school was a move that benefited the environment for sure. But for local elementary school students and their families, it was also a rewarding act as it helped raise a significant amount of money for Tewksbury schools. Heath Brook Elementary School and Trahan Elementary School Parent Advisory Committee members collected and recycled drink pouches used both at home and in the schools' lunch rooms. As a result the groups recently reached the second level of the TerraCycle and Capri Sun's Drink Pouch Brigade® milestone contest, hitting over 18,000 drink pouches. To reward the schools for their accomplishments, they earned over $1,600 through the program. Thousands of schools around the country are taking part in the recycling program. For more information, visit the group's website. "The Milestone Program is meant to inspire individuals and organizations to collect more waste while receiving prizes for their achievements," said Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle. "It is rewarding to see the students and administration get so involved in making this work.  It’s an incredible achievement to have kept so many pouches out of the waste stream."

A local elementary school has raised more than $1,000 for charity by recycling Capri Sun drink pouches. Las Sendas Elementary School has collected nearly 80,000 pouches during its drive and raised more than $1,300 in the process. Annie Brown, a first-grade teacher at Las Sendas Elementary in Mesa, said she first began to collect Capri Sun drink pouches about three and a half years ago when a child in her class asked to collect them for a project conducted by his mother, a fifth-grade teacher at another school. Brown and her class sent the pouches home with the student at first but later decided to collect pouches themselves. “This was something doable. The kids can be very much involved in it on an everyday basis,” Brown said. The Drink Pouch Brigade, a recycling incentive program by TerraCycle, involves 40,000 schools across the country sending in the Capri Sun drink pouches many kids drink every day. The program, which began in 2007, took off when Capri Sun joined in 2008. It recently started the Milestone Program with rewards for schools, groups or individuals who reach certain recycling goals. “The program is free to anybody,” said Lauren Taylor, director of U.S. public relations for TerraCycle. “A school can sign up, individuals can sign up. It’s really a great opportunity to teach about recycling.” Taylor said the program is simple and convenient to use. Pouches just need to be empty and in some sort of shippable container; there is no need to process them at all. Shipping labels can be printed from the company’s website. TerraCycle pays 2 to 3 cents for each pouch, depending on the volume sent in, and schools can keep the proceeds or choose a charity to have a check sent to. Las Sendas has sent in 18,000 pouches just since the Milestone Program began, not counting the estimated 60,000 before then. The school donates its proceeds to Arizona Brainfood — a group that sends backpacks of food home for the weekend with local children in need. “It’s easy to participate,” said Taylor. “Put in the tax ID number where you want the money to go and start collecting. We have schools that design really incredible collection bins. It can be a very formal or informal program at the school.” With more than 78,000 locations, the Drink Pouch Brigade program has collected more than 2 million units and raised more than $4 million dollars.

Burroughs Elementary School in Fresno received more than $2,000 for collecting 18,000 Capri Sun drink pouches to be recycled in TerraCycle's Drink Pouch Brigade contest. The Drink Pouch Brigade program rewards participants for collecting and sending waste to TerraCycle so the waste can be recycled. The program began in September 2013, and participants can win prizes like park benches, recycling bins or even a playground.

Students help school earned more than $3,500 in the TerraCycle and Capri Sun contest. Cumming Elementary School students have just reached the second level of TerraCycle and Capri Sun’s Drink Pouch Brigade milestone contest by collecting more than 18,000 drink pouches. For their accomplishment, the school earned more than $3,500. The Drink Pouch Brigade is a free recycling program that rewards people for collecting and sending their waste to TerraCycle to be recycled or upcycled. The Milestone Program began in September 2013 when Capri Sun added prizes for collecting certain amounts. Now, in addition to the money they earn for each piece of waste collected, participants can win prizes made from recycled drink pouches, such as park benches, recycling bins, a playground, and other fun rewards. "The Milestone Program is meant to inspire individuals and organizations to collect more waste while receiving prizes for their achievements," said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky in a release. "It is rewarding to see the students and administration get so involved in making this work. It’s an incredible achievement to have kept so many pouches out of the waste stream." Thousands of other schools across the United States participate in the Drink Pouch Brigade. To learn more about the program or to sign up, visitwww.terracycle.com.  The program is free to any interested organization or individual, and all shipping costs are paid. In addition, for each piece of waste received, participants earn money for a charity of their choice.