Almost fairytale-like, Noble Elementary School this year converted trash into treasure. But it took a lot more than a fervent wish and a wave of a wand for the Berryessa school to win a $50,000 play structure for the school's empty playground. In a mega-recycling campaign, for one year students and parents saved, sorted and shipped what normally ends up in the trash: empty Doritos bags, Lunchables trays, Elmer's glue bottles, Colgate toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes. And there was more: Neosporin tubes, tortilla bags and all types of pens and markers. In all, parents collected and sorted into 37 bins items from both home and school, and sent them to Terracycle, a not-for-profit New Jersey company dedicated to recycling the previously unrecyclable.

http://greenchildmagazine.com/?page_id=114 See Page 9.

When you hear “worm poop made him millions” you are left thinking two things. The first is, “Wow!” The second is, “Yeah, it’s simple, but I probably never would of thought of using worm castings as a natural fertilizer….” But Tom Szaky, in a tale of true entrepreneurialism, did. And in 2001, he dropped out of Princeton to build this eco-friendly business he named Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.com/> . When we spoke to Szaky three years ago in our first Young Guns segment he was already making more than $6 million in revenue annually. True to the company’s recyclable premise, the product was sold in used soda bottles, and it made its way onto shelves at big-name stores like Lowe’s (LOW <http://quote.foxbusiness.com/symbol/LOW/snapshot> : 19.18, -0.74, -3.71%) and Home Depot <http://www.foxbusiness.com/topics/business/companies/home-depot.htm>  (HD <http://quote.foxbusiness.com/symbol/HD/snapshot> : 33.84, -0.97, -2.79%). Terracycle was also just starting to branch out into creating other products from waste, from backpacks made from chip bags to totes made from Capri Sun juice pouches.

After a student told him about TerraCycle, a science teacher signed up the school to collect non-recyclable packaging, starting a school-wide recycling program.

The designers at TerraCycle refer to themselves as "junkies." The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders may not recognize job addiction, but after speaking with the company's resident design junkies, it is not hard to imagine withdrawal symptoms on days off. Not simply because the Trenton, New Jersey-based recycling and upcycling firm does eco-friendly work, but because so much of what they do, or fail to do is an exercise in recombinant aesthetics.

This year, bringing green into the fall and winter is easy. While packing lunches as kids head back to school, options for staying eco-friendly and keeping lunch tasty are at your fingertips. TerraCycle, a pioneering recycling and upcycling company, offers eco-friendly, upcycled and recycled lunchboxes as well as a way to earn money by collecting non-recyclable food packaging such as cookies, chips, and juice pouches.

This year, bringing green into the fall and winter is easy. While packing lunches as kids head back to school, options for staying eco-friendly and keeping lunch tasty are at your fingertips. TerraCycle, a pioneering recycling and upcycling company, offers eco-friendly, upcycled and recycled lunchboxes as well as a way to earn money by collecting non-recyclable food packaging such as cookies, chips, and juice pouches. Once they're done, students can make their own environmental efforts by joining a Brigade, collecting their wrappers and sending them in to TerraCycle to earn money for their school. In addition to the lunchboxes mentioned above, TerraCycle turns the wrappers into eco-friendly backpacks, pencils and notebooks for students to enjoy.