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When: Sunday, August 7th at 8:00 p.m. eastern time Where: On Twitter, we recommend you use TweetGrid to keep up with the party. To learn about using TweetGrid for Twitter parties watch the video at the end of this post. Hashtag: #ecoback2school What is a Hashtag? How to Join: RSVP in the comments with your Twitter name. (You don’t have to RSVP to join in the fun but you can only win a prize if you RSVP) Like our sponsor Ultimate Green Store on Facebook. Follow @Retrohousewife5 and @UltGreenStore Use the #ecoback2school Hashtag in your tweets. Be on Twitter at on August 7th at 8 p.m. eastern time! Sponsor: Prizes: Terracycle Drink Pouch Pencil Case Prang Soybean Blend Biodegradable Crayons Green Apple Eco-friendly Highlighter Pencils And a $25 gift certificate for The Ultimate Green Store! Remember to RSVP below to have a chance to win the prizes above! You also must be present at the party to win. While everyone is welcome to the party the prizes can only be shipped to addresses in the US. How to Use Tweetgrid for a Twitter Party

Tom Szaky was just a Princeton freshman when he discovered a treasure in an unlikely place: behind the university dining hall. The short version of the story is that Szaky discovered that the organic waste produced in the dining hall could be naturally composted by worms and turned into fertilizer. When Szaky started packaging this fertilizer in used soda bottles, he began producing the first product made entirely from waste. As a result of this discovery, Szaky began a school program that teaches younger generations to change their habits and rethink the way they view waste. Instead of immediately throwing something aside – they should think, “What can I do with this? Can I make something out of this?” Forget about having reusable items sit in a landfill; you can get creative and sew juice pouches together to make a pencil case or iron shopping bags to make a tote.

This year, a group of sixth graders, collectively called “The Leaders for the Future,” spearheaded a recycling program at Lawrence Intermediate School that culminated with a mass delivery to TerraCycle waste collection at the end of May. The students began the planning stages in January during a two-day character education program, sponsored by State Farm Insurance. The program was designed to encourage leadership among the youth. Students developed a plan of action to reduce the amount of trash from the cafeteria and individual classrooms. In the lunch room, bins were set out to collect Capri Sun drink pouches and Frito-Lay chip bags. The leadership group sorted out these bins, packaged the recycled goods, and sent them to TerraCycle in Trenton, N.J.

This year, a group of sixth graders, collectively called “The Leaders for the Future,” spearheaded a recycling program at Lawrence Intermediate School that culminated with a mass delivery to TerraCycle waste collection at the end of May. The students began the planning stages in January during a two-day character education program, sponsored by State Farm Insurance. The program was designed to encourage leadership among the youth. Students developed a plan of action to reduce the amount of trash from the cafeteria and individual classrooms. In the lunch room, bins were set out to collect Capri Sun drink pouches and Frito-Lay chip bags. The leadership group sorted out these bins, packaged the recycled goods, and sent them to TerraCycle in Trenton, N.J.

The example of TerraCycle from the US shows how sustainability and charity can go hand in hand. In the US alone, more than 12 million people are already collecting garbage for Terracycle. The company uses it to create new products, such as bags, loudspeakers or cushions. In the space of only four years, TerraCycle has managed to increase its turnover from 4.5 million euros to an estimated 14 million euros this year. Globally, the company has now set up more than eighty thousand collection points. People are paid for collecting, but then donate the money as a next step. So far, the company has been able to raise more than one million euros for charitable causes.

To help quench festival-goers’ thirsts on Friday, the Recycling Club was selling ice cold bottles of water and juice pouches, with one thing on their minds: recycling. “The bottles are for recycling,” explained Debra Stewart, a paraprofessional at Shell Bank. “There is a company called TerraCycle that pays three cents for every pouch and then make bags, backpacks and other things out of them. They recycle snack bags and cell phones and the school can register. They help organizations earn money while recycling.”