Terracycle, a company specializing in eco-friendly products, opened their Green Up Shop at the Port Authority in NYC. The products don’t incorporate circuits, sensors, or motorized parts, but they can provide you with some nifty ideas for upcycled materials and sustainable textiles. The creators of the products make sustainability look easy. Surely, you can step it up a notch and integrate some wearable tech!

From pencil pouches made of Capri Sun juice packets to candy wrapper tote bags, TerraCycle is putting the fun back in recycling and even rewarding people for their sustainable efforts.

Channel 1 News Profiles TerraCycle and Its Brigades.

A Capri Sun juice pouch does not seem big enough to hold anything but juice. Lincoln Elementary students think differently. They're using old Capri Suns pouches to turn into purses and help the environment while they do it. Students at Lincoln are participating in Terracycle Brigades, a nationwide program that pays schools and non-profit organizations to collect non-recyclable waste that would otherwise go to a landfill, according to a press release.

Lindsay Hetzler discovered a way to turn her daughter Lorelei’s favorite drink into money for her school. By her account, Hetzler buys “a ton” of Capri Sun juice boxes for her family. Last fall while reading the back of one of the drink pouches, Hetzler learned about TerraCycle, a New Jersey-based company that makes eco-friendly products from a wide range of nonrecyclable waste materials. She learned about a free nationwide program offered by TerraCycle called “Brigades” where you can earn money for your school or nonprofit organization by collecting nonrecyclable items and mailing them to the company.

I hadn’t heard ofTerracycle until it made news recently by making a deal with Wal Mart. Until April 29, the national chain will sell Terracycle’s upcycled backpacks, pencil cases and more, right next to the product the new merch was made from. Want a frito lay purse? Hit up the chip aisle. For a Capri Sun backpack, head down to the drink section.

A whole bunch of brand new TerraCycle items will be available, during April for a limited time only, at every single Walmart across the country. Starting April 5th, nearly 60 TerraCycle products will be sold right next to the original items they were made from. Cheetos kites and tote bags made from Frito-Lay wrappers will be sold with bags of Frito-Lay chips, while notebooks and purses made out of skittles and M&M wrappers will be sold right next to bags of Mars Candy!

I abhor Wal-Mart. Like there are many other activities involving pain or displeasure that I’d rather be involved with that step foot in a Wal-Mart. But I love Terracycle and their products being available at Wal-Mart is good for them.

I am not too big a fan of Wal Mart. I sure used to be! It used to be so easy to go into a Wal Mart, and everything I needed was right there...need to get milk, a new bra, and a litter box? All right there! And then close to Easter I went there one night to get something..and I walked in and felt like I was being assaulted by bright lights and multi colored plastic eggs. I actually felt really overwhelmed. Walking through the aisles and aisles of food made me feel like I was going to be sick...I still will go there if I need to, but I usually try to find a more local option if I can. We are on a limited budget, so while I do try to go to more natural stores, we just cannot afford it for all of our needs.

From their classrooms to store shelves, Fort Myers schools are learning how waste can be reused instead of discarded. With hundreds of students eating lunch everyday, the teachers at several area schools - St. Michael Lutheran, Orangewood Elementary and Colonial Elementary - used to see a lot of used drink pouches get thrown away.