MADISON – As the community strives to “go green,” one question is: How can residents recycle “non-recyclables?”
The
Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee, which works with the Madison Environmental Commission and other committees in the borough to encourage environmentally sustainable practices, has one answer.
“As we strive to make the town and the world a more environmentally-friendly place, we are confronted with certain challenges,” Amy Terracciano of Sustainable Madison said, “one of them being how to recycle unusual items such as juice pouches, granola bags, and cosmetic packaging. We use these items on a daily basis and due to the complexity in recycling them, they often end up in the landfill.”
In order to help eliminate such waste and encourage people to recycle the “non-recyclables,” Terracciano said,
TerraCycle was formed “in order to prevent these items from being improperly disposed.”
TerraCycle is an international “up-cycling” and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products, and re-purposes the materials into affordable, innovative products.
TerraCycle started in 2001 and for the past 16 years the company has spread to 23 countries, involving more than 60 million people in recycling common household items.
I think one of the best things that you can teach your kids is the value of money. Obviously, parents are going to disagree about the specifics but the basics – what it is, how you use it, the importance of spending or saving it wisely – are pretty universal. When it comes to kids saving and earning money, it may also be time to talk kiddie tax. The kiddie tax is the tax imposed on kids at the parents’ tax rate and not at the lower rate of the child when income reaches certain thresholds. The rules can be tricky and depend on a number of factors, including the age of the children, as well as the amount and source of the income.
It’s almost time for school in our neck of the woods and my kids are getting ready for back to school. We’ve been getting all our school supplies and everything for school and making adjustments so they are ready when school starts next week. I received a kids messenger bag from Terracycle to feature for my back to school guide. Here’s my daughter with her back to school look.
For those of you unfamiliar with Terracycle, what they do is take the wrappers from everyday items - such as candy wrappers, juice pouches, and chip bags - and upcycle them into fun and stylish products. So today's gift idea is actually a dopp kit made from tents. The upcycled tent dopp kit is definitely a fun take on traditional dopp kits. It has 3 separate mesh pockets, a rugged appearance, and a traditional tent closure
A shelter volunteer turned the humane society on to TerraCycle, which works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. and 22 other countries to take the packaging from many common, but difficult-to-recycle products and turn it into affordable, innovative products items such as lunch boxes, office supplies, fertilizer, clothing, jewelry and more (view products on
dwellsmart.com)
A great place to look for fun and unique products is Terracycle.com.
At Terracylce they take old products like juice, chips, and candy bar wrappers, and upcycle them into fun new products.
TerraCycle Brigade programs are recycling fundraisers for schools and community groups across nationwide. All Family Focus Blog readers have to do is collect trash, send it in for free (we provide prepaid UPS shipping labels), and earn points and receive cash for their school or other charity of their choice. People can be eco-friendly while simultaneously give back to the community. Dig it!
Recycling pioneer TerraCycle, Inc. is the newest partner of online fundraising program GoEco! The Ultimate Eco-Fundraiser. Schools and other non-profit organizations, including TerraCycle Brigade members, can earn 15% from the online sale of hundreds of eco-friendly, upcycled TerraCycle products just by signing up for GoEco!
DwellSmart wants to better the environment and help improve our health. They have set high standards for the products they sell; they must sustain, protect, conserve, reduce, and/or share in some way.
DwellSmart works hard to minimize their impact on the environment. As a company, they reduce and reuse all packaging material coming in and going out of their store. Store employee’s compost and carpool or travel on human power. Store fittings are either made from reused materials or are hand-me-downs.
DwellSmart has teamed up with TerraCycle to offer customers fun and useful products made out of recycled “garbage”. TerraCycle buys “garbage” from non-profit companies and schools, upcycles the materials and turns them into a variety of fun and useful products. For my review, I received a TerraCycle Fiber Pot & Saucer and TerraCycle Flower & Rose fertilizer.
The TerraCycle Fiber Pot & Saucer are made from bamboo, coconut fiber, and rice husks; they are 100% Biodegradable. The Fiber Pot & Saucer have a beautiful shape. The color variations are really attractive. I would never know that this set is made from recycled goods; it feels like it is a really high quality material.
