Kristina Greene, 41, helps Westford residents convert trash into treasure. How does Upcycle It! work? We take technically non-recyclable items and send them to TerraCycle, which pays 2 cents for every item we send in. The money goes to Westford schools; the items are made into other things. What kinds of things does Upcycle It! accept? Drink pouches, energy bar wrappers, cookie wrappers, chip bags, Elmer’s glue containers, candy wrappers, coffee bags, wine corks, oral care products, and writing instruments.

Apologies for not being able to post for a while, here's an update regarding the TerraCycle recycling program. Aside from the CapriSun/Drink Pouch Brigade, our team added new brigades to the program. We have added the following: Chip Bag Brigade, Writing Instruments Brigade, and Elmers Glue Clue Brigade.

The Sandy Valley High School Science Club is embarking on a recycling project called the "TerraCycle Recycling Brigade." The science club will collect used and empty Carpri-Sun pouches, Elmers Glue containers (both sticks and bottles), Plastic Baggies (like Ziploc), Cookie Wrappers (like Nabisco, Grandma's and Oreo's) and old cell phones. All items donated will be counted and turned into the TerraCycle company, who will in turn pay the school for every item sent in. This helps divert trash from the landfill and earns for a SV Science Club Scholarship and field-trips.

Another Recycling day is planned by Girl Scout Troop 3263 for September 11 at Market Square in South Hill.   New items have been added to the recycling collection and the Recycle campaign will include collecting several different items (all trash) to help raise money and awareness for recycling and they have found a company that will pay us for our trash or you can drop it off at Airtec in South Hill.  Some of the young ladies are earning awards with this project.  Several of the items that we will be collecting are: Ink jet and toner cartridges, Newspapers, Magazines, And paper, Used drink pouches (ex Capri Sun), candy wrappers, chip bags, cookie wrapper, Gum Packages, Cell Phones, Scott Toilet Paper wrappers, Kashi Packages, Used Neosporin tubes, Huggies Diaper wrappers, Malt-o-Meal cereal packages, Used Colgate Toothpaste tubes and boxes, Stonyfield Yogurt, Elmer’s Glue, Scotch Tape, and Phone Books.  If you would like additional information please go to http://www.terracycle.net If you would like to register please make sure you list Girl Scout Troop #3263 as the charity.  You do not have to register to participate in this event.  You only need to register if you wish to mail the trash to the company directly, however, the troop is currently registered and the above trash is what we are in need of to help this troop start saving the planet.

TerraCycle has introduced new Office Product Brigades, open to any supplier or consumer of office supplies and modeled after TerraCycle’s programs for schools that pay for the collection of drink pouches, yogurt cups and chip bags. These new programs, which collect any writing instrument, tape dispenser or glue product regardless of brand, were founded in response to the growing need to reduce the amount of useful materials going to landfill.

WOOLWICH TWP. Fifty first-grade students at the Gov. Charles Stratton School demonstrated what they've learned about recycling and composting this year in "Composting - The Musical." They sang songs on Thursday about what can be recycled, what can be composted and what kids can do themselves to help keep the landfills empty. "This year the first-graders got a chance to see first hand how they can make a difference," Joann Ellis, one of the school's teachers, said. The children have been taking part in a recycling program with Trenton-based Terracycle. The company makes eco-friendly items from materials that would normally be non-recyclable. Students at the school have been sending their trash to Terracycle for the last five months including 607 cookie wrappers, 9,025 drink pouches, 2,984 chip bags, 263 Elmer glue sticks and 24 Scotch tape rolls. For each item they donate Terracycle gives the school two cents, which gets donated to charity.

The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park is collecting non-recyclable items as part of a promotion to reduce waste and to raise money for various programs. Items being collected are: candy wrapper packaging from Mars/Wrigley or Cadbury; empty drink pouches from Honest Kids, Capri Sun and Kool-Aid; and empty Elmer’s glue bottles and sticks. For each item sent in, the Friends receive 2 cents. Those interested in volunteering should contact the group for further instructions at 718-601-1460, or go to www.vancortlandt.org. The program is done in conjunction with Terracycle, an eco-friendly group that “upcycles” the collected materials into new, ecofriendly and affordable products. For more information, go to http://www.terracycle.net.

Thanks to one of the Mega Sales at Kroger, our school is now raking in the pennies. How? By doing something that's good for the environment:  recycling. It all started when I bought five packages of Capri Suns at Kroger to fulfill part of a rebate I was working on. On the back of the package was information about Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> , a company that has kept over 1.2 billion pieces of trash out of landfills while fashioning super cool backpacks, pencil cases, tote bags, trash cans, even cork boards! Even more amazing to me was that they would donate $ .02 per pouch collected, to the school or charity of my choice!