TerraCycle is a company renowned for turning trash into treasure. Here's an inside look at the graffiti-clad warehouse in Trenton, N.J. where much of the upcycling magic happens.Late last week, I had the pleasure of touring the Trenton, N.J. offices of TerraCycle, a “waste solution development” firm with the most admirable mission to "eliminate the idea of waste."

In honor of National Campus Sustainability Day on October 24, Mount Holyoke is starting a new tradition, Sustainability Week! This year, students, faculty, and staff have come together to celebrate with several special events going on from October 20-27. I’ve written about some of the highlights below. If you’re interested in doing more, check out the college’s additional offerings on the official Sustainability Week page.   First up, the Eco-Reps are launching a TerraCycle Campaign. We will be in Blanchard tabling about it from 4:30-5:15 on Monday, October 22. TerraCycle is a nonprofit organization, which takes items that are often thrown in the trash and recycles or upcycles them into wallets, binders, picnic tables, and more. Here at MHC, you can help by thinking before you throw away food packaging such as Frito-Lay & Deep River chip and pretzel bags. There will be collection bins in Blanchard starting Monday and in Kendade the following week; you won’t be able to miss them. Each collected bag earns $0.02 for Gardening in the Community, a youth-focused urban agriculture project which offers kids the chance to learn how to grow food in the city, providing access to healthy produce in Springfield, MA.   Tired of junk food? Don’t worry. You can still participate in Sustainability Week and get fed, too. On Tuesday, October 23, the Food Justice Society is teaming up with Dining Services to throw an Iron Chef Competition in Torrey Dining Hall. The competition will showcase student talent and local ingredients. Cooking will take place from 4:00-6:00 p.m. The most important part, tasting, will be from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Email Maxine Getz with questions. Despite all the tempting treats, Sustainability Week isn’t just about food; it’s about all aspects of green living in a college community. On Wednesday, October 24, from 4:15-5:30 p.m., come to Blanchard’s second floor and lounge area to check out Mount Holyoke’s environmental initiatives. Participating groups--The Environmental Action Coalition, Office of Environmental Stewardship, Facilities Management, Food Justice Society, Miller-Worley Center for the Environment, Dining Services, Library and Information Technology Services, Parking and Fleet Services, and Campus Police--will showcase videos, demonstrations, and tips for how you can keep the college green. Did I say Sustainability Week wasn’t all about food? I was kidding. There will be sweets.   Later that day (Wednesday, October, 24 from 7:30-9:00 p.m.), the Eco-Reps and Food Justice Society are hosting Eco-Jeopardy in Blanchard’s Great Room. Tim Farnham, chair of the Environmental Studies Department and Director of the Miller Worley Center for Environment will stand in for Alex Trebek. Other professors and students will be on teams, testing their eco-knowledge in a range of categories. The winners will receive baskets stuffed with things like fair trade chocolate, natural lip balm, and framed photographs of MHC's campus in the fall. Everyone who attends gets to watch with a mug of hot cider and my favorite donuts from Atkins Market. I suggest you donate $2, which will help local nonprofit Gardening in the Community continue their fantastic programming, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Bring your friends and your reusable mugs. For more information, visit the Event Page or contact the Eco-Reps with questions.   Lastly, on Thursday, October, 25 7:30 p.m., the Miller Worley Center for the Environment will present their Environmental Leadership Lecture in Gamble Auditorium. Robin Mann, former Sierra Club president and MHC class of 1973, will discuss where the environmental movement is headed and talk about her experience with one of the most powerful environmental organizations in the country.   I hope to see you out celebrating and learning more about environmentalism at MHC. Let’s make Sustainability Week yet another MHC tradition to remember!

With Hillsborough High School having received more than $2,000 worth of benefits from participating in TerraCycle programs since 2010, technology teacher Tim Zavacki has some big plans for this upcoming school year.   TerraCycle is an "upcycle" company that makes consumer products from pre- and post-consumer materials. Organizations are able to participate in the company's programs, donating what would normally be trash such as chip bags, candy wrappers, cereal boxes, apparel and electronics to be “upcycled” and used for new products such as duffel bags, tiles, and school supplies. Over 83,000 items have been upcycled since 2010.   “I have been named a most valuable collector by TerraCycle for being in the top 100 in the USA for successful collections,” Zavacki said.   The school has found success with TerraCycle, winning its Erase Your E-Waste Keyboard and Mouse Brigade last year, receiving brand-new Logitech keyboards and mice in return. Zavacki was able to distribute them throughout the school for teachers and students to use.

The grange has partnered with TerraCycle and is collecting dairy tubs, Frito Lay bags, juice pouches, keyboards, computer mice, web cams, laptops, digital cameras, MP3 players and ink cartridges. Items can be placed in the large green bin at the grange hall door. Proceeds will benefit local community service projects. All items need to be in grocery bags. For more information call 397-8058.

Four years ago, Julie Beachboard saw a tiny ad for TerraCycle on the back of a juicebox. A paraeducator at Long Neck Elementary School, she helped jumpstart the initiative with her students. TerraCycle is a nationwide program based in New Jersey that promotes recycling. The company gives new meaning to the adage "one man's trash is another man's treasure," turning garbage into useable products. Long Neck, along with Sussex Academy of Art, Kidz Academy and Friendship United Methodist Church, are the latest to join the efforts to both clean up the environment and help out an array of charities.

חברת המחזור הבינלאומית – טרהסייקל – מגיעה לישראל בכדי למחזר זרמי פסולת בלתי-מתכלים – כגון, שקיות חטיפים – ולייצר מהם מוצרים ידידותיים לסביבה.

LONG BEACH - It's the end of lunchtime at Longfellow Elementary School and students are lining up behind purple recycling bins to sort their trash. The bins are divided into six categories: energy bar wrappers, chip bags, plastic bags, city recycling, juice pouches and cookie wrappers. "I like that we recycle in our school because it's good for the planet," said 6-year-old Jenna Jacob, as she recycled her cookie wrapper. For students at Longfellow Elementary at 3800 Olive Ave. in North Long Beach, recycling is more than a lunchtime activity; it's a way of life, said Principal Laurie Murrin. "It's become part our campus culture," she said.

LONG BEACH - It's the end of lunchtime at Longfellow Elementary School and students are lining up behind purple recycling bins to sort their trash. The bins are divided into six categories: energy bar wrappers, chip bags, plastic bags, city recycling, juice pouches and cookie wrappers. "I like that we recycle in our school because it's good for the planet," said 6-year-old Jenna Jacob, as she recycled her cookie wrapper. For students at Longfellow Elementary at 3800 Olive Ave. in North Long Beach, recycling is more than a lunchtime activity; it's a way of life, said Principal Laurie Murrin. "It's become part our campus culture," she said.

Emmorton Elementary is taking the old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" to a whole new level. Since the beginning of the 2010 school year, the school on Tollgate Road has raised $8,000 by recycling everyday trash, such as chip bags, candy wrappers and juice pouches, through national program TerraCycle. "Our kids are really excited about it," Emmorton's principal, Dr. Peter Carpenter, said. "It's an amazing program." Carpenter originally heard about TerraCycle from his cousin and became intrigued.

WILDWOOD — Jason Fuscellaro’s classroom at Glenwood Avenue Elementary school is full of boxes of empty chip bags, juice containers, candy wrappers and empty tubes of toothpaste. It was trash that was headed for a landfill, but because of Fuscellaro’s class’ new recycling program they’ll be turned into new products and a money maker for the school. The program is through TerraCycle, a Trenton company that says it wants to “eliminate the idea of waste.” The company created recycling systems for various products where anyone sign up to be part of a group, called brigades, and start sending them waste. For example, there is a brigade for chip bags that works with Frito-Lay to “up-cycle” the bags into products like tote bags, plant containers or park benches. The brigade has to collect enough chip bags, 350 for this program, to be counted.