"Too often environmental education is guilt-driven, globally minded and makes resource conservation and recycling a chore. Through our programs, contests and DIY projects, TerraCycle strives to make environmental responsibility more fun and engaging!" -Albe Zakes, Global VP, Media Relations, Terracycle

3. DIY your costume Handy with a thread and needle or a set of power tools? Show off your DIY skills – and conserve resources – by making your own Halloween costume this year. Instructables.com’s special Halloween section features a wide range of costume ideas and instructions, including a simple sewing pattern for a Smurfette costume and detailed directions for zombie make-up. Or dig through your recycling bin to create a one-of-a-kind kids’ robot costume. All you need is cardboard boxes, an old CD, yogurt lids, plastic bottles and these simple directions from TerraCycle.

Halloween is about disguise, and a lot of what we do here at TerraCycle deals with disguising trash, making it more appealing and actually useful! Halloween, and the following holiday season, are great times to really rethink what we do with our trash. Halloween provides the incentive and some extra encouragement to start getting creative with your trash. It’s always exciting to see what kids come up with when they use their creativity – we just held a “Box That Rocks” contest, in which participants designed TerraCycle collection boxes. I saw monsters, trains, robots – everything! Students did a great job of disguising ugly bins into something cool for the cafeteria or school hallway, which reminded me of when TerraCycle was just getting started and I was able to go to school and work hands on with kids, teaching them how to upcycle.