We are happy to team up with Terracycle for the 2011-2012 school year. TerraCycle and Capri Sun are working together to convert the drink pouch material into unique tote bags, pencil cases, plastic lumber and pavers! A TerraCycle-Capri Sun recycling bin will be placed in the cafeteria and we are hoping to fill it quickly. Please remind your child to use the TerraCycle-Capri Sun recycling bin when disposing their Capri Sun drink pouch. This is an excellent way to earn money for the school while teaching our children environmental responsibility!

Sunset Primary Mom Helping The Environment, One Pouch At A Time With the help of the TerraCycle program, Kelly Tilton has helped to make students understand the value of recycling. One of the things she has done has set up a bin at the school in which students can recycle their drink pouches. Kelly Tilton is a busy woman. Aside from being a mom and a business owner, the University Place woman is also doing her part to help the environment. And as she tells the story, she "just kind of stumbled upon" her contributions last year. Two of Tilton's four children  - Ben, 9, and Rachel, 6 - attend Sunset Primary, where their mom is a member of the PTA. She buys them the Honest Kids brand of fruit drinks that come in pouches. One day last year, she saw on one of the packages that the pouches could be recycled. In fact, through the TerraCycle program, one pouch could earn her 2 cents. (Click here to find out more about TerraCycle) As a member of the Sunset PTA, Tilton figured she could use the pouch-recycling program as a fundraiser for the group. Sure, it was only a few cents for every pouch, but over time and with plenty of kids participating, the money could help pay for things like field trip costs. So, Tilton and the rest of the Sunset PTA got permission to place a bin in the school's cafeteria where kids could throw away, er, recycle their pouches. That's right, everything from Capri Suns to Honest Kids to Minute Maids. The group put out the bin in May last year. So far, kids have recycled more than 5,000 drink pouches, which has earned the group $100. "It's just been amazing," Tilton says. "The kids, they did it all year, even if we're not in school." The program is great for students, she says, because it teaches them the value of recycling non-traditional recyclables like plastic cartons and newspapers. Also, the pouches are recycled in such a manner that students can actually get a sense that their recyclables are being used. For instance, Tilton has a handbag that is made out of recycled Capri Sun pouches. There's no sign that she'll be stopping anytime soon, either. She has another son, James, 4, who's about to start at Sunset, and Sarah, who turns 2 years old next month, is on her way there. "I'm going to be stuck doing this forever," she jokes, "which is a good thing."

Parents and kids at the K-2 school finished fifth in a statewide recycling contest sponsored by TerraCycle, a company started by a Princeton University dropout who sold organic “worm poop” fertilizer in used soda bottles and then branched out to make lunch bags, fences and other products from hard-to-recycle materials. TerraCycle partners with major brands to create products from packaging that otherwise might pose a public relations problem for them. The company was founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, then a 20-year-old freshman at Princeton. When his worm fertilizer idea only finished fourth in the Princeton Business Plan Contest, he left school to develop the concept and won a $1 million competition. He turned down the money to retain control of the company. TerraCycle now operates from a Trenton headquarters decorated by graffiti artists. The company has turned nearly 2 billion pieces of trash into a line of 246 recycled and “upcycled” products sold by the likes of Walmart and Whole Foods Market. More than $1.6 million has been generated for schools and charities. On Earth Day 2009, Tom Szaky published Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle is Redefining Green Business.

What is upcycling?  According to a very cool company, TerraCycle, upcycling is defined as using every aspect of waste as value.  Every year billions of drink pouches and candy wrappers and of in dumpsters and landfills across America.  Check out these items below and see upcycling in action.  See the volunteering section at highschoogle to learn more about how you can be part of TerraCycle’s Brigade movement, by starting a club at your school.