Instead of tossing cigarette butts into landfills, a new recycling program will see the pervasive litter turned into something useful – industrial pallets and charitable donations to be precise. “It’s revolutionary,” TerraCycle’s Communications Manager Denise Barnard said about their new program. “It’s the first in Canada.”

In honour of Earth Month, TerraCycle Canada is recognizing its top 10 waste-collecting schools. Hamilton’s Holbrook Elementary School placed seventh, diverting 7,448 units of waste from landfills during the past six months – September 2011 to February 2012. The school collects drink pouches, personal care and beauty packaging, plastic diaper packaging, inkjets, e-waste (cell phones and laptops) and coffee packaging through Brigades® programs sponsored by brands such as Kool-Aid, Garnier, Huggies and Tas- simo. Holbrook School earns anywhere from two points (equal to $0.02) to 500 points (equal to $5.00) for every piece of waste received.

A few weeks ago I saw a tweet on my feed that was promoted by Garnier. They had partnered up with a company named Terracyle to start a personal care and beauty recycling brigade. I looked into the program and I thought that it was a pretty cool idea so I signed up. It’s so simple and it’s a great way to divert more garbage getting into landfills when it could be recycled. For every item that is sent in, you earn $.02 which eventually can be redeemed for charity gifts or donated to a non-profit or school of your choice. So now you’re doing two great things: recycling even more AND helping out your community!

More than three tonnes of material was collected from University of Alberta students as they moved out of residence this spring. According to the U of A’s Office of Sustainability, 6,576 pounds were collected between April 16 and May 2 during the inaugural Eco Move Out.

After eight months of classes and a few weeks of exams, thousands of students living in residence at the University of Alberta pack up and move out each spring. Many, with limited space in their cars or luggage, simply throw out belongings they have gathered to create a home away from home.

In honour of Earth Month, TerraCycle Canada is recognizing its top 10 waste-collecting schools. Oakville’s St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School placed second, diverting 12,782 units of waste from landfills during the past six months – September 2011 to February 2012. The school collects drink pouches, cookie and cracker wrappers, sandwich bags through Brigade®  programs sponsored by Kool-Aid, Mr. Christie’s and Glad brands, and earns two points (the equivalent of $0.02) for every of waste received. In addition, the school was the top collector in the Cookie and Cracker Wrapper Brigade® program for the same period. Since joining TerraCycle in February 2010, the school has collected 63,446 units of waste and raised $634.46 for fundraising.

Holbrook Elementary School TerraCycle team members Matthew Wilson (left), Hudah Nsubaga, Courtney Smith, Kaitlyn John, Fareeha Hassan and Ryleigh Altenburg placed seventh in a nationwide contest to reduce waste by diverting 7,448 units of waste from landfills during the past six months. Since joining TerraCycle in November 2010, the school has collected 30,372 units of waste.

Want to go green in your salon? Sign up for TerraCycle, a free waste collection program for hard to recycle materials, like lipstick and mascara tubes, shampoo and conditioner bottles, shaving foam tubes, nail polish bottles, eyeliner cases and pencils, hair gel tubes and more!

We learned about eco-friendly products and ways we to be part of sustainable living at the Green Living Show, which is held at the Direct Energy Centre CNE from April 13th till April 15th.

Les écoliers de Sainte-Marguerite-Bourgeoys de Victoriaville savent qu’il peut-être non seulement gratifiant de détourner les déchets de la poubelle, mais que cela peut leur rapporter des sous. Leur institution figure à la liste des dix meilleures écoles engagées dans les programmes TerraCycle Canada.