Department of Planning and Natural Resources announced on Monday the unveiling of a beach plastic recycling program in the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose aim is to collect and recycle plastics from territorial coastal cleanup efforts. The Division of Coastal Zone Management worked with TerraCycle Inc., the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, to bring the program to the USVI.

Sea Scout Ship 5, out of Gloucester, recently partnered with the Gloucester Harbormaster in cleaning boat launches around Gloucester. To date, the Sea Scouts have removed trash from Lanes Cove, Stone Pier, Cripple Cove, Fresh Water Cove and, most recently, County Landing.

January may mark the first month of the Western calendar, but for many (including myself), the August and September months truly punctuate the New Year. Students, parents of students, and anyone who was ever either or both of these can relate: Back-to-school season is a time for new beginnings, and this too often means new “stuff.” Now is a prime time to reevaluate your habits, schedule, and routine as they relate to your mission to live your best life with minimal impact on the environment. A more sustainable routine is something to strive for year-round, but in the spirit of fresh starts, here are four simple ways parents and students alike can go green for back to school:

Click to listen to part 1 of What Goes Around, featuring Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of Terracycle, who proposes eliminating all waste and recycling literally everything.

It’s not just tin cans and newspapers.  One man says that, from a technical standpoint, everything can be recycled – cigarette butts, yoga mats, dirty diapers.  Even radioactive waste.  You name it, we can recycle it.  But we choose not to.  Find out why we don’t, and how we could do more.

TerraCycle Inc., the Trenton-based recycler of nontraditional waste products, has been named a finalist in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award” competition, the chamber announced recently. TerraCycle is one of 17 finalists chosen from around the country, recognized for their achievements and contributions to American economic growth. Winners will be announced at a Sept. 12 ceremony in Washington, D.C., that is part of the 2017 Small Business Summit. In addition, finalists are entered in an online vote for the Community Excellence Award, aimed at acknowledging companies that use leadership and engagement to positively impact the quality of life in their community. "We are honored to be listed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a finalist for their Small Business of the Year award," company spokesperson Lauren Taylor told NJBIZ in a statement. "We love what we do, so it is a thrill to be recognized for the work we do every day."

Today, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) published 8 Business Cases for the Circular Economy, illustrating how companies can accelerate growth, enhance competitiveness and mitigate risk through circular solutions. The macro-opportunities associated with implementing the circular economy are clear. Now, companies need to know how circularity will impact their business as well as specific industry or sector opportunities. Summarizing the results of over 100 interviews and survey responses, WBCSD identified eight business cases managers can use to justify circular economy practices across the board:

We save money on fair-trade organic coffee by buying five-pound bags.  Larger bags also mean less garbage per pound of coffee, but those metallized plastic bags are still an environmental problem: Most recycling programs won’t take them, and they’re not biodegradable. For several years, I collected coffee bags—our own and those discarded by friends, co-workers, my church, and people attending various events at church who saw my flyer on the bulletin board and tacked their bags to it—until I had enough to pack a box very full, and then I mailed it to the Netherlands, to a company that was making tote bags out of coffee bags. That was pretty cool, but trans-Atlantic postage is expensive, and then the company began struggling, reduced production, and told me they didn’t need more bags.  I’m not sure if they’re still in business now.  But I never stopped collecting bags.  I needed another way to recycle them. TerraCycle specializes in recycling unusual items that are difficult to recycle because of the multiple materials used in one item—things like juice pouches, toothpaste tubes, and three-ring binders.  I learned about TerraCycle from my friend Suella, who began collecting markers and pens for TerraCycle several years ago, including all the markers and pens my son and his friends collected from their school.

Local musicians are invited to attend a free recycle and restring event at Hubbard Music in Niles Friday, July 21 at 6 p.m. Sponsored by D’Addario, musicians can bring any old instrument strings for recycling and get their electric or acoustic guitars restrung with D’Addario NYXL or Nickel Bronze Acoustic strings. Old strings collected during the event will be recycled through Playback, D’Addario’s free, national recycling program. After college, Mark Tirabassi used what he had in his bank account to open Hubbard Music which quickly expanded to two stores. However, with his music career taking off, Mark was forced to leave the stores in his brother’s hands and hit the road to tour with bands like Collective Soul. After his return, Mark introduced rentals into the business and provided everything necessary for the young, local bands. Since then, the family-owned business’s clientele has grown to include bigger names like Tony Bennett. Mark has also written several books, posts how-to videos on YouTube and gives lessons at libraries and local businesses. Hubbard Music has been in business for 26 years.