As consumer interest in green lifestyles grows, customers are no longer satisfied with simply buying eco-friendly products. They are as equally interested in the impact their product packaging has on the environment, and are mindful of what they are throwing away with every purchase. This puts a lot of pressure on consumer product companies, as fully recyclable packaging can be difficult to produce. Despite the fact that many municipal systems have switched from dual stream recycling to commingled recycling, a lot of product packaging still cannot be processed through curbside pickup. Confounding the issue further is the fact that a lot of packaging tends to be made from a mix of materials. This typically means the packaging remains unrecycled, as the cost of sorting and processing the mixed components is too high for most municipal systems. This means that consumers have no choice but to throw most of their packaging away, regardless of their interest in keeping waste out of landfills.

I think one of the best things that you can teach your kids is the value of money. Obviously, parents are going to disagree about the specifics but the basics – what it is, how you use it, the importance of spending or saving it wisely – are pretty universal. When it comes to kids saving and earning money, it may also be time to talk kiddie tax. The kiddie tax is the tax imposed on kids at the parents’ tax rate and not at the lower rate of the child when income reaches certain thresholds. The rules can be tricky and depend on a number of factors, including the age of the children, as well as the amount and source of the income.

'Human Resources' (Pivot): The Pivot channel may still be in its infancy, but it's already got an impressive batting record — like, for example, this reality show about TerraCycle, an environmentally-minded company located in Trenton, New Jersey. As one of the purported "fastest growing green companies in the world," TerraCycle and the nerdily sardonic geniuses that work there have the goal to eliminating all waste by recycling and upcycling the traditionally non-recyclable (everything from food wrappers to cigarette butts). The show follows around TerraCycle's employees – led by their eccentric boss, Tom Szaky – and falls somewhere between a self-aware workplace comedy and an environmentalist's wet dream that somehow never ventures into preachiness.

Cedar Forest Elementary School in Spotsylvania County is one of five winning organizations in the country that helped collect and recycle more than 2.5 million Elmer’s glue sticks and glue bottles as part of a nationwide recycling contest. In the Elmer’s Classroom Cleanup Challenge, students and teachers sent their empty glue sticks and glue bottles to TerraCycle through the Elmer’s Glue Crew Brigade. “They were able to help the environment and earn money for the charity of their choice,” Emma Swanson of TerraCycle noted in an email. According to a press release from TerraCycle, teachers and students at Cedar Forest took part in the program at the end of the last school year. The idea was to ensure that less classroom waste made its way into the landfill.

As regular readers know, Campus News is often asked to review items from companies large and small. We only review items that actually pertain to our audience, and then, after testing them, usually give them to staff and readers via our Facebook page. In our mailbag also came an actual mailbag! A small company called TerraCycle is making what they are saying is an iPad case made of recycled post-office mail bags. They are very unique, and do fit a 10” tablet fine. They have lots of little pockets, too. You should still have a protective case on your tablet – this offers little protection from bangs and drops – or you could just use this bag for carrying your note pads and various instruments. It seems suitable for a male or female.

Calling breakfast the most important meal of the day is no exaggeration. Without breakfast, your metabolism can suffer, performance and concentration are apt to decrease, and hunger throughout the day can result in overeating during future meals. In addition to nutrition, a growing number of consumers are finding that there are other aspects of breakfast that are important. For them, making the most of breakfast includes watching how they spend their money and not wasting anything they buy. To help, here are some tips on how to get the most out of your breakfast—and your money.

Outsourcing: if your small business isn't doing it, you're doing something wrong. Before you light the torches and sharpen the pitchforks, I don't mean outsourcing to China. Let's take a step back, I see it happen often - many small businesses attempt to master every corner of their business model without venturing outward to third parties for help. Instead of partnering with a corporate IT firm, they establish an in-house IT department that employs a full-time specialist with a salary and benefits; instead of contracting an experienced manufacturer, they pay to operationalize their own manufacturing facilities.

Tiffany Threadgould is living a DIY life. The Chief Design Junkie at TerraCycle, an international waste management company headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey, grew up recycling. So when it came time to furnish her post-college New York City apartment on the cheap, upcycling was a natural next step. “I was just taking cast offs from the street and making things from found objects,” Threadgould says. “It wasn’t really environmental — it was more about cost.”

As we began filming TerraCycle’s reality-television show, “Human Resources,” we quickly became aware of the challenges of walking the line between promotion and entertainment. We wanted our clients, customers, vendors, investors and staff to be comfortable with the direction of the show. But we also wanted to keep the content engaging and entertaining enough for viewers.

Copper River Salon and Spa is the area's very progressive socio-cultural-environmentally conscious center for beauty and wellness supporting local non-profits, women's causes and partnering with TerraCycle with recycling beauty product containers and practicing green preservation n her salon.