Even though the only things I throw away at work are the stickers from my fruit, I say my lunch is almost waste free because what I put into my containers isn’t completely waste free, yet. I make a lot of foods from scratch (my favorites are homemade granola and energy bars, yum!), and what I have to buy (flour, grains, pasta, etc.) I try to buy in bulk bins. For what I can’t get in bulk, I look for recyclable or compostable containers. I am also able to recycle most of my plastic bags through TerraCycle, like the bags from my oats.

Making recycling fun, rewarding and lucrative might be a few keys to reducing the amount of trash dumped in landfills. To that end, TerraCycle, a company in New Jersey, put on its Solo Summer Celebration contest, inspiring Cheryl Collins of Santa Rosa to collect over 21,000 plastic #6 cups. As a victor and a collector, Collins was able to raise about $1,200 for the Forestville based charity, Paws As Loving Support (PALS), an organization that provides assistance dogs for children with Autism. “I think what TerraCycle does is pretty awesome,” said Collins about the nationwide recycling contest she won.

The aquarium will send the collected wrappers to a recycling partner, TerraCycle, where the hard-to-recycle waste becomes new products like park benches, purses and backpacks. The aquarium earns two cents for each wrapper to help fund conservation and education efforts

One dilemma with this process is knowing what to do with the “dispose” pile. A couple options to free your mind and hands of the undesired refuse are recycling all containers and seeing which beauty product manufacturers offer recycling programs that allow the public to return containers. Since many recycling programs only accept clean containers, an imperfect yet effective solution is to empty the leftover contents of the containers into a reused jar, seal with a lid and throw into the trash for landfill. This method at least prevents the cosmetics directly entering the water supply. Check out Terracycle’s free recycling program that allows anyone to download a prepaid shipping label and send the company boxfuls of used containers. In return, the sender receives points that can be redeemed for charitable gifts or for a monetary donation towards schools or non-profit organizations of his or her choice.

Who would want that smelly trash you put out every day, you ask? Well, a company known as TerraCycle would actually want your trash, and pay you for it as well. The company has tie ups with schools and other organizations that usually collect large amounts of trash. However, they would pay individual contributors as well, and take up anything from chocolate bar wrappers to even scotch tapes. Better yet, they pay for the shipping as well. So here’s an excellent way to get rid of your trash as quick as possible, and earn some money while you do it as well

The Aquarium will send the collected wrappers to a recycling partner, TerraCycle where the hard-to-recycle waste becomes new products like park benches, purses and backpacks. The Aquarium earns two cents for each wrapper to help fund conservation and education efforts.

Lewis Frasier Middle School’s Future Business Leaders of America has teamed up with Terracycle for the 2013-14 school year to promote recycling in the school and community. FBLA members and their adviser collect and sort items for recycling to help eliminate waste. The organization targets plastic bottles, aluminum cans, drink pouches and potato-chip bags. The items later are redeemed for prizes for the school.

How many of you have heard of Terracycle?  This is a really neat company that ... recycles!  This is not your normal recycling though, they make some really neat products out of previously used products! And they would make GREAT gifts!  I received the neatest iPad case, a change purse and a tote bag.

Companies like The Naked Grape works with TerraCycle by setting up the the Naked Grape Wine Box Brigade, a program that collects the box, spout and plastic bag for recycling thereby potentially keeping millions of pounds of plastic from ending up in landfills. Creative upcyclers have found unique uses for the bags in the box as well. They refill the bags with water and turn it into ice packs or fill it with air to use as a makeshift pillow. Not only is upcycling the package a great way to keep the environment clean but it also adds to the product's packaging useful lifecycle.

For those of you unfamiliar with Terracycle, what they do is take the wrappers from everyday items - such as candy wrappers, juice pouches, and chip bags - and upcycle them into fun and stylish products. So today's gift idea is actually a dopp kit made from tents. The upcycled tent dopp kit is definitely a fun take on traditional dopp kits.  It has 3 separate mesh pockets, a rugged appearance, and a traditional tent closure