Over the years, Fallston High School has had a number of famous visitors such as President Ronald Reagan and Rudy Ruettiger, the Notre Dame Football player. This year we may be adding a new celebrity to the collection. Our new art teacher Ms. Sauer has involved the school in a program called TerraCycle in the hopes that we can raise enough money to bring artist Kevin Reese here to Fallston. D. C. resident Kevin Reese is famous for his sculptures and his work with students at various schools. After studying acting and play writing in college, Reese began sculpting in graduate school and has since obtained 106 art residencies in the country. “He’s a great guy. He’s really good at breaking down information so that students can understand it,” said Ms. Sauer. Reese would be scheduled to visit sometime in April or May. If Reese were to come to Fallston, he would be working with Advanced Painting, 3-D, and Drawing and Painting to collaboratively build six different mobiles that would hang as permanent fixtures in the main hallway upstairs. The mobiles would be based on Alexander Calder’s work. “It’s cool to have students’ work permanently installed in the school,” said Ms. Sauer. “It gives the students ownership of the building.” The students would not only be learning about the artistic aspects of the project, but also the math and science of mobiles as well. The physics of how air movement makes mobiles spin and the science of how to build and balance the structure are concepts that Reese would be teaching. It’s a concept of “integrating science and math into art.” Bringing Kevin Reese to Fallston would be an incredible experience and a benefit to the whole school, but first we must raise the money. TerraCycle is an excellent way to raise money. The program’s idea is to “eliminate the idea of waste.” It was started in 2001 by college freshman Tom Szaky, a student who wanted to prevent trash from going into landfills. The program quickly became one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world. TerraCycle takes what most consider trash and transforms it into various products. This “trash” can be anything from old cell phones and broken computers to shoes, juice boxes, milk cartons, etc. Our part as a school is to turn in as much “trash” as possible. Boxes are located in every classroom where trash can be donated. The art teachers then send away the trash and receive money in return. Bigger items such as lap tops and cell phones are worth more money. Each Capri Sun packet is only about 1 cent. Most art teachers are giving extra credit for students who donate, and the Environmental Sciences are collecting donated trash from classrooms. Ms. McGraw’s class earned a doughnut party for bringing in the most trash by Friday October 5th. More opportunities like this will be offered soon. Another personal benefit to our school is that TerraCycle is not going to end once we raise enough money for Kevin Reese’s visit. The program will be a continuous fundraiser throughout the year to benefit the art department. Everyone can play a part in raising money for the art department through TerraCycle. “I think that the TerraCycle program is a win-win because its keeping all of the trash out of dumps and landfills, so its teaching students about conservation, but it’s also beautiful because it gives the kids a once in a lifetime experience to work with a professional sculptor,” said Ms. Sauer.

  The university's environmental club and Residence Hall Association partnered with Terracycle to bring a new recycling contest to campus.  

Although I have the beloved nicknames of “hippie,” “recycle nazi” and a few others, I tend to be proud with my green choices. But I still keep a few of my green habits on the DL. Why? Mostly because I try to maintain a low profile and not be the “angry green” girl. Or the weird girl with the green habits. Ready for my reveal of bizarre habits?

1) I’ll carry around “trash” around for a little while until I find a recycling bin. Although I try to find recycling bins everywhere, I have snuck a beer can or empty food container in my gym bag or purse on occasion until I get home to a recycling abyss.

2) I’ll keep something in my apartment until I can figure out what to do with it. I’ve been more cognizant recently that all trash goes into a landfill—where things aren’t breaking down, decomposing or really effectively being reused. When I write my “where can I Wednesday” column, it’s often because I have a product that needs to be disposed—and I have no idea how to responsibly. Right now, I have approximately six pairs of shoes in my closet until I can send them to Terracycle or find a used shoe drive. I just hope I don’t look like a green klepto.

The TCU Environmental Club works with Terracycle to help promote recycling

The university's environmental club and Residence Hall Association partnered with Terracycle to bring a new recycling contest to campus. The competition, which started after fall break, allows students to turn in materials such as candy wrappers, chip bag wrappers and juice boxes into collection boxes in their residence halls, said environmental club president Brooke Long.

With back-to-school season back again, now is a great time to instill a simple message your child will benefit from in the years to come: green is good. By implementing a few recycling tactics across your home and encouraging the same behaviors in the classroom, you can turn your student into a green "hero" and help her embrace earth-friendly habits. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 30 percent of consumer waste is recycled each year. This presents a great opportunity for children to use their green thumbs and take part in saving the planet. Here are a few ways to get your children started: 1. Give paper some TLC Paper accounts for as much as 50 percent of landfill space. Rather than add to this waste, implement a designated paper recycling bin that can be easily accessed where you tend to use paper most in the home or in the classroom. Or, better still, put your paper products to good use by challenging your kids or students to create paper craft projects. Then encourage them to recycle any scraps when finished. 2. Get crafty In addition to paper products, all kinds of waste can be "upcycled" into useful or decorative items. For example, a painted egg carton can make a unique storage box for small objects like beads or paper clips and tissue paper glued to a clean spaghetti sauce jar makes for an attractive vase. The possibilities are endless, so you'll not only be saving trash from a landfill, you'll be inspiring creativity. 3. Better together Recycling is often more effective when multiple people take part. Teachers can set a goal for their classroom, school or even individual students to recycle a specified amount of paper, plastics, aluminum and glass before the end of the school year. Parents can support this effort by encouraging children to not only recycle at home, but to also take recyclable materials into the classroom to participate in the school's project. 4. Adopt a program Encouraging your children to take part in a recycling-focused program can develop valuable habits while encouraging some fun. One such program is the Elmer's Glue Crew Recycling Program, a classroom resource designed to teach children how they can help save the planet, gives recycling-related lesson plans as well as fun and engaging projects for their students. Throughout the year, the classroom or school collects empty glue bottles and glue sticks to be recycled through TerraCycle. For additional information on the Elmer's program, visit ElmersGlueCrew.com and Facebook.com/GlueCrew.

I like to think of my self as a responsible consumer, I recycle what I can and compost when I remember but there is one company that takes recycling to the next level and reuses products I never would have thought possible. TerraCycle reuses everything from drink pouches to tape containers.  It is amazing the things that they can make from things we consider trash. The Terra Stone Plant Caddy is made with recycled juice pouches.  It is perfect for moving planters around in your container garden, I have mine in the house under a large plant that is heavy to move when needed. The TerraCycle plant caddy holds up to 200lbs (while it is not recommended, it can be used as a scooter, you remember the old ones from grade school PE class!).  The top of the caddy is made in the USA and the caddy is assembled in the USA, bringing jobs to the area. One of TerraCycle’s first products was their plant fertilizer.  TerraCycle was founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky,  they began by producing organic fertilizer, packaging liquid Worm poop in used soda bottles.  The Organic Based Garden Granular Plant Food is   all natural, made in the USA and comes in a recycled bottle that you can send back to TerraCycle to reuse again when empty.  I do find it pretty funny that the side of the bottle says “DO NOT EAT” but just in case of accidental ingestion, TerraCycle’s plant food is certified Non-toxic. TerraCycle products can be found at major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, independent garden centers and online.

Creating Green Jobs In The USA TerraCycle Videos's Channel Get 2 Cents For Your School Or Charity For Each Drink Pouch, Cookie Or Candy Wrapper, Etc. You Send To TerraCycle TerraCycle Pays All Shipping (all) Costs.

Students will now have a way to keep their environmental consciences clear when throwing parties by recycling red cups through the Red Cup Cleanup campaign.

The campaign, multilaterally coordinated by the Campus Center for the Environment (CCE), the Dining Services Sustainability Office and the ASUCD Environmental Policy and Planning Commission, will enable students to easily recycle red Solo cups by disposing of them at the South Silo drop-off point every Monday between 9 to 10 a.m. and 5 to 6 p.m.

The scheme operates with TerraCycle, a company dedicated to recycling products that are not usually recycled and would otherwise be sent to landfill.

“TerraCycle’s purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste. We do this by creating national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste,” TerraCycle’s website stated.

Red cups are made of grade-6 plastic, deeming them non-recyclable within Davis up until the scheme was brought in.

Third-year nutrition science major Sarah Azari and third-year environmental science and management major Teresa Fukuda, the two interns in charge of the Red Cup Cleanup, initiated the campaign in 2011 by collecting cups from UC Davis fraternities and sending them to TerraCycle. The cups are subsequently melted down and transformed into other usable products, which are sold in chains such as Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. Two cents per cup recycled is then donated to a charity of the program’s choice.

To date, over $500 has been raised by the CCE through the Red Cup Cleanup campaign. The hope is that by implementing the weekly drop-off, students can actively bring their used cups to be recycled in a sustainable way, increasing both the number of cups collected every week and the amount of money raised for charity.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the scheme [among] the fraternities. They’re really on board,” Azari said. “Hopefully it will be well-integrated into Greek life so that we can get it implemented into other campus organizations.”

The campaign initially targeted fraternities in Davis due to their large-scale and prolific use of the cups when hosting social events.

“Fraternities are an important place to start because of the sheer volume [of red cups] consumed. It’s important to start in a place where you have a lot of returns when you want to put a scheme like this in place,” said Cameron Scott, a fourth-year international relations major and active member of the Theta Chi Fraternity.

Fukuda agreed fraternities could be influential in the program.

“They [the fraternities] set a great example for the rest of the school population,” Fukuda said.

The charitable aspect of the program, furthermore, is integral to the fraternities’ participation, as it helps them fulfill their philanthropic activities.

“There’s already a philanthropic element to the scheme in that you’re working [toward] a more sustainable future, so I think it’s a double-edged sword where there’s two positive aspects to the effort,” Scott said.

Given the positive response among fraternities, the CCE hopes that momentum for the program will grow throughout Davis.

“There’s a lot of potential to get individuals outside the fraternities involved in the scheme,” said Tessa Artale, a fourth-year sociology and Spanish double major and CCE director. “Eventually we want to use our Facebook campaign and distribute flyers to roll out the scheme to the broader public. We feel individuals will be incentivized by the charitable element.”

The CCE is also hoping to attract grants from private organizations in order to provide further incentives for individuals to get involved in the program. The grants will be used to purchase items — such as trash cans resembling red cups and reusable cups — that will be distributed in exchange for used cups.

The trash cans, which will be designed by first-year art student Carmel Dor, will help students distinguish between recyclable and non-recyclable waste.

“Our biggest priority is getting the trash cans up and running so that students know where to recycle their cups,” said Issy DeMillan, a fourth-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major and participant of the scheme.

The prospect of reusable cups, however, has a split opinion among the fraternities, with some more willing to embrace the departure from red cups than others.

“The problem with buying our own set of cups is that it’s expensive. The fact we have this scheme, which we’re more than willing to help out with, and that we could get a set of reusable cups will save us money and saves waste,” said Juan Chavarin, the sustainability chair of Sigma Nu, one of the first fraternities to embrace the scheme.

Scott, on the other hand, said that the appeal of the red cups is the very fact that they are disposable.

“There’s comfort in the fact that someone wasn’t responsible for washing that cup. It came out new. People know where it’s been. A more popular approach would be to carry on using the cups and disposing of them in a sustainable way,” Scott said.

America Recycles Day, a program of Keep America Beautiful, is a nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. Every year on or around November 15 (America Recycles Day) events take place across the nation. This year, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is hosting an event from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Bring your recyclables to the Zoo and enjoy a wide array of activities that promote Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The Zoo will be accepting the following items for recycling on November 10:

• ALUMINUM CANS (funds to benefit Bat Conservation International)
• CELL PHONES AND ACCESSORIES
• NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, CATALOGS, JUNK MAIL
• INK JET AND TONER PRINT CARTRIDGES
• HOUSEHOLD PLASTICS with a recycle symbol and number 1 – 7
• COOKING & DINING SUPPLIES & UTENSILS (presented by Recycle Pots & Pans)
• ON-SITE DOCUMENT SHREDDING (presented by Northcoast Inc. Recycling Specialists) Shredding ends at 3 p.m.; Limit 3 recycling bags / boxes.
• ELECTION SIGNS (presented by Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District)
• PAIRED SHOES in Good condition (presented by TerraCycle)

Bring your recyclables to the Zoo and receive one free admission with the purchase of one regular admission, which is $8.25 for adults and $5.25 for children ages 2 - 11. For more information on America Recycles Day at the Zoo, call 216-661-6500 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 216-661-6500 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit clemetzoo.com

That's right. Instead of throwing them away and adding that little bit to the landfill, give them to me. I'll take them to work where they are collecting them. In turn, a company recycles them and donates 2 cents (for each one) to an education related charity! Yet another way that small adds up to big when everyone pitches in! (with very little effort in this case!) How cool is that? Just set them aside in a bag and give them to me next time I see you!And then just keep collecting...Thanks!