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ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

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Happy Green Holidays with TerraCycle

“Who put this recyclable item in the garbage???” My kids have gotten used to me asking this question as I’ve become more environmentally conscious over the years. I knew the habit had become deeply ingrained when I attended a church dinner and found myself trying to move a bunch of recyclable 2 liter bottles someone had set on top of the trash to a recycling container. Since I moved from halfhearted recycling to serious recycling around ten years ago, I’ve tried to support companies who are reusing waste in creative ways, like Terracycle. They take traditionally nonrecyclable waste, drink pouches, chip bags, toothbrushes and many other products, and create new and innovative products. Have you ever wanted to recycle your nonrecyclable items? If so, Terracycle has a program that pays you cash! You collect these items and send them in to Terracycle. They produce reusable goods like this circuit board clipboard and you get cool cash in your pocket. It’s a win-win situation.

Recycle Candy Wrappers

TerraCycle Include USA

Remember to recycle your candy wrappers to TerraCycle. Collect them at home or work in a bag or plastic container then bring them to the Waverly Recycling Center TerraCycle drop-off site. This is a fundraiser for the Waverly-Shell Rock schools. Check out www.terracycle.net and like "Waverly TerraCycle" on Facebook.

Green efforts spread throughout Highlands Middle School

TerraCycle Include USA chip bags (Frito-Lay) toothbrushes (Colgate) candy and gum wrappers (Mars) drink pouches (Capri Sun/Kraft Honest Kids/Coca-Cola) to glue sticks (Elmer's)

Dana Krueger, a special education teacher at Northview's Highlands Middle School leads a Green Team at the school, dedicated to mammoth recycling efforts. The recycling efforts have garnered awards for the school and money from a recycling company. Through the efforts of a Green Team, recycling has become part of the school culture and daily efforts at Northview’s Highlands Middle School. The Green Team was launched in March 2011 and now because of the recycling club’s efforts the school recycles everything from candy and gum wrappers, chip bags, drink pouches to glue sticks, toothbrushes, shoes, and electronics. Recycling has been a long-time passion for Dana Krueger, a special education teacher at Highlands Middle School who leads the Green Team recycling club that meets weekly after school. She stresses to students, staff, and parents that just making one change can “make a huge difference.” Dan Duba, principal at Highlands Middle School, said the efforts of Krueger and the recycling team have lead to community building. “I believe it’s a life skill and something that is good for everyone,” said Duba, noting Krueger’s passion for the environment has spread throughout the school. Krueger and her Green Team have taken over an empty classroom where recyclable items are gathered and sorted. Recycled items initially have come from the school but now students and parents bring items from home. Krueger said most of the recycled items are boxed and sent to TerraCycle in New Jersey who pays the school. Although the focus is on recycling and reducing waste, last year the program made $1,200 that will be used for the recycling club and buying things for the school. The school now taps and stacks the lunch trays that are rinsed off and recycled through Dart Container, a company that retrieves about 20,000 trays a year. Every two weeks all the plastics go to Chef Container and paper is routinely recycled through the Paper Gator. Highlands Middle School was rewarded with a bench and birdhouse made of recycled plastic bags after winning a national competition from Virginia-based Trex Company last year. “We sent in nineteen, 44-gallon bags full of those plastic bags,” Krueger said. With a grant from the Northview Education Foundation, the Green Team sponsored a toothbrush swap. Students bringing in toothbrushes to recycle were given a brand new one to take home. Another foundation grant funded a Vermicomposting system with a worm factory that will demonstrate to students how food waste is composted.

A review of TerraCycle's recycled products

TerraCycle Include USA M&Ms USPS

Do you like to keep the earth clean by recycling? I’m always finding ways to recycle. I’ve even got my daughter, who is only three, recycling. When someone tries to throw away a can or plastic bottle she will pull it out of the garbage and put it in the recycling bins we have. I think it’s great that she wants to help me keep things recycled. Makes me feel great that I’m helping my daughter learn to help keep the earth clean. I’m very excited to have had the chance to review some recycled products from Terracycle.

Give TerraCycle products as gifts this year and help outsmart waste!

capri-sun bear naked Include USA M&Ms USPS

A few weeks ago I was sent a set of M&M Eco Speakers from TerraCycle to try. I have to say, I am pretty impressed with the quality of sound these tiny little speakers can project. The best part, they are eco-friendly! The M&M Eco Speakers are portable, lightweight speakers that are made with recycled materials. Their 3.5 mm universal plug allows you to play music from your iPod, iPhone, MP3 player, laptop, or computer. I was very excited to try these out on my iPod, iPhone, and iPad. When you get them, they come flat and you simply fold them to form the speakers. It is very easy to do!

Review: Terracycle Binder and Pencil Case

capri-sun kraft foods Walmart home depot Include USA drink pouch brigade

I have been in love with Terracycle items for a LONG time now. They have been “in the works” since 2001, but major sales began in 2004, with items being sold at The Home Depot and WalMart in Canada. They made their way to the US in 2005 with fertilizer and plant food. They grew quickly, and in 2007 they started making the items that I have fallen in love with, recycled waste everyday use items, such as backpacks, binders, pencil cases and folders. In January of 2008, TerraCycle met with Kraft Foods and by February, Capri Sun signed on as the leading sponsor in the Drink Pouch Brigade, and this is where the items that I received for review come in.

Eco-friendly Halloween Tips

TerraCycle Solo Cup Include USA Candy Wrapper Brigade (Mars)

Halloween is the second largest consumer driven holiday of the year, yet the scariest component of the holiday is the bite it takes out of the environment. Currently, the candy market consumes nearly as many resources as the meat industry, due to the use of milk in chocolates. In addition to the carbon footprint left behind by mass candy production and companies pumping out costumes and plastic pumpkins, Halloween has a significantly adverse effect on trash streams and landfills. Greening Halloween on a national scale has been slow in comparison to efforts to improve other holidays, such as Christmas. To take part in these efforts on a large scale, check out GreenHalloween.org. The site offers volunteer opportunities and action kits to help your neighborhood go green for Halloween. For those who cannot resist the tradition of trick or treating be sure to log on to Terracycle and join their Candy Wrapper Brigade. TerraCycle accepts individual wrappers, large bags and multi-pack bags. Earn points for Earth friendly products and donate to charity all at the same time.

Location: Cocoa, Florida

28.351669311523 ; -80.726181030273

Even though Hallow’s Eve quickly approaches, it isn’t too late to take an active part in reducing your scary footprints during this year’s festivities. Encouraging green practices and spreading the word in your neighborhood could be the best treat of the season. Tips for an EEK-o-friendly Halloween: • Create your own unique costume. Child or adult, costumes are expensive and disposable. By using materials from home or other reusable items, your costume is sure to be one of a kind and eco-friendly. If you are at a loss for ideas, check out do- it-yourself blogs for simple costumes or get really into the spirit with video-tutorials on special effects make-up. Just be sure to research alternatives to toxic make-up and adhesives before getting started. • Donate store bought costumes to thrift stores, costume shops, play houses, or drama clubs. Many times, these organizations thrive on donations. • Use green shopping bags or create your own treat bags out of old pillowcases instead of buying any. • Save and reuse your candy wrappers for art projects or crafts. Earth911.com has a small list of ten projects to put those wrappers to use instead of sending them to the landfill. • Decorate using natural elements that can be saved for reuse, returned to nature, or composted after the holidays. Use gourds, squash, pumpkins, fall leaves or garden/wild flowers. Plant bright orange mums in your garden or make your own wreath from branches lying around in the yard. Disposable decorations account for a large amount of Holiday waste. If you have commercial décor, be sure to store it for reuse, or donate it to a local play house, thrift store, or other charity. • Compost jack-o-lanterns and un-carved pumpkins or gourds along with leaves or flowers used in decorating. • Remember to keep seeds for roasting or throw them out for wildlife in your backyard. Unfortunately, most pumpkins sold for carving lack the taste and texture suitable for eating, so for an extra green advantage, try to buy organic food pumpkins and paint them instead of carving, then they can be eaten. • To encourage others to join the green initiative, staple small eco tips to the treats that you hand out. Inform others in your area about the environmental cost of Halloween or offer them simple green tips for daily living. Use ideas from GreenHalloween.com action kits or check out Reverse Trick or Treat hosted by the Global Exchange. • If hosting a party, try to use non-disposable tableware. If disposable is the only option, sign up for TerraCycle’s Solo Cup Brigade so that they can be recycled. Most plastic disposables will be accepted through local curbside recycling programs. More than ever, national holidays are contributing to environmental and social detriment through unfair trade practices, overconsumption and increased waste. It is imperative that daily eco-conscious living is carried over into holiday practices. Don’t buy into the ever-growing commercialism of the season. Instead, challenge yourself to be as green as possible and focus on deep rooted traditions. Simply researching the basis of traditions can provide an outlook that is sure to be more Earth friendly than the modern day equivalent.

Four ways smart companies make greener products

TerraCycle Include USA

With consumers complaining about excessive waste in the packaging of products they buy, companies are being forced to pay attention to the issue. The paths they might take are illuminated by Deloitte in a downloadable paper on its website. The paper highlights environmental and economic benefits that can flow from radical, substantive changes to the packaging chain. The paper lists four opportunities to make changes, and steps to follow:

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1. ‘Passive’ materials switch

Using non-toxic, bio-based, or recycled materials rather than materials drawn from non-renewable resources can help, even if the product and package otherwise do not change. This approach is called passive because consumer behaviour does not need to change to secure the gains.

The consultants cite Vermont-based Seventh Generation’s plastic bottles, which now contain at least 80 per cent post-consumer recycled content, more than three times the industry average of 25 per cent.

2. ‘Active’ materials switch

In this approach, materials are altered to use recyclable, compostable, or reusable materials. Then consumers must change their behaviour in order to maximize the environmental benefits. “Market research can help companies determine whether consumer adoption rates will be high enough to justify a switch, and help guide marketing campaigns designed to encourage the desired behaviour,” the paper notes.

3. Design changes

The environmental footprint of a product can be significantly reduced if changes are made to its design, or to its packaging. That is what happened with B.C.-based Method’s creation of an “eight times” concentrated laundry detergent. That move reportedly reduced overall packaging volumes by 36 per cent, compared with its two-times concentrated product, and reduced the average carbon footprint by 35 per cent.

The Deloitte consultants advise that modifications affecting the size, weight or shape of the product should be co-ordinated with distributors and merchandisers, because it will affect how the product is shipped, stored and displayed.

4. Supply chain redesign

Redesigning the product supply chain can be powerful, as companies have found when they take packaging waste from other products and use it as inputs for manufacturing something else. The consultants note that Massachusetts-based Preserve and New Jersey-based TerraCycle are creating consumer goods such as toothbrushes, pencil cases and tote bags out of discarded yogurt cartons and drink pouches. Some companies are nearly eliminating packaging altogether through better integrated supply chains.

“The goal is to deliver the product – or better yet, its function – directly to customers. An analogy is the digitization of media – why produce CDs when you can … disseminate the data to your customer’s computer or smartphone?” the paper points out. How to implement changes The consultants stress that achieving these results require more than engineering prowess. It also involves a savvy approach that draws on many aspects of your firm’s expertise. Start with an assessment of the environmental impact of the current packaging to understand which elements contribute most to the footprint, and what tradeoffs you face in various types of environmental impact, such as water, energy, or waste. Determine which packaging attributes are most important to customers. Collaborate with suppliers as you design changes, to develop the most effective approaches. And market your efforts credibly. “Communications around sustainable packaging efforts (including marketing/labelling of the product itself) should be truthful, objective, and supported by measurable facts,” the consultants advise. “In other words, avoid green-washing.”

Solmonese playground equipment being replaced

TerraCycle Include USA Drink Pouch Brigade (Capri Sun

Norton —

Through fundraising the Solmonese Parent Organization (SPO), of the J.C. Solmonese Elementary School, has been able to fill budget gaps and provide the school with necessary support over the years. Annually the group raises approximately $15,000 it puts towards different projects at the school, according to SPO co-chairman Jill Bercovitch-Blake. “We are unique in that we are all about the JCS and work to build a community and a sense of family in the school,” Bercovitch-Blake told the school committee on Monday, Oct. 15. Over the last three years the SPO has raised enough money to replace the outdated 27-year-old wooden playground structure that students have used for generations. “Hopefully it will be climbed on for the last time this year,” Bercovitch-Blake said. She told the board the structure will be replaced by the end of the school year and need volunteers to help break down the old and install the new equipment. “We need the help of the community to take it down and to build it,” Bercovitch-Blake said, adding how impressed she is in regards to the volunteers that have already stepped forward and offered a hand. “They are amazing,” she said. The SPO hosts two major fundraisers annually, a cookie-dough sale in the spring and the Muffin Meadow Contest, held at the JCS Fall Festival this past weekend. Other ways the group raises funds is through recycling juice pouches in conjunction with www.terracycle.net. They receive two to three cents for each pouch. Another way they bring in money is through the Box Top program (www.boxtops4education), earning 10 cents for each Box Top. Combined, the two programs bring in anywhere between $3,000-$4,000 each year, Bercovitch-Blake said. “Ten cents at time, it adds up,” she said. Activities the SPO supports include; bus fees for field trips, teaching supplies, and graduation night for graduating seniors at Norton High School. Bercovitch-Blake said the group works to create a positive learning environment for all students within the district. “In a community you help each other out,” Bercovitch-Blake said. For more information on the SPO email SPO.JCS@gmail.com.

Exchanging Waste for Awesome Gifts with TerraCycle #NGgiftguide

capri-sun bear naked Include USA M&Ms USPS

What if you could reduce waste and get some awesome gifts at the same time? No seriously. What if you could give someone garbage and they create the coolest gifts for those special people in your life? I’m for real!

TerraCycle upcycles and recycles traditionally non-recycable waste (including drink pouches, chip bags, tooth brushes and many more) into a large variety of consumer products. These products keep waste out of our landfills and contribute to a cleaner world.

I was provided some of the coolest items ever to review (and to add to my gift giving list!) I received the Upcycled Mail Sack Tote that as soon as I opened the box, hubby and I were fighting over it!

Posts with term Include USA X

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