Vinay Mehta, chief information officer of the payroll processing firm in Queensgate, shares with readers his insights from a May trip to Orlando for the annual Front End of Innovation conference. His post continues a series of features in which local creatives and entrepreneurs document their experiences and inspirations as they travel. ... The highlight of the event was the great ensemble cast of keynote speakers.  Michio Kaku, who is one of the leading futurists of our time gave a very candid and forthright talk about the next 50 years.  Jeff Dyer (co-authored a book with the father of Innovation – Clayton Christensen) talked about the 5 skills of Disruptive Innovators.  Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine, talked about how we are entering a new age of Desktop Manufacturing.  And my personal favorite, Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle, who talked about how innovation has led him to develop a whole new industry that has as no small mission 100% reuse of all waste!

Kimberly-Clark Professional, Roswell, Ga., and TerraCycle, Trenton, N.J., have announced plans to expand the world's first clean room and laboratory garment recycling initiative to include a pilot program for gloves. Since the program's launch in October 2011, participating clean rooms and laboratories have sent in more than 7,000 lbs. of garment waste, including coveralls, hoods, boot covers, hairnets, and masks, to be recycled into plastic products such as plastic lumber, park benches, and picnic tables. Collections are on track to reach more than 350,000 lbs. in coming months, and both companies are actively pursuing additional locations for garment collection. Life Technologies Corp. is piloting a nitrile glove recycling program with Kimberly-Clark Professional, TerraCycle, and Thermo Fisher Scientific, which supplies the gloves and all recycling program materials. Employees at Life Technologies' Pleasanton, Calif., facility started recycling gloves in December 2011 to support the goal of becoming the first of the company's sites to achieve zero waste to landfill. "In 2011, our Pleasanton manufacturing site raised its landfill diversion rate from 37 to 83 percent, and in early 2012 we expect to reach over 90 percent," said Eve Nichelini, glove and garment recycling program manager for Life Technologies.

Bring your old rubber flip-flops to the Maher Garden Center for recycling your name will be entered into a recurring drawing to win Old Navy coupons. The James L. Maher Center is hosting a Flip-Flop Brigade Recycle Program through Wednesday September 30 at 5:00pm. Every time you bring your old rubber flip-flops to the Maher Garden Center at 906 Aquidneck Avenue, for recycling your name will be entered into a recurring drawing to win Old Navy coupons. Your old rubber flip-flops will be sent to Terracyle. They will be recycled into new products such as playground equipment, trash containers and other rubber household products. Old Navy has collaborated with Terracycle and is committed to reducing waste and thinking green. The James L. Maher Center is a Newport based not-for profit dedicated to providing services to nearly 300 individuals with developmental disabilities. Some of the 300 individuals participate in work programs; over 100 receive residential services; almost 90 children benefit from early intervention and literally thousands of people in the East Bay reach their destinations because of RIde transportation services.

Many people talk about being environmentally friendly, but members of the Oak Park Elementary School EnAct Club are taking action. The club, with 92 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students, sponsored a bottle cap contest and collected more than 1,017 pounds of plastic bottle caps in honor of Earth Day last month. Those caps will be sent to Aveda to be recycled into beauty product containers instead of winding up in a landfill or incinerator. Money raised from the contest will benefit cancer victims. Throughout the year, the students in the club take part in various recycling efforts. They placed containers in the school cafeteria and around the building to collect plastic bottles, dairy tubs, juice and chip bags. EnAct club members then clean and prepare that trash to be shipped to Terracycle. Terracycle, of Trenton, N.J., pays for the shipping, gives the club money and makes new products from the trash materials. Terracycle products are sold at Target, Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes. The club also coordinates paper collection for recycling at the school. A company called Abitibi then makes new paper from the recycled paper. The Oak Park Home & School Association receives money for each ton of paper the students collect. Members of the club also take part in North Penn’s Green Schools program, to help the district save energy. “I like how you get to save energy for the Earth and save electricity and money for the school,” said Rebecca Brandolph, 11, a fifth-grader who is in EnAct. Patrick Flatley, 10, a fourth-grader, said, “I like when we get to go outside and plant flowers for the environment. It’s fun and we get to do a lot of activities to help save the earth.” “I learned that there’s something called a phantom load, even when you think your appliances are off, you can still be using electricity,” said Garrett Zobel, 12, a sixth-grader. “It’s important to check.” Zobel also came up with the slogan: “If the light’s too bright, it’s not bad for your sight. Do the math and turn off half.” That explains the club’s action plan to get teachers to turn off lights. They’ve also used incentives like certificates as rewards and motivation to save energy, said Brandolph. Brandolph and Steve Kowalczyk, 11, who is also in fifth grade, were slated to do a presentation about what the club has done at the Green Schools celebration Tuesday. Their presentation shows that they measured how much lights in each classroom cost per year. “We went around to every classroom and got all the data and figured out the total cost for a year,” he said. Amy Walter, a teacher who advises the group, said the students have learned about “recycling and reducing energy and taking care of our planet Earth.” This is the sixth year for the club.

It’s pretty amazing to see what creations people come up with for recycled, upcycled and eco-friendly items. Recycling and eco-friendly are pretty common terms these days; upcycling isn’t quite as mainstream, but it’s getting there. Upcycle means taking what would otherwise be wasted material and using it for something else. In other words, taking scraps or excess from new products and creating something. In the past I’ve covered some of the best makeup bags for ladies — and there are many of options out there. Thus, it should come as no surprise that there are also some cool bags out there for gentlemen. And with Father’s Day creeping up we might have the perfect upcycled travel gift for the dad in your life, complete with a cool factor. It’s called an Upcycled Tent Dopp Kit made by the recycling and upcycling company TerraCycle. You can find their products on the UncommonGoods.com website. Recently, an Upcycled Tent Dopp Kit arrived in the mail for me to review, and when my husband spotted it his interest was piqued with a response of, “That’s pretty cool.” And it is. (Darn it, I should have saved it for Father’s Day!) These nifty toiletry kits are made from reclaimed fabric discarded in the manufacture of camping tents, which means they’re durable, lightweight, and water and stain resistant – just like a tent. In fact, after browsing the other TerraCycle items, I think my son would really like the upcycled lunch bag since he has outgrown the character-themed lunch boxes. What I find particularly nice about these products is that each upcycled bag will have its own unique characteristics. In other words, no product will be exactly alike. Just this morning I stumbled up on a Pinterest board where these toiletry bags were pinned on someone’s “gifts for dad” board, so I’m not the only one who thinks this toiletry kit would make a great gift for Father’s Day and the best part is he doesn’t have to be a camper to appreciate it.

Juice Bags: Unfortunately, common juice bags are a combination of plastic polymer and aluminum, which isn’t recyclable. But don’t throw them away – collect them and send them to your favorite charity. TerraCycle will donate 2 cents for every Capri Sun, Kool-Aid and Honest Kids drink pouch – and a penny for every other brand. Not only that, they provide free shipping. TerraCycle turns old juice bags and pouches into hip and colorful purses, totes and pencil cases. Check them out yourself at Target and Walgreens, or at teracycle.net.

Juice Bags: Made of a combination of plastic polymer and aluminum, common juice bags aren’t recyclable. But don’t throw them in the garbage – collect them and mail them to your favorite charity. TerraCycle will donate 2 cents each for every Capri Sun, Kool-Aid and Honest Kids drink bag – and they’ll also donate a penny for any other brand. Not only that, they will provide free shipping. TerraCycle transforms old juice bags and pouches into colorful hip purses, totes and even pencil cases. See them for yourself at most Target stores, Walgreens, or at teracycle.net.

Juice Bags: Unfortunately, common juice bags are a combination of plastic polymer and aluminum, which isn’t recyclable. But don’t throw them away – collect them and send them to your favorite charity. TerraCycle will donate 2 cents for every Capri Sun, Kool-Aid and Honest Kids drink pouch – and a penny for every other brand. Not only that, they provide free shipping. TerraCycle turns old juice bags and pouches into hip and colorful purses, totes and pencil cases. Check them out yourself at Target and Walgreens, or at teracycle.net.

The students at Menallen Elementary have learned many things throughout the school year, including the benefits of recycling. The students take part in two recycling programs, within the school and at home. The newer of the two programs is called Greenopolis, an initiative that helps to educate children on the benefits of recycling. Volunteer Janet Gallagher visits the school twice every week to weigh donated recyclables, which include plastic, aluminum and tin. Since it was introduced in January, the school has collected about 4,000 pounds of recyclable materials for the Greenopolis project. "They are doing a great job," school media specialist/librarian and project coordinator Christa Sabatula said. "It just keeps getting bigger and bigger." Sabatula said that the recycling was welcomed not only in the school, but in the community.

DwellSmart wants to better the environment and help improve our health. They have set high standards for the products they sell; they must sustain, protect, conserve, reduce, and/or share in some way. DwellSmart works hard to minimize their impact on the environment. As a company, they reduce and reuse all packaging material coming in and going out of their store. Store employee’s compost and carpool or travel on human power. Store fittings are either made from reused materials or are hand-me-downs. DwellSmart has teamed up with TerraCycle to offer customers fun and useful products made out of recycled “garbage”. TerraCycle buys “garbage” from non-profit companies and schools, upcycles the materials and turns them into a variety of fun and useful products. For my review, I received a TerraCycle Fiber Pot & Saucer and TerraCycle Flower & Rose fertilizer. The TerraCycle Fiber Pot & Saucer are made from bamboo, coconut fiber, and rice husks; they are 100% Biodegradable. The Fiber Pot & Saucer have a beautiful shape. The color variations are really attractive. I would never know that this set is made from recycled goods; it feels like it is a really high quality material.