As recently as a few years ago, campaigns and initiatives tied to Earth Day were worth a large chunk of any company's marketing budget. As more and more companies got into the game, however, consumers came to expect everyone to do at least something for Earth Day, and now it may have officially jumped the shark as far as corporate marketing and public relations go. Albe Zakes, global vice president of media relations for TerraCycle, which works with big corporations to run recycling programs, says he now dissuades customers from launching major initiatives on or around Earth Day.

To further enhance their eco-friendly philosophy, Ford Motors has gone onto create three exciting yearlong sustainability initiatives. Their recent partnership with lifestyle platformSHFT.com has allowed for the creation of a ten-part documentary series, the first of the three programs. SHFT, headed by Adrian Grenier and Peter Glatzer, has collaborated with Ford on the series entitled, The Big SHFT: 10 Innovators Changing Our World. The documentary highlights the profiles of ten individuals who are building new sustainable businesses. The ten part series will feature ten eco-entrepreneurs who are changing how businesses approach sustainability, and is scheduled to appear on various platforms including AOL, Huffington Post, U.S. Virgin Airlines flights, and SHFT.com. For the first two episodes, viewers will hear from Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, and Michael Crooke, former CEO of Patagonia and professor at Pepperdine University.

Biltmore’s winery recycles corks through TerraCycle, an organization that collects corks and other post-consumer materials and “up-cycles” them into products. Corks are collected at locations across the estate, including the winery’s tasting room and estate restaurants. “Sustainability is very important at Biltmore,” said Ted Katsigianis, Biltmore’s vice president of agricultural services. “We try to incorporate a variety of projects that have a positive impact.”

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value. It reduces the consumption of new raw materials when creating new products, and is contrary to downcycling, which is the other half of the recycling process which involves converting materials and products into new materials of lesser quality.

Founded in 2001 by Princeton freshman Tom Szaky, Trenton-based TerraCycle collects pesky hard-to-recycle waste, figures out a way to make it happen, and turns trash to treasure -- or at least useful household items, including this flower pot made from crushed computers and fax machines. $10, www.dwellsmart.com

Ford Motor Company and sustainability lifestyle platform SHFT.com unveiled the first of 10 digital short documentary films profiling cutting-edge innovators in sustainable businesses at a promotional event last night at the 404 NYC space in Midtown New York. Ford executive chairman Bill Ford introduced the film, along with actor/filmmaker Adrian Grenier and film producer Peter Glatzer, SHFT’s co-founders, who developed the The Big SHFT: 10 Innovators Changing Our World series. The film focused on Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, one of the fastest-growing green companies.

The challenges of a waste-recycling business. This is getting a little embarrassing. Twice now I have written about a new program that I think is going to allow us to dramatically expand our recycling efforts. Both times — when I first mentioned the program eight months ago and when I wrote about it again almost two months ago — I thought we were just a few weeks from introducing the program. Both times I was wrong. We have now determined that we are about six months away. The goal of our new program — we’re calling it “W.O.W.” or “World of Waste” — is to forge a direct link with our collectors, allowing us to recycle even more streams of waste. For example, today we collect about 2.5 percent of all of the drink pouches in America through a program that is sponsored by Capri Sun and Honest Tea and free to all participants. On the other hand, we have not yet been able to secure a sponsor to recycle used batteries. W.O.W. will allow us to collect batteries and a host of other waste streams. But in these cases, the costs will be paid by consumers, at least until we find sponsors. So what happened? Why the delays?

Since 2001, TerraCycle has risen from a dorm-room start-up selling worm poop-based plant food into a internationally-known growth business.   Its focus: providing consumer packaged goods companies and retailers with cause marketing programs and nonprofits with fundraising opportunities. TerraCycle has over 70,000 schools and charities collecting waste globally and they have earned collectively almost 4 million dollars just by recycling more! Whether you work for a large company, a start-up or an NGO, you'll pick up valuable lessons from Global VP Albe Zakes based on Terracyle's decade of turning "waste into wonder".

As recently as a few years ago, campaigns and initiatives tied to Earth Day were worth a large chunk of any company’s marketing budget. As more and more companies got into the game, however, consumers came to expect everyone to do at least something for Earth Day, and now it may have officially jumped the shark as far as corporate marketing and public relations go. Albe Zakes, global vice president of media relations for TerraCycle, which works with big corporations to run recycling programs, says he now dissuades customers from launching major initiatives on or around Earth Day.

The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970, celebrated across the country by people concerned with environmental issues. The date was chosen because April 22 is the first day of spring in the Northern hemisphere and the first day of fall in the Southern hemisphere . What can you do to honor the day? Here are some organizations to help you find recycling locations in your area. TerraCycle http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/ A company whose byword is “Outsmart Waste” is dedicated to eliminating of the idea of waste. It converts previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste into many products in over 20 countries. Earth911 http://earth911.com/ Recycle something you no longer need. List a material or item and your zip code to find a location that recycles the material you have. Call 2 Recycle http://www.call2recycle.org/ This company is the only free rechargeable battery and cell phone collection program in North America. Their slogan is “Make every day Earth Day.” AARP Recycling Guide http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/environment/recycling-guide/ Select an item from their list to find an organization that recycles it, from batteries to golf balls to wheelchairs. Better World Books http://www.betterworldbooks.com This organization has re-used, donated, or recycled over 73 million books. That’s 99 million pounds of materials that stayed out of the landfill. Great for the planet. Donate your books, then buy other books from them. As Call 2 Recycle says, let’s make every day Earth Day.