In a show of support for New York City’s pledge to double recycle efforts by 2017, Honest Tea and partners GrowNYC, Recyclebank, Coca-Cola Live Positively, Global Inheritance and Five-Boro Green Services will place a 30-foot tall recycling bin in Times Square and attempt to crowd-source recycle more than 45,000 plastic, glass and aluminum beverage containers in ten hours. The plastic bottles collected will be recycled into essential gardening supplies including shovels, watering cans and plastic lumber, which will be used to build and cultivate an urban garden for PS 102, an elementary school in Harlem. “National recycling rates are nowhere near where they need to be,” says Honest Tea co-founder and TeaEO Seth Goldman. “Honest Tea is committed to finding ways to help Americans recycle more. We’ve helped install recycling bins in our hometown of Bethesda, MD and now it’s time to expand our efforts.” At the event in Times Square, bottles will act as currency. People who bring bottles down to “The Great Recycle” will be awarded points for each bottle recycled, that can be redeemed at the onsite TRASHed Recycling Store run by Global Inheritance. There, points can be redeemed for rewards such as cold bottles of Honest Tea, t-shirts and reusable bags, jeans, video games, and tickets to sporting events, concerts and Broadway shows.

Years before there were Pods, there were Dropps. Back in 2005, Jonathan Propper, CEO of Cot’n Wash Inc., Philadelphia, listened to his wife complain about lugging laundry detergent bottles and measuring cups up and down basement steps. He knew he could find an easier way. Propper’s “Aha!” moment led to the development of Dropps Laundry Pacs and the birth of an entirely new laundry category.

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".

Most of the things in your room right now will eventually become garbage. That’s the simple idea that in 2001 drove college freshman Tom Szaky to launch Terracycle, a company that collects waste and converts it into new products. For example, Skittles wrappers are combined to become a kite, while Honest Tea containers become a laptop case. His unusual concept has turned Terracycle into a $16 million company with roughly 100 employees at its Trenton, N.J., headquarters. EL: How did it all begin? Szaky: We started by producing liquid worm poop in used soda bottles, because my friends were using worm poop on their plants as an organic fertilizer. That was the beginning of making products out of garbage.

Turning worm poop into fertilizer was TerraCycle’s first big idea. Then they transformed discarded drink containers into consumer bling, which made them a world-recognized leader in this hot, new trend of “upcycling.” Upcycling is the conversion of waste destined for landfills into new products of better quality or a higher environmental value. TerraCycle upcycles unwanted trash into messenger bags, notebooks, and the list goes on. “Buy low, sell high” is the underlying business model for upcycling companies such as TerraCycle. They buy raw source materials (waste) at low cost and charge premium prices for their fashionable, environmentally-friendly upcycled products. But that’s not all. The upcycling companies’ business partners also benefit because their scrap waste is being reused. Instead of having to pay someone to haul their waste away, someone is actually paying for it and taking it off their hands.

“The diapers are very gross, horrible, but the shipping containers hold 100 percent of the smell,” assures Terracycle’s Albe Zakes. “We tested this by hiding them around the office and seeing if anyone noticed; they did not.” He may be joking, but the environmental dangers of dirty diapers are serious business, both in eco-impact and, Terracycle hopes, in profit potential. Disposable diapers take centuries to biodegrade. The average baby soils about 8,000 of them before toilet training kicks in, according to the EPA.

When I recently posted in a New York Times blog that biodegradability isn’t what it seems, and on Packaging Digest that we should be careful with biodegradable plastics and incineration habits, I got a few reminders that some compostable plastics are not made of PLA (polylactic acid), which is the most common polymer used for biodegradable plastics. Some are made of different types of biodegradable plastic that are more easily compostable in the backyard. This is very true, and I think my question has now become, which is the more sustainable of the two options: recyclable plastics, or biodegradable plastics? We already know that incineration is not the best method for disposal. While it is often referred to as “waste to energy,” it might as well be “waste to air pollution” because it adds to the carbon emissions (already a problem) and introduces other toxins to the atmosphere. I have always believed that recycling is the best way to go because it makes the most of the energy consumed to make the product. Composting is a great option, and is appropriate at times, don’t get me wrong. But let’s face it–it takes much longer and much more energy to make the majority of our plastics than the time and energy it takes to use that plastic. Think about a plastic cup: manufacturing the cup, and using the energy to make it, takes longer than it does to drink a soda out of that cup. In order to not waste the energy expended in manufacturing, the longer the life of the product, the better. It doesn’t make sense to throw out a pair of shoes that are barely worn, and same goes for a plastic.

Developing green technology isn’t child’s play, but children’s games can certainly inspire new ideas. Playground equipment made from old wind turbines, and a solar powered night light are just two of this week’s green tech finds.

Having an environmentally friendly culture isn’t just for big corporations. Churches that follow biblical Scripture to be good stewards of the environment also are working to lead by example when it comes to living green.

Get your garden on! Taryn Scher shares the must haves for anyone wanting to start a garden. All the links to the products you saw on our show are under Megan’s Notes at http://www.yourcarolina.tv.