What’s in a name? Shakespeare posed the question in “Romeo and Juliet” centuries ago. Yesterday, artist Mike Carey, an instructor teaching the art of graffiti, had a 21st century answer: If you’re looking for a good name to use as your graffiti tag, the answer is originality, a little flare and not too many letters. The series of graffiti classes taught by Carey and other instructors kicked off in the headquarters for recycling company TerraCycle on New York Avenue in Trenton. “See?” Carey said after creating his tag with a few flicks of a felt-tipped pen. “This is nice and legible, you can write it quickly.” “Anybody can write their name,” artist and instructor Dave Klama said as the students furiously scribbled their own designs in their sketchbooks. “It takes a graffiti writer to write it in style.”

The kindergarten classes continue to collect Capri Sun pouches to recycle through the TerraCycle program. Please send in empty Capri Sun pouches with straws removed. All money earned is used to support projects in our school.

Albe was one of my very first guests when I started Mrs. Green. We’ve come a long way baby! The tagline on their website? Eliminate The Idea of Waste. Love it! You also know I love numbers so ponder these and plan to join us: Number of people collecting trash through partnerships with Terracyle – 26,511,927. Waste units collected: 2,262,684,595. Dollars donated to charities: $3,491,776.12. Counting the days. This show sponsored by Environmental Development Group (EDG)

TerraCycle produces various funky recycled bags through partnerships with major consumer goods manufacturers. It's easy to get carried away with all the things that aren't happening in the environmental space – the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies, faster adoption of renewables, binding reduction targets – there's plenty to gripe about. But this myopic view of the field distorts the true picture, which is packed with inventive ideas. All across the globe, people are coming up with inspired solutions and sharing them with others, from simple at-home fixes to intricate lab-grown systems. They don't get as much coverage as political debates and climate science scandals, but taken together, they form a compelling picture of a vastly different – and hopeful – future.

Ninety-seven percent of participants of the Green Your Home Challenge said it increased their knowledge of how to help the environment. The tale of one online game serves as a powerful example of how approaching old problems in new ways can bring about significant changes – in a relatively short space of time. The Green Your Home Challenge, a month-long game run by Recyclebank <http://www.recyclebank.com/>  in April last year, was highly successful in getting people to adopt more eco-friendly habits, simply by framing their actions in a gaming environment.

Looking for a fun, recycled craft for your Valentine? Based off a beaded necklace users create in Terracycle's Trash Tycoon game on Facebook, this do-it-yourself project is made from Kraft Cheese wrappers. It teaches kids (and adults) about recycling while preventing one more piece of garbage from going to the landfill, where it would last, forever. Instructions are available for download here: bit.ly/ValentineBraceletDIY.

The Naples Christian Academy received the Waste Reduction Awards Program, or WRAP, award from the Collier County Board of Commissioners in December. The WRAP award recognizes businesses, institutions and multi-family properties for enhanced and innovative recycling programs.

OWATONNA — While changing diapers on a baby is a necessary duty, it is not fun. It is easy to understand why disposable diapers quickly topped reusable cloth diapers as the bottom-covering garment of choice for incontinent Americans once these handy items came on the market. Many people, including me during the years I regularly changed diapers, felt at least a slight pang of guilt as our garbage cans filled with the smelly items and as we plunked down more hard-earned cash for a box that emptied all too quickly. In actuality, while Americans dispose of millions of diapers annually, dirty diapers comprise only about one and one-half percent of all materials buried in landfills. Still, it would be great if there was a more environmentally friendly alternative to getting rid of used disposable diapers.

Sometimes the neatest things just appear in my inbox that I just gotta share here.  Jewelry is always a nice go-to gift for Valentine's Day but how about putting a fun recycled twist to it? That's where TerraCycle’s wrapper necklace craft project comes in.  Check out this neat tutorial on making beaded jewelry using Kraft Cheese wrappers.   Of course any kind of wrapper would do. :)

Educators and students at North Live Oak Elementary are opening the doors of their school at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 8) to put their daily learning environment on display for Louisiana’s newly appointed Superintendent of Education John White. White is visiting the school as part of his effort to visit a few classrooms throughout the state and hear from “frontline” employees in public education. North Live Oak Elementary Principal Michell Stone said her teachers offer challenging and creative classrooms by integrating technology throughout the curriculum and involving students in hands-on projects and extracurricular activities.  In particular, the school is very committed to developing the students’ artistic talents by featuring programs that emphasize art, drama, choir and writing.  One of the school’s top events includes its “Evening with the Arts” program that showcases student work, she said.