So far we have collected 63 units and earned 326 points! With just our points from December we have earned enough to plant three trees, provide a goose to three families or we are half way to protecting an acre of land sponsored by the National Wildlife Organization.

HAMILTON - You can help the Hamilton Public Library earn some money just by collecting your Keebler, Nabisco, Scott and Frito Lay product wrappers and bringing them to the library. Once collected, the materials are sent off to Terracycle, where they are “upcycled” into products such as tote bags, backpacks and more. In return, the library gets cash to put towards the purchase of books, periodicals, and other items for patrons. Officials urge you to help keep the township “clean and green” by bringing your wrappers to the Hamilton Library located a 1 Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Way. Residents who want more information are asked to contact Terracycle Program Coordinator Scott Cianese at 609-581-4060 or through email at SCianese@Hamilton.com.

Love it or loathe it, Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching. Some are planning romantic dates with their longtime sweetheart. Some are planning to finally ask out their crush at recess. Regardless of your plans this Valentine’s Day, TerraCycle has sweet ways to celebrate that are good for the planet, good for the wallet and good for you.

The recycling mania at Penn has officially begun. From February 5 through March 31, Penn will compete in the 2012 RecycleMania Tournament, a recycling competition held annually between over 600 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Penn’s student Eco-Reps are the main voices of the competition on campus and will be promoting it over the course of the next eight weeks. Coming off last year’s final University-wide recycling rate of 28.94 percent — about one percent off the target goal of 30 percent — Penn is now aiming for 32 percent.

Gamification.org defines gamification as "the concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging." In gamification study, regularly used game design techniques and mechanics are defined and introduced into atypical game scenarios. An example is the game Trash Tycoon where the player has been left behind in a city abandoned because of its extreme garbage problem. The player takes time to build a trash collecting empire that incorporates recycling and organic trash collection solutions often seen in real-life situations. The game employs the popular game mechanic of community collaboration as it is played on Facebook.

A day dedicated to a leather ball being thrown around under bright lights in front of thousands of people munching snacks in oversized plastic containers, waving paraphernalia that may all ultimately end up in a landfill, is not a day one would associate with going green. But the people behind Super Bowl XLVIare making some impressive strides to reduce their impact.

TerraCycle, an award-winning company that specializes in recycling hard-to-recycle waste, wants to help small businesses achieve their green initiatives while giving back to the community. If your company signs up to a TerraCycle "Brigade" and begins collecting specific items such as Scotch tape dispensers, toner cartridges, pens, drink pouches, potato chip bags and more, TerraCycle will process those items and your company can earn money for the school or charity of your choice.

LOVE THE PLANET THIS VALENTINE’S DAY Celebrate with Eco Games and Gifts from Upcycling Pioneer TerraCycle Love it or loathe it, Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching. Some are planning romantic dates with their longtime sweetheart. Some are planning to finally ask out their crush at recess. Regardless of your plans this Valentine’s Day, TerraCycle has sweet ways to celebrate that are good for the planet, good for the wallet and good for you. While cleaning up trash doesn’t seem like a romantic way to spend the day, you can celebrate the holiday and effect real-world change with special Valentine’s Day items, products and decorations in Trash Tycoon, Facebook’s first upcycling game from Guerillapps and TerraCycle. In the game, you can clean up trash and upcycle it to fun products like necklaces, Valentine’s Day cards and heart shaped wreaths to send to friends or to decorate your town. Players’ hearts will swell because Trash Tycoon creates positive social impact by donating 10% of in-game dollars to environmental projects sponsored by CarbonFund.org.

Sally’s brand cereal, the first Malt-O-Meal brand available in Canada and now moving into the U.S. in early 2012, starts off being green by its box-less, resealable bagged format. But the sustainability doesn’t stop there: Malt-O-Meal also purchases wind energy credits to offset 100% of the electricity used in the products’ manufacturing. And in partnership with TerraCycle® Canada (www.terracycle.ca), an international upcycling company that takes packaging materials that can’t be recycled and repurposes that material into new, high quality goods, consumers can collect empty cereal bags and send them to TerraCycle for upcycling.

WESTFORD -- Students at the Nabnasset School will be able to enjoy the beauty of flowering pear trees after Sustainable Westford awarded a $1,500 grant to two teachers at the school to plant the trees. Sustainable Westford, the organization behind the Westford Summer and Winter Farmers Markets, announced Barbara Bergin and Keith Weston, nurse and wellness teacher at the school respectively, will receive the UpCycle It! Program grant to plant 12 flowering pear trees on the school ground.