The ramen noodle wrapper sat inside a recycling drawer, but that wasn’t good enough. Joshua Potter grabbed the plastic, which had been mistakenly placed with candy wrappers, and removed it from the Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center kitchen. Outside the building, he deposited the wrapper in one of 10 recycling containers labeled for different kinds of garbage. Staff members at the Stone Valley center take throwing away trash seriously. In fact, they have zero tolerance for it.

Many of the items we use on a daily basis produce a large amount of waste. Much of our trash comes from food and beverage containers. You eat a bag of chips, and then that bag sits in a landfill for years. Other common sources of trash include school and office supplies, small electronics, and shipping materials. However, there are ways to actually make money from items that normally go straight into the trash. Here are five types of items that you can get paid to get rid of in an environmentally friendly way.

CONCORD, NC -- The New Year always brings resolutions at my house. I’ve had the same resolutions year after year, generic goals like getting healthier, losing weight and exercising more. This year, I made a bucket list of things I want to do, specific things that may help others or the planet, or both. Maybe if I focus on a greater good, a global good if possible, those other things will fall into place. By publishing the list, I am hoping I’ll be more inclined to complete them all (or at least make a much heartier attempt than in years past). Thank you, reader, for being my accountability partner. The best intentions here.

CONCORD, NC -- The New Year always brings resolutions at my house. I’ve had the same resolutions year after year, generic goals like getting healthier, losing weight and exercising more. This year, I made a bucket list of things I want to do, specific things that may help others or the planet, or both. Maybe if I focus on a greater good, a global good if possible, those other things will fall into place. By publishing the list, I am hoping I’ll be more inclined to complete them all (or at least make a much heartier attempt than in years past). Thank you, reader, for being my accountability partner. The best intentions here.

TerraCycle takes recycling to a whole new level with their recycling brigades program. The company was originally founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, a then 20 year old Princeton University Freshman. TerraCycle started by producing organic fertilizer (worm poop) in used soda bottles.

On December 13, 2011, Naples Christian Academy was awarded a WRAP (Waste Reduction Awards Program) award by the Collier County Board of Commissioners. The WRAP award recognizes businesses, institutions and multi-family properties for their enhanced and innovative recycling programs. The Academy was recognized for their increased recycling efforts and the message of the importance of recycling that they are advocating to their staff, students and families, through their regular recycling efforts, upcycling through Terracycle and their participation in the Dream Machine Recycle Rally contest. Naples Christian Academy received a beautiful framed certificate and trophy and was honored for their service to the community and for doing what they love to do most - serving and honoring God! This story is contributed by a member of the Naples community and is neither endorsed nor affiliated with Naples Daily News

I'm sad to say that I developed an unkeen, ungreen habit in 2011. Sometime after my son's first birthday, he went from eating almost everything served to him to being the type of kid who would prefer to exist off yogurt, mac and cheese, and crackers. Sigh. Frustrated, I'd wander the supermarket aisles trying to think of what I could possibly feed my picky son.

Cassi "Twister" Reimer's discovery of TerraCycle's "how to make a fancy bow out of food wrappers" has inspired three things, to date. A lively craft session, full of Middleswarth and Utz and Toll House cookie wrappers, documented in a previous post, was the first. Second was an appearance on Central PA Live, where the process is explained on video in under five minutes (bookmark it for the next time you want to make a fun bow!). Third, due to these prior events, we have attracted the attention of TerraCycle - who has kindly offered us a spot on their Chip Bag Brigade, which we've been pining for since joining! Thanks, TerraCycle!

In choosing a standard cleaner versus a green cleaner, sometimes it seems as if you have to make a sacrifice. Choose a green cleaner, and it seems to not be quite as effective and often cost more off the shelf. Choose a standard cleaner, and you confront the hazards of harsh chemicals in your home and the headaches that the cleaning agents and scents bring. How are you supposed to choose what’s best for your child with all these opposing benefits and risks? There are a few things you should know.