Schools create quite a lot of waste products that is thoughtlessly gotten rid of when it can be recycled. An exceptional recycling strategy labeled as TerraCycle has brought about a huge change in the recycling behavior of schools in the United States. This program takes the initiative to recover food packaging goods that are difficult to recycle and in addition pays schools for their hard work. As per a MichigansThumb.com report, the program awards points to schools dependant upon the quantity of recyclable goods delivered to TerraCycle. The arrival of single-serve food products has inflated the quantity of disposable waste and led to a rising pile of harmful waste material in landfills.

Students at Tharptown Elementary School have traded in Mother Goose for Mother Earth with their “Recycle Race” program that has had students thinking about the environment all year long. TES guidance counselor Brandi Gholston said the program, which was incorporated this school year as part of the guidance curriculum, has been a great success so far and serves a two-fold purpose: to earn money for the school and to compete in a nationwide recycling contest with other schools. With the economy in the shape that it’s in, Gholston said they have to get creative with the ways the school earns money and being able to help the environment while simultaneously helping the school was just an added bonus.

Lu-Ann Doyle doesn't mind being called the "trash lady."

Recycle, the last of the 3R trio, is the most transformative of the Rs. When we recycle, we’re giving used products the chance to be reborn as something new. That’s especially the case thanks to companies like Preserve that has partnered with Stonyfield Farm to recycle its yogurt cups-from organic yogurt, of course-into ergonomic plastic toothbrushes, razors, and an assortment of colorful kitchenware (and now also does the same with Brita pitcher filters). TerraCycle, another green innovator, is on pace to redefine much of America’s relationship with trash. The company that began with its signature Plant Food-made from worm poop, packaged in empty Pepsi bottles and sold at the likes of Home Depot and Wal-Mart-has evolved into an innovation powerhouse that continually introduces new products made entirely from waste. Take the E-Water Trash Cans and Recycling Bins available at OfficeMax for $10.99 each and made from crushed computers and fax machines (that would otherwise end up in a landfill).

Great smiles are helping to bring big money to students and teachers at St. Stephen School in Warwick. The students and teachers are participating in TerraCycle's Oral Care Brigade, in which the school earns two cents for every used toothpaste tube, certain toothbrushes and product packaging it sends to TerraCycle. From there, TerraCycle creates eco-friendly products from the waste it receives.

If you think gift wrap made from materials you have lying around the house or in the recycling bin look tacky and cheap, think again. Leave it to Martha Stewart to show us how elegant gifts wrapped in castoffs can be. Check out her tips to make gift wrap by layering paper of different colors and textures – old maps, newspapers, wallpaper and grocery bags – or to dress up wrapping paper made of old shopping bags with a DIY wine cork stamp. She even includes instructions on turning a potato chip bag into shiny and stylish wrapping paper.

Birch Street and Cherry Street Elementary schools' Parent Teacher Organization discovered one man’s trash really could be another man’s treasure. A program collecting items ordinarily ending in the garbage has paid for a portion of the organization’s funding over the past seven years. Students at the two schools collected specific trash items for the “Cash for Trash” program through TerraCycle, an organization recycling items typically hard to recycle, and turning them into useable items.

TerraCycle has recognized Heritage K-8 Charter School in Escondido as one of the top 15 participants in one of its national recycling programs. The school is a top collector in Terracycle's Oral Care Brigade, which collects non-recyclable waste such as toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes that would otherwise go to a landfill. The items are collected and returned to TerraCycle, which makes them into affordable eco-friendly products.

Birch Street and Cherry Street elementary schools' Parent Teacher Organization discovered one man's trash could really be another man's treasure. A program collecting items ordinarily ending in the garbage has paid for a portion of the organization's funding over the past seven years.

In just 29 years, Tom Szaky has lived quite a life. Born in Hungary in the 80s, he lived with his family under the Iron Curtain where the idea of entrepreneurship did not exist. It wasn’t until the Chernobyl disaster that Szaky and his family left their native land in search of a better life. They landed in Canada, and so the trajectory of Szaky's life shifted and a new path began. Szaky was just 14 when he was bit by the entrepreneurial bug. The idea of starting a company was new to him, but he was interested in the internet. So he taught himself to code and launched a graphic design company. The business—which employed a few people—lasted until Szaky was 16 years old. From there, he attempted to start a slew of other companies, none of which took off.