As part of its sustainability efforts, Spud also collects and reuses difficult-to-recycle items through TerraCycle's Brigades collection programs. Items are recovered and upcycled into consumer products like toys and office supplies.

A company by the name of TerraCycle believes this as well and has proven it takes changes in recycling policies in order to have a positive outcome on reducing waste, not vice versa. TerraCycle is also working to prove that 100 percent of what we use every day is recyclable and is showing great progress in making that more and more of a reality in communities around the world. I invite everyone to join their cause and to see just what it is they are doing and what you can do to help — plus it is free and the benefits are great!

2. Terracycle Upcycled Boombox Bring the boombox back! Terracycle's boomboxes are made with up to 80% recycled materials, like the wrappers of your favorite snacks and candy -- Cheetos, Skittles, Starburst and Peanut M&Ms are all available. The boombox has a 3.5mm universal plug so you can jam to your iPod, iPhone or laptop, and no batteries are required. If you're in the market for speakers only, those are available for $13.99.

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). Or the rain barrels and composters made from Kendall-Jackson oak wine barrels that sell for $99 each at Sam’s Club. They’re both prime examples of a company that sees opportunity where others see garbage. In so doing, TerraCycle helps us make attractive choices that are mindful of the planet and our wallets.

Chad Rea is a former ad agency founder and creative director turned serial social entrepreneur. His latest company, ecopop, can be described a lot like a product design firm or ad agency…but without the clients. For more than 18 years, Chad has created award-winning advertising and marketing for some of the hottest creative shops in the U.S. and Europe—not to mention his own prolific agency, 86 the onions—helping develop over 130 iconic brands, including Target, MTV, Mountain Dew, ESPN, Starbucks, FUEL TV and HUMMER. While building brands for others, Chad was also creating many of his own products from the ground up—everything from coffee table books and monthly music events to offensive baby clothing and philanthropic outreach programs. It was initiatives like these that Chad enjoyed developing most and what ultimately led him to shut down his successful agency and form ecopop, a new kind of company that would allow him and others like him to not only create and market their own ideas but ideas that merged capitalism with social good. What is the one thing you did/do as an entrepreneur that you would do over and over again and recommend everybody else do? Becoming an entrepreneur. Do it. You’re ready already. Nobody knows what the hell they are doing. There is no instruction manual for exactly what you want to do and how you want to do it. It hasn’t been written yet. And only you can write it. Now’s the time to face the fear and go for it. Stop waiting to live your dream. What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers? I’m fascinated by waste. TerraCycle is one of those innovative companies that has figured out a way to reuse waste and turn it into a profitable business by changing the way people think about and handle their trash. ecopop spent months trying to figure out how to make products out of shredded office paper. An industrial designer and I played around with various eco-epoxies and pulp molds to make everything from paperweights and bookends to garden gnomes and decorative plates. We ended up pulling the plug after our 90-day proof of concept phase, but I still think there’s a viable business idea there for anyone who wants to develop this idea or invent products made from waste.

Schools process a whole lot of trash which is thoughtlessly disposed when it may very well be recycled. A special recycling process called TerraCycle has brought about a huge improvement in the recycling methods of schools in the US. The system takes the initiative to recover food packaging items that are hard to recycle and in addition pays schools for their results. According to a MichigansThumb.com report, the program awards points to schools in accordance with the quantity of recyclable goods delivered to TerraCycle. The creation of single-serve foods has inflated the quantity of disposable waste and contributed to an ever growing pile of unhealthy waste matter in landfills. TerraCycle induces the recycling of food packaging items including candy wrappers and packaging for chips, cereals, coffee, cookies, beverages and gum. Additionally they take various other products like plastic bags, cups, glue containers, and also electronic items including laptops, music players, cameras, and mobile phones. Schools have control over the kind of products they wish to recycle. Taking part in this program is absolutely free for all schools as TerraCycle endorses application of as many eco-friendly tactics as is possible.