TerraCycle Koolaid Pencil Case ($3)

Featured in this abbreviated (hey, it's a Friday afternoon in mid-August) edition of 'Playing catch up': Sod-roofed pool houses, fancy tree branch lamps and New Jersey's premiere collective of 'garbage dealers.' New York Times checks in with the always-inventive gang at TerraCycle, the most fabulous "waste solution development" company in all of New Jersey (or perhaps the entire world). Founded by Princeton dropout Tom Szaky and boasting a design team headed by "trash evangelist" and "ReMake it!" author Tiffany Threadgould, the 10-year old company turned a modest profit for the first time this year.

The 3rd-place prize package from Terracycle includes: Billboard Backpack by Yakpak Capri Sun Lunchbox Ozark Trail 24-Can Cooler TerraCycle Portable Skittles Speakers Honest Kids Messenger Bag Rold Gold 3-Ring Binder Pencil Case Frito Lay Chip Bag Binder Doritos Nacho Cheese Spiral Notebook

Despite their growing global presence and epic partnerships, TerraCycle is unsurprisingly still down to earth -- and we mean down. Employees recently put their quirky upcycled designs to use by renovating their entire Trenton, New Jersey offices with waste material. Mountains of vinyl records, juice boxes, water bottles, and even bowling lanes became desks, dividers, lamps, and conference room tables. Hit the jump for a look at the inspiration-inducing space! We here at Inhabitat have long been huge fans of TerraCycle’s fun and fresh upcycled products and events throughout New York. Now their recent, homemade office renovations solidify their reputation as the hippest and possibly most committed waste repurposing company around.

Capri Sun Rectangular Lunch Box ($15)

To help, one company is offering consumers a way to reduce their household garbage while earning money for local schools or charities. Through free collection programs called Brigades, upcycling pioneer TerraCycle is collecting and paying for packaging waste from household staples -- from the bathroom to the kitchen to the classroom. Many major brands are getting on board with upcycling. Scott tissues and Huggies are sponsoring programs to collect plastic packaging waste from paper products and diapers. And since most oral hygiene products aren't recyclable, Colgate and TerraCycle have partnered to collect used toothbrushes and toothpaste cubes.

You all may remember a fabulous company I stumbled across last summer, Terracyle. Terracycle was founded in 2001 and is currently one of the fast growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world. What exactly IS TerraCycle you ask? In a nutshell, TerraCycle makes cool stuff from your trash. Seriously. I am absolutely in love with this company. Their mission is to eliminate waste by taking what others deem trash and turning it into affordable, eco-friendly items for purchase. Brilliant! Here are just some of the innovative items you can purchase thanks to TerraCycle: pencil cases made from Chips Ahoy packaging, backpacks made from drink pouches, kites made from Skittles packaging, laptop cases made from juice pouches and 3 ring binders made from chip bags. We have a pencil case and lunch bag which we use all the time.