TerraCycle's CEO, Tom Szaky talks trash in this Earth Day video.

In partnership with TerraCycle, Old Navy will help to recycle something you might not think too much about — your flip-flops. Today through May 21, Old Navy shoppers can participate in the Flip Flop Replay by depositing their used flip-flops in a collection bin inside the story. TerraCycle will then recycle the flip-flops into playgrounds which will be donated to communities around the country. This is the first time a nationwide retailer has initiated a large-scale effort to collect and recycle flip flops.

Old flip-flop sandals can be recycled into public playgrounds, seriously, so take them to the Old Navy store during Earth Month. An international recycling company is collecting used flip-flop sandals at all Old Navy clothing stores starting today, Earth Day, for the next month until May 21. The miracle of recycling means the flip-flops will come out on the other end as public playgrounds—those rubber-like ground surfaces that save teeth, knees and possibly broken arms when children take a fall. TerraCycle, Inc. has partnered with Old Navy for the flip-flop drive. They say it's the first time a retail chain has agreed to a large-scale collection for recycle inside the store.

The rubber flip-flops will be turned into material used for playgrounds. As the mother of a 3-year-old daughter who often takes spills, Heidi Weiss appreciates the soft rubber mats that break her little one’s falls on the playground. “I think they’re awesome, they really are,” she said. “As a mom, I know I don’t have to worry.” That is why Weiss, store manager of the Old Navy store in Cranberry Township, is pleased her company is teaming with international recycling company TerraCycle to collect used flip-flops in honor of Earth Month. The rubber flip-flops, which TerraCycle spokeswoman Megan Yarnall said are difficult to recycle, will be repurposed into four public playgrounds across the country through the Flip-Flop Replay program. Although Weiss said the store has participated in other company-wide initiatives such as collecting T-shirts for the troops overseas and donating coats through the One Warm Coat program, this is the first time the store has participated in a large-scale effort to collect and recycle flip-flops.

Old Navy is also launching a recycling initiative called "The Flip Flop Replay" that runs from Earth Day (Friday, April 22) through May 21. Shoppers can bring in their old flip flops that will be turned into playgrounds in four communities across the country. Even Office Depot is getting in on the action. Customers can trade in used pens, pencils, and markers this week that will be turned into new office supply products ranging from trash cans to desk organizers.

Perhaps the most vivid example of a business spawned by the idea that recycling and reuse go hand-in-hand is TerraCycle, which espouses the slogan “Outsmart Waste.” TerraCycle takes all manner of things that people don’t want and reincarnates it as everything from reusable bags to clipboards to toys to gardening products. “Upcycling is by far the very best thing that you can do for the environment,” said Tom Szaky, who founded TerraCycle back in 2001 when he was a freshman at Princeton University.

Teacher Heidi Hanner who is leading the “Garden” effort explains how Field Park students learn to conserve, “We just started the TerraCycle program,” she said. “We collect and send in items that would otherwise be trash (used Ziploc bags, juice pouches, chip bags, Clif Bar wrappers) and they are made into something else.”

The following day was Terracycle Tuesday, where CSS families were encouraged to turn in used and empty food storage bags, juice pouches, chip bags, Lunchable containers and Elmer’s glue sticks and bottles. A nonprofit organization, Terracycle repurposes these items by making new products with them and gives money to the school for its collection efforts. Tuesday also launched a new CSS campaign to recycle old crayons that will be melted down and turned into new crayons instead of ending up as tidbits of petroleum in the trash. The school also reminded families to turn in old cell phones and chargers, a continuing effort at CSS.

One of the activities that many of Michigan Green Schools participate in is the recycling of used packaging and products such as chip bags, candy wrappers and juice pouches. The waste is collected through TerraCycle's Brigade program (www.terracycle.net), which pays the schools and nonprofits for their efforts and then recycles the material into cool products.

The “trashy” folks over at TerraCycle are always looking for ways to keep waste out of the landfill by designing easy DIY projects that make reuse and recycling fun.