Candy wrappers: These aren’t accepted in your blue bin, however you can join or start a local “brigade” of collectors for many hard-to-recycle items, including candy wrappers, and earn cash for your school or nonprofit by signing up at www.terracycle.net.

Dropps laundry detergent is already a leader in the detergent industry in environmental awareness due to their lack of bulky packaging. Certified by the U.S. EPA Design for the Environment, their detergent packs simply dissolve in the washer and the only thing left is the lightweight outer pouch which until today was not recyclable by local collectors. But, now that problem is gone because Dropps has partnered with TerraCycle to collect and recycle the plastic bags and make Dropps a zero waste product. Recycling is easy because TerraCycle offers free postage-paid shipping labels on their website and offers donations to charity for each pouch recycled. Learn more about Dropps and TerraCycle and celebrate a clean Earth Day tomorrow!

You'll always fail first. Imagine starting your own company, creating a life-changing, world-saving product, and pouring every dollar, minute and ounce of sanity into cultivating your business. Imagine then realizing one day that your product is in some way irrelevant or unmarketable. What do you do? Sure, you could give up. But Tom Szaky, the CEO of TerraCycle, says it's easy—just change your business model and keep going. Szaky writes in The New York Times' You're the Boss column today about how his company survived its first, second, third and fourth business models and still remains open to more changes. Because in business, there's always room for a plan D.

Tom Szaky Founder, TerraCycle "I think only if you are a service company trying to inspire confidence in your clients -- i.e. lawyers and accountants. If you are not one of the above, I wouldn't have a dress code. In fact, at TerraCycle, we have a "negative dress code." You shouldn't show up in a suit and tie. You'll be asked to dress down."

Learn what TerraCycle's objectives are and how the company is adding to the number of waste streams it collects.

Collect Dropps Pouches and Ship to TerraCycle for Free to Lighten Landfills and Benefit Non-Profits ARDMORE, Pa., April 19, 2011 ARDMORE, Pa., April 19, 2011 -- Dropps, the first laundry detergent product that's both convenient (toss-and-go dissolving pacs) as well as environmentally friendly (EPA Design for the Environment (DfE) certified), has partnered with TerraCycle, the international upcycling pioneer, to give consumers a 100% zero waste liquid laundry detergent choice.  Until now Dropps pouches have been easy on the wrist, but not suitable for traditional recycling, despite being a fraction of the environmental footprint of giant plastic jugs.  TerraCycle, which specializes in difficult-to-recycle packaging, is launching a new category in its popular Brigade® programs, the Dropps Laundry Detergent Pouch Brigade®, to make Dropps a 100% zero waste product, while earning greenbacks for charities and schools!

Earth Day. It's the day on which countless companies decide to announce new green products, environmental goals, project results or tree-planting plans, meaning it's also the day countless announcements go straight from our in-box to our (electronic) recycling bin. We'll try to make sure that at least a few of the resources that went into typing up and emailing those releases to us don't go to waste. Here are some of the ones that made the cut: New Life for Plastic Cups and Flip-Flops TerraCycle, the New Jersey company that turns all types of trash into consumer products, launched a handful of partnerships and limited collection drives this month. Two new collection programs will accept cosmetics packaging from Garnier brand products and plastic polystyrene cups, which let's hope you don't see at any Earth Day celebrations.  Throughout this week TerraCycle is working with Office Depot to give customers coupons for new Sanford products if they bring in pens, pencils or markers to be recycled. And if your flip-flops get ruined while picking up trash on the beach, Old Navy stores will collect used flip-flops until late May to be turned into public playground items through TerraCycle.

We love our flip-flops. But what do you do when your old ones have worn out? Consider recycling them. Old Navy stores (www.oldnavy.com) in Austin and nationwide will accept used flip-flops starting April 22. They will be collected through May 21 and given to upcycling and recycling company TerraCycle, which, in turn, will recycle the flip-flops and use the material for playgrounds. Local Old Navy stores are at Barton Creek Square, Gateway Shopping Center, Lakeline Plaza, the Mueller Development and Shops at the Galleria and in Sunset Valley.

  Flip flop season is almost upon us; the time of year where many of us bare our toes and opt for the ubiquitous summertime footwear.  At our house, weather permitting, we tend to wear our flip flops from the end of April to October. I’m such a fan of flip flops, but among our many pairs, I’ve never really considered what happens to the flip flops after we’re done with them.  Donate? Hand them down? Let them collect dust? How about recycle? Genius.

  Maybe it's the writer in me, but I always seem to have way too many old, useless pens lying around. Here's something I might do with them... Office Depot is honoring Earth Day with a writing instruments recycling offer this year. Bring in 10 pens, pencils, markers or other writing instruments (any brand) and receive a coupon for 50 percent off a new product from Newell Rubbermaid (maker of Sharpie, EXPO, Papermate, etc.) Your old writing instruments will be recycled through a really cool eco-friendly company called Terra Cycle. You can turn in your used writing instruments when you check out, or see any in-store associate. The offer is good through April 23 (Saturday).