11-03-25--dailyindependent001-1

Check out our food wrapper clothing featured in Green Design!

One way to go green without costly changes is to take things you would ordinarily throw away and reuse them. Milk crates can become book shelves and metallic drink pouches can be stitched together to make pencil cases for the children. This practice is called upcycling and you can either do it yourself or contribute reusable household trash to organizations that convert it into eco-friendly products. Through free collection programs called Brigades, upcycling pioneer TerraCycle is collecting and paying for packaging waste from household staples.

No matter how good your company’s intentions when it comes to recycling as many items as possible to keep them out of landfills, there are some common office items that CANNOT currently be sent to recyclers. Stuff you might find in your desk drawer like pens, highlighter, glue sticks. That’s why TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> , which makes products made out of things like this, is turning up the heat on what it calls its Office Product Brigades program. The initiative collects at least some of these things, earning your business a bit of a charitable deduction along the way. Here’s the pitch: For every writing implement, tape dispenser or glue bottle you return (regardless of the brand), TerraCycle will donate 2 cents to the charity of your choice. TerraCycle will pick up the shipping costs for boxes of whatever you send in. The clipboard to the right is an example of the sorts of things that TerraCycle makes out of what you send in. (The item in question happens to be made out of old circuit boards.) <http://i.bnet.com/blogs/circuitboardclipboard.jpg> TerraCycle’s partners in the Office Products Brigades program are 3M, Elmer’s Products, Papermaete, Sharpie and Scotch Tape. (Although as I mentioned before, it doesn’t matter what kind of stuff you turn in.) Even BEFORE this program was launched, TerraCycle has collected more than 250,000 pens, markers, glue bottles, spent tape dispensers and such from landfills. Start your day smarter with our daily e-mail newsletter <http://nl.com.com/acct_mgmt.sc?brand=smartplanet> . It's your cheat sheet for good ideas. Get it. <http://nl.com.com/acct_mgmt.sc?brand=smartplanet>

The Santa Barbara City College Center for Sustainability is presenting a “Cities as the Solution” lecture series on March 25the and 26th. The keynote speaker is Albe Zakes. The March 25th portion goes from 7pm to 9:30pm and March 26th is an all day event. For more information, please contact the SBCC Center for Sustainability by calling (805) 965-0581, ext. 2177. Or visit their website at Santa Barbara City College <http://sustainability.sbcc.edu/> . The fee for Friday is $5, Saturday is $30 for the all day event.

11-03-24--fultoncountynews-1

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.

11-03-23--highlandstodaypg-1.1

Editorial Review L'Oreal’s Garnier brand, in partnership with upcycling pioneer, TerraCycle, is hitting the road to announce the new biodegradable Pure Clean hair care line and kick-off a packaging collection program called Personal Care and Beauty Brigade to educate consumers about the recyclability of cosmetic packaging waste. Stop by the Cleaner Greener bus to score free Pure Clean samples, watch product demonstrations and drop off empty hair care, skin care or cosmetic packaging to be recycled into playgrounds.

Those who think they're pretty masterful recyclers have obviously never met Tom Szaky. (pronounced Zack-ee) He is the 27-year-old Hungarian-Canadian founder and CEO ofTerracycle, a company founded in 2001 that collects non-recyclable garbage and turns them into usable, branded merchandise like backpacks, boom boxes and laptop bags. Not only does it help the environment and charity -- over 1 million units of garbage have been collected and over $2 million have been donated -- but it also provides companies like Kraft and Colgate-Palmolive an eco-friendly solution to the tons of waste produced by their brands.