TerraCycle was founded by a brainiac college student back in 2001 & started as organic fertilizer company {ever see the  worm poop in an upcycled soda bottle?} in addition ~ they run free national collection programs to collect wrappers from tons of products from companies like Frito Lay (Pepsi), Kraft Foods, Stonyfield Farm, Mars Wrigley {and many more.} from schools & non-profits & regular people like you & me!

TerraCycle takes drink pouches, wrappers, corks, yogurt cups, chip bags and other waste. Each is shipped to a specific "brigade" which in turn takes the material and crafts it into unique and functional items for kids and adults. The recycling program allows almost any school or non-profit organization to save items, keeping them from landfill. TerraCycle will pay 2 cents or more for each item, giving the funds directly to the donating organization. Since the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, Sloman Primary has earned more than $325.

Sharpie, Paper Mate and EXPO have partnered with TerraCycle to collect and reuse pens, markers and other writing instruments in a way that helps schools, charities, and non-profits to raise funds. Groups that want to participate can print pre-paid shipping labels from TerraCycle’s website. The collected writing instruments are then shipped to TerraCycle. Once received, TerraCycle upcycles trashed pens into new products.

Nancy Baiche would have an entirely green school if she could, but for now she's happy believing that teaching the prekindergarten classes at Williams Ledger Elementary School about recycling could impact the world and maybe save the earth someday. "They love it," she said. "They're becoming little voices that I'm hoping in the future will become bigger voices." Recycling is part of the curriculum in prekindergarten classes every year, but this year the eight classes at Williams Ledger are getting hands on experience while earning extra money for the school. Baiche, a prekindergarten aide in Bernadine Wagner's class at Williams Ledger, said she was looking for lessons and educational tools to help her students understand recycling when she came across the TerraCycle program. "There's a lot of information out there for adults, but it's really hard to teach to a 3- or 4-year- old," she said. TerraCycle is a company that takes trash such as drink pouches and chip bags and turns it into products such as CapriSun tote bags and pencil bags made from cookie wrappers.

  Lee Elementary School students turned juice pouches into pencil cases, chip bags to lunch boxes and candy wrappers into backpacks as part of a national initiative that combines fundraising and recycling. Students collected nearly 6,000 pieces of non-recyclable waste, such as bags, wrappers and bottles, and shipped them to TerraCycle, a company that makes new products from lunchroom garbage. TerraCycle turns food packaging destined for the landfill into products for home, school and the office. The company’s tote bags, trash cans, picture frames and more are made from the waste and sold at major retailers like Target, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot.

While recycling statistics show the U.S. making little strides every year, there are certain items that still fall in the "what the hell am I supposed to do with this?" category. Throwing them in the trash is never the best option, as many of these items, such as light bulbs and batteries, can be toxic. Don't let that burnt-out light bulb intimidate you-- If there's a will, there's a way to recycle everything from light bulbs to Capri Sun pouches. So if you will, here are some recycling options for those harder to recycle items.

Why aren’t you doing anything eco with the packaging [the wrappers or the cardboard display boxes]?

Well, first of all, the packaging foil—what the condom is actually in—is regulated by FDA. You can’t do anything green there, really.

You could work with Terracycle to collect condom foil wrappers. Foil is valuable resource, totally recyclable or reusable, terracycle could make backpacks out of condoms. Don’t tell me with your awesome design some teenage punks wouldn’t love toting a condom backpack to school, pissing off the teachers. Plus, it’s free marketing.

The second grade students at Bonner Elementary School in Phoebe Bradberry, Amanda Kirkman, Wendy Bradberry, and Sloan Dills’ classes recently worked hard to earn money for the Summerville Miracle League. They found an awesome company named Terracycle that reuses empty juice pouches and chip bags to create new school supplies such as pencil pouches, book bags, lunch boxes, and folders. Juice pouches are made out of aluminum and pouches and chip bags are laminated with a plastic layer, which make them non-recyclable. This program still benefits the earth because it is preventing these items from piling up in the landfills.

I always appreciate a designer who aims to create more eco-friendly accessories. After some time admiring these green handbags, I finally took one for a spin on Saturday. Yak Pak teamed up with recycling giant TerraCycle to craft this DEN Tote from billboards destined for landfill. The glossy fabric feels incredibly strong and it's water resistant to boot. The fairly plain colors aren't as exciting as some recycled billboard bags I've seen, although with one side white and the other blue I suppose I could treat this as two bags in one! It's important to remember that these bags were made from real billboards. That means no two are the same, and some have features that girls may regard as flaws. Mine has a few black marks on the blue side and some lighter stains on the white. Personally I think the imperfections add character, reminding us of the bag's history, but some may disagree.