Saintly Recyclers mail in their trash. Terracycle.net will recycle (usually postage is free) and donate to charity your candy wrappers, yogurt cups, drink pouches, cookie wrappers, Flavia Freshpacks, Frito-Lay chip bags, energy and granola bar wrappers, Bear Naked wrappers, Kashi packages, cell phones, Huggies and Scott tissue wrappers, Aveno tubes, Scotch tape dispensers, corks, cereal bags, Sharpies and Papermate writing instruments, Neosporin tubes, coffee bags, lunch kits (like Lunchables), Colgate tubes and packaging, Ziploc bags and containers, Inkjet cartridges, and Sprout and Revolutions food containers. Preserveproducts.com recycles your No. 5 plastics (same company that has the receptacles at Whole Foods) and water filters into toothbrushes and razors.

The items will be recycled by Terra Cycle when goals are reached and the program is aiming at collecting more than 500 items from each category each month. Following is the list of items which can be dropped off: Mars or Wrigley brand candy bar wrappers; energy bar wrappers; drink pouches; Nabisco cookie wrappers; Kashi brand wrappers or boxes; toasted chip bags; Bear Naked brand wrappers; wine bottle corks; Aveeno product tubes; Scotch tape dispensers and cores; Frito Lay chip bags; Malt-O-Meal cereal bags or boxes; Elmer's glue; Huggie's brand diaper or pull-up bag packaging; Scott's brand packaging; Neosporin brand packaging; lunchable kits; spread (butter) containers; gum wrappers; cell phones; Colgate brand packaging; yogurt cups; writing instruments; Starbucks coffee bags; plastic bottle lids; and used gift cards

The Village of Orland Park Recreation Department is accepting no longer usable pens, markers, highlighters and mechanical pencils. For every writing instrument collected, Terra Cycle will donate two cents to Open Lands of Orland Park. Terra Cycle will upcycle or recycle the depleted writing instruments into other fun and innovative products.

Don’t know what to do with all those candy wrappers, coffee bags, wine corks, used toothbrushes, and the rest of your unwanted but non-recyclable household items? Kristina Greene will take them.  Greene sends the donated goods to TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.ca/> , which pays two cents for each item received. That garbage is then transformed into everything from the standard backpacks, messenger bags,  coolers and  pencil cases to fences made out of drink pouches or  garbage cans made out of chip bags.

Northfield-based Kraft has also revisited packaging and advertising. Kraft ditched movie tie-ins on packaging, and nutritional information is more prominent. Most Lunchables trays are now clear, because moms said they wanted to be able to see the food inside. Because the plastic trays aren’t recyclable, Kraft moved to avoid “green” criticism by partnering with TerraCycle to convert used Lunchables containers into lunch boxes and pencil cases.

President Bill Clinton got into the topic of trash at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative recently. It is an important topic. We create tremendous amounts of waste these days, and much of it could be used in a constructive way, rather than polluting our planet. While some companies are trying to be greener and minimize their waste, other companies have made waste the source of their business. Using “waste” as a key input to the products they create, these companies are as green as green gets. TerraCycle is one such company.

Tom Szaky’s company, TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> , collects post-consumer waste, such as Carpi Sun pouches and Oreo cookie wrappers, and turns them into entirely new products such as backpacks and pencil cases.  While Szaky’s “upcycling” business has an authentic environmental aura, it’s his partnerships with big companies like Kraft and Nabisco that make the business work.  Those large packaged goods companies sponsor the collection brigades that provide TerraCycle with used packaging. It’s an unlikely alliance, but one that gives the big companies a “green” image, while providing TerraCycle with low cost or free raw materials.

President Bill Clinton got into the topic of trash at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative recently. It is an important topic. We create tremendous amounts of waste these days, and much of it could be used in a constructive way, rather than polluting our planet. While some companies are trying to be greener and minimize their waste, other companies have made waste the source of their business. Using “waste” as a key input to the products they create, these companies are as green as green gets. TerraCycle is one such company.

If you haven't entered the giveaway for the Terra Cycle Tote bag CLICK HERE , it ends on October the 11th at NOON! This has been a really fun giveaway I have loved reading all your re-using tips and ideas and will share my favorites below. Terracycle sent me instructions on how to use 2 Capri Sun pouches and make a wallet, as you see Sophia is proudly holding. If you would like these instructions e-mail me at shanathesavyyshopper@gmail.com with WALLET INSTRUCTIONS and I will send that your way.

Of all the reusable bags I've amassed over the years - and not a duplicate among them - the one that seems to be the favorite of grocery store baggers is the TerraCycle sack made from Capri Sun drink pouches. It's my favorite, too. It's incredibly sturdy, ooze-proof and pretty snappy looking to boot. TerraCycle and Capri Sun recently announced that their Drink Pouch Brigade ? schools and organizations that participate in a free fundraiser that pays 2 cents for every drink pouch collected ? has broken the 50 million mark. TerraCycle and Capri Sun pay for every pouch collected, so that means $1 million has been returned to the groups just for stuff that would otherwise be garbage.