One man's garbage is another man's treasure. While the concept is as old as the hills, it's taken on a new, greener meaning this decade. And it even has a new name: upcycling. "Upcycling is finding value in the material as it exists now, retaining that value or increasing it by turning it into a new creation," explained Stacey Cusack, 26, public relations manager for a company born from the upcycle theory called Terracycle, Inc. based in Trenton, N.J. The term "upcycle" is attributed to William McDonough, one of the co-authors of the book "Cradle to Cradle," published in 2002. "Our founder, Tom Szaky considers (McDonough) his mentor," Cusack said. Szaky, according to Cusack, dropped out of Princeton University almost 10 years ago at age 19 to start what would become Terracycle, a global upcycling company that converts trash (snack bags, cookie wrappers, and drink pouches) into a variety of products, such as Frito Lay messenger bags, Skittle kites and Capri Sun totes.

As I was eating some peanut M&Ms (love ‘em) I looked on the back of the package and saw the message “Recycle this package” and the website. I went to it and it is SUPER AWESOME! All these things you didn’t think you could recycle, well you can!

The logic is simple and sustainable. By reusing post-consumer waste, “trash” never makes it to a landfill, and an environmentally-invasive production cycle stops. As we are the most wasteful nation in the world, we should pay attention to this incredible usage of garbage. There are already some American companies who are paying attention. TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net> , a small but successful New Jersey-based company, is pushing the boundaries of reusing waste that is hard to recycle. TerraCycle began in 2001 by two Princeton freshman, who collected Dining Hall waste and used a worm compost to make natural plant food products. Now, TerraCycle is making everything from Capri-Sun drink-pouch backpacks to M&M-wrapper messenger bags.

At first glance, you’d probably mistake this for an expensive designer gown. But it’s actually made of 600 wrappers of M&M Peanuts. It’s equal to five yards of silk. <http://ecofriendlytip.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Screen-shot-2011-01-28-at-11.09.33-AM.png> This ball gown, which could pass off as something a Hollywood celebrity can wear to an awards show. It’s designed by Christina Liedtke for the TerraCycle Green Up Shop. The gown was presented during Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary. Gorgeous isn’t it?

Terracycle - An American company that up-cycles wrappers from a number of food & drink products, turns them into new products. Not only do they recycle, but they buy waste products from the public to recycle & they donate to charity.

What is upcycling?  According to a very cool company, TerraCycle, upcycling is defined as using every aspect of waste as value.  Every year billions of drink pouches and candy wrappers and of in dumpsters and landfills across America.  Check out these items below and see upcycling in action.  See the volunteering section at highschoogle to learn more about how you can be part of TerraCycle’s Brigade movement, by starting a club at your school.

What is upcycling?  According to a very cool company, TerraCycle, upcycling is defined as using every aspect of waste as value.  Every year billions of drink pouches and candy wrappers and of in dumpsters and landfills across America.  Check out these items below and see upcycling in action.  See the volunteering section at highschoogle to learn more about how you can be part of TerraCycle’s Brigade movement, by starting a club at your school.

What is upcycling?  According to a very cool company, TerraCycle, upcycling is defined as using every aspect of waste as value.  Every year billions of drink pouches and candy wrappers and of in dumpsters and landfills across America.  Check out these items below and see upcycling in action.  See the volunteering section at highschoogle to learn more about how you can be part of TerraCycle’s Brigade movement, by starting a club at your school.

Founder and CEO of TerraCycle, Tom Szaky has been collecting and upcycling refuse since childhood, starting with discarded TVs and computer monitors.   "Even at a very young age, the excess and waste I saw surprised and intrigued me." Inspired by seeing waste as a great opportunity, the landfill as a poorly organized factory, and that with a little innovation he could run a profitable business that was also good for the planet, Tom dropped out of Princeton and TerraCycle was born.  Starting with sales of the brand's worm-converted waste fertilizer to the Home Depot and Walmart in 2004, TerraCycle has continued to flourish now working with major brands such as Kraft Foods, Frito-Lay, Mars, CLIF BAR and others, in sponsoring the collection of post-consumer packaging that pays schools and non-profits 2 cents for every piece they collect.  Today over 50,000 organizations have helped collect over 1 billion pre- and post-consumer wrappers that have been made into affordable eco-friendly products, such as totes and backpacks. In 2009, Tom released his first book, Revolution in a Bottle, and starred in 3 episodes on the National Geographic Channel series, Garbage Moguls.  When asked what lasting impression he wants to leave on the planet?