Secondly, swing by TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.net/) to see if you regularly accumulate the nonrecyclable items that they will pay you to send them! Terracycle is an organization pioneered by Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer, two freshmen at Princeton University in 2001, who believe that in nature, there is no such thing as waste. Animals eat each other and become fertilizer for plants that are eaten by animals that are eaten, etc. While Szaky and Beyer don't promote cannibalism, they do promote upcycling, meaning they reuse what we might consider waste.

In a process called “upcycling” products that cannot be recycled are used to make a new product.  Things like drink pouches, chip bags and candy wrappers that would otherwise fill landfills across the U.S. are collected by an industrial waste management company called TerraCycle and re-purposed into backpacks, lunchboxes, tote bags, pencil cases and more.  2 cents from each drink pouch that is collected through a program called Drink Pouch Brigade is donated to charity.

Retro style meets upcycling with MP3 player from TerraCycle. The speaker housing is made from used wrappers discarded by their manufacturer. that would otherwise go to a landfill. Skittles, M&M’s, Capri Sun and other versions are available. The player is totally battery free and compatible with a range for MP3 players.

UTSA community members now can add Mars candy wrappers and Frito Lay chip bags to the list of materials that can be recycled on campus.  As part of its Green Thread sustainability program, ARAMARK Higher Education <http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSSW/UTSA/Sustainability/>  has partnered with TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net> , a New Jersey-based company, to 'upcycle' the packaging of these popular snack brands.

Terracycle Speakers: these M&M speakers done by Terracycle are made with recycled M&M boxes, in fact everything Terracycle makes were previously trash, which in the green world, we call this process upcycling. They also donate a small percentage of each trash a school or an individual sends them and so far have donated over $1.5M. You can also find other cool gift ideas such as a circuit board desk clock, a bike chain frame or an Oreo wrapper kite.

In some WalMart parking lots in the state of New Jersey, you can do just that. Walmart has placed TerraCycle recycling centers in some of its parking lots, and at these centers, when you insert your trash, TerraCycle donates money to New Jersey schools.

Tom was featured live on CNN's The Big i segment and interviewed by their rising star anchor, Ali Velchey.

Tom was interviewed for the NPR show, To the Best of Our Knowledge, which airs on 61 local NPR affiliates nationwide throughout the week. You can stream or download the audio file at the link below. Tom’s interview runs from 16.00 to 30.00.

Terracycle upcycles consumer waste into new salable goods. They primarily harvest their raw material from schoolchildren as part of charity drives, though they are now placing recycling stations at certain Walmart stores. At the Walmart centers they pay 3 cents per piece, but only for a narrow range of product packaging; the website supports a wider range of recyclables. The spirit of the project is wonderful, but the problem is that it creates zombie advertising and branding for these undead consumer objects. Which is actually not all that surprising, as the Walmart program is sponsored by the very brands whose packaging are featured in the upcycled goods.

Terracycle upcycles consumer waste into new salable goods. They primarily harvest their raw material from schoolchildren as part of charity drives, though they are now placing recycling stations at certain Walmart stores. At the Walmart centers they pay 3 cents per piece, but only for a narrow range of product packaging; the website supports a wider range of recyclables.