UW–Stout currently has two TerraCycle bins, one in the MSC and another on the third floor of Jarvis. These bins collect electronics and ink cartridges. There will be six bins placed around campus that students can throw reusable items that they normally must place in the trash.

Rethinking what is trash is key to TerraCycling. TerraCycling is a concept that is less then 10 years old but has spread to more than 20 different countries and is now rooted and growing in the local Lincoln County community.

One company that I greatly admire is Terracycle. What they do is get teams (brigades) together to recycle things that normally go in the trash. They turn around and reuse them to make all sorts of eco-goodies.

TerraCycle Brigade programs are recycling fundraisers for schools and community groups across nationwide. All Family Focus Blog readers have to do is collect trash, send it in for free (we provide prepaid UPS shipping labels), and earn points and receive cash for their school or other charity of their choice. People can be eco-friendly while simultaneously give back to the community.  Dig it!

Upcycling and recycling pioneer TerraCycle of Trenton, N.J., runs free collection programs for glue bottles, pens and markers, Scotch Tape, keyboards and computer mice, among other things. Any parent, teacher or other interested party can sign up for free at

No one is quite sure who first discovered the cleaning method, but its effectiveness is indisputable: If one person uses a brush to swirl soapy water in the tray-cleaning bucket while another person plunges a dirty tray into the water, the tray will come out clean. The method is affectionately called “the swirly.” “The only days we can’t do it are nacho day and pasta day,” said Alexander Cohen, a fifth-grade Eco-Volunteer. Cleaning recyclable polystyrene trays at lunchtime is just one of the steps students, parent volunteers and staff at Bridge School have taken to promote recycling. What began as a parent-led initiative in which lunchtime recycling was done only on Fridays has evolved into a daily school-wide effort, with 90 student volunteers giving up recess time to help on a rotating basis.

Broward College's TerraCycle is one of nation's best collection program. TerraCycle pays for material collected. Money from the program go towards the Michelle Lawless Scholarship Fund which supports female Environmental Science majors. Last year the program collected more than 200,000 pieces. In 2012, the goal is 300,000. Trash to Treasure is a proud participant in the program. You can drop off your items at T2T during regular business hours.

It’s not often that an educator finds inspiration on the back of a juice box, but that’s what happened to Tim Sarych. Sarych is a special education management aid at the Mille Lacs Academy School. Sarych read about the TerraCycle, a recycling program for schools, on a box of Capri Sun juice. After a bit of research, Sarych registered the MLA with the TerraCycle program. “I knew this was a fundraiser that our school could benefit from,” he said. “It helps the environment, and it engages the students in a positive community activity.” Sarych started the project last winter and slowly introduced the plan to his co-workers. In the months that followed he brought the program up to full speed. Students and staff collect candy wrappers, cheese packaging, used printer cartridges, coffee bags, empty drink pouches, old cell phones, cereal bags and a long list of other would-be trash. They box the recyclables up and send them to TerraCycle and receive between 2 cents and a dollar an item. TerraCycle also pays the shipping costs. The material collected by TerraCycle is turned into garbage cans, school supplies, playground equipment, flower pots, back packs, and a wide variety of other items. Students and staff are bringing packaging from home as well as collecting them at the school. “Two cents an item doesn’t sound like a lot,” Sarych said. “But it adds up quickly.” To date the program has brought in about $200 dollars and kept 61 boxes of waste out of the local landfills. “Throwing away a candy wrapper is like throwing away money,” Sarych said. For more information go to TerraCycle.net, or call Tim Sarych at (320) 532-6848. Photos by Rob Passons.

One of my most recent recycling dilemmas involved glue and tape. I have two little girls who love to create what they call “masterpieces,” which usually involves paper, paint, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue and/or tape. Unfortunately, my local recycling program does not accept empty glue sticks or tape dispensers for recycling. Recently, however, I found a company that will help me recycle my glue containers: Elmer’s Glue. The company, which began in 1947, started its recycling program for schools on Earth Day 2011.