Wordless Wednesday is a day for me to share an image from my green living life with you along with just a few words...or so This red Solo cup laid on the road for 4 days until I finally picked it up this morning. Red Solo cup I think this sucks, proceed to Terra Cycle.

The students at Menallen Elementary have learned many things throughout the school year, including the benefits of recycling. The students take part in two recycling programs, within the school and at home. The newer of the two programs is called Greenopolis, an initiative that helps to educate children on the benefits of recycling. Volunteer Janet Gallagher visits the school twice every week to weigh donated recyclables, which include plastic, aluminum and tin. Since it was introduced in January, the school has collected about 4,000 pounds of recyclable materials for the Greenopolis project. "They are doing a great job," school media specialist/librarian and project coordinator Christa Sabatula said. "It just keeps getting bigger and bigger." Sabatula said that the recycling was welcomed not only in the school, but in the community.

In 2009 a parent volunteer at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Glen Burnie saw an advertisement for a company called TerraCycle. Its “Get cash for trash” headline caught her attention, and before you could say, ‘Sounds too good to be true,’ there was a bin in the school cafeteria for the students to deposit their empty juice pouches at lunch. Since then, the school has collected over 70,000 juice pouches and recycles an average of 1,000 pouches per week during the school year. Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, TerraCycle began upcycling various products around 2007. An initiative that started with drink pouches, today the company offers more than 40 Brigades® that collect what was previously non-recyclable or difficult-to- recycle waste. A brigade is simply the term TerraCycle uses to designate its donations—so there is, for example, the Yogurt Container Brigade, the Cheese Packaging Brigade, and the Candy Wrapper Brigade. St. Paul’s initally joined the Drink Pouch Brigade. Most of the brigades are free for participants and include free shipping as well as a donation for each piece of waste recycled.

Weltweit wachsen die Müllberge, nachhaltige Entsorgung ist teuer. Das US-Unternehmen Terracycle geht einen anderen Weg: Es nutzt Abfall als Rohstoff für neue Produkte - die es jetzt auch in Deutschland gibt. Es riecht nach Benzin, doch die Straßen sind leer. Nur das Rauschen des Verkehrs auf dem nahen Highway ist zu hören. Hier am Rande von Trenton, der Hauptstadt von New Jersey, deren Einwohnerzahl schrumpft und die unter der steigenden Kriminalitätsrate leidet, verrosten unzählige Autowracks hinter hohen Drahtzäunen. Wacklige Strommasten lenken den Blick in den grauen Himmel. Der einzige grüne Lichtblick ist das leuchtende Graffiti auf der mit Einschusslöchern übersäten Betonfassade eines alten Fabrikgebäudes. "Terracycle - Outsmart your waste", "Upcycle" und "Zero Waste" steht dort an der Wand.

Hey, New Orleans: instead of filling up your trash can with empty food wrappers and plastic Hurricane cups after guests leave, you can reuse the packaging yourself or send the detritus to TerraCycle. In so doing, earn some summer cash for your favorite charity and also keep trash out of landfills. A win-win. TerraCycle, a recycling and so-called upcycling company -- meaning they not only help melt old cans but also turn formerly useless products into useable stuff -- partners with brands such as Frito-Lay and Nabisco to reduce the amount of waste being tossed out. The company's goal is to eliminate "the idea of waste" by creating collection and solution systems for anything that ends up in a landfill. According to TerraCycle intern David Smith, the company has inspired New Orleans school kids to go truly green: "TerraCycle, in partnership with brands such as Lunchables and Kraft, will be working to keep waste out of the lunch room. As school is revving up and lesson plans are being laid out, TerraCycle will be working with schools in New Orleans and elsewhere to set up brigade programs and collect all the waste possible, while at the same time giving financial rewards for the hard work of these kids. In turn, they are learning about how their efforts impact the environment." Continue reading on Examiner.com Turn old Hurricane cups and Frito bags into upcycled products - New Orleans Green Living | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/green-living-in-new-orleans/turn-old-hurricane-cups-and-frito-bags-into-upcycled-products#ixzz1TyRql9PY

Fourth of July is synonymous for cookouts and fireworks but after all the revelry has passed, hosts are left with piles of trash to tackle. TerraCycle has a solution for getting rid of all the non-recyclable waste from the Fourth and other summer parties through its collection program, the TerraCycle Brigade program. Anyone can send non-recyclable packaging from summer events – such as chip bags, napkin wrapping or plastic cups – to TerraCycle free of charge to be recycled or even repurposed into new, useful and innovative products. In addition to repurposing the waste, individuals that send waste to TerraCycle earn two cents per item for a charity of their choice – and there are plenty of great causes right here in Ashburn and Loudoun County. The program provides a great way for people to keep garbage out of the local landfill and give it another use.

Have you ever wondered if there was something that could be done with paper and plastic products not accepted for recycling so they wouldn't end up in the landfill? Several Orlando elementary schools and pre-schools are taking part in a national program geared toward reducing discarded trash. Food packaging such as Frito-Lay® chip bags, Kraft Singles® cheese wrappers, Solo® plastic cups, and Scott® paper towel and napkin wrappers can all be turned into useful products at TerraCycle®. TerraCycle was founded in 2001 by Princeton University freshman, Tom Szaky, who packaged organic fertilizer in used soda bottles. Today, the company reports more than 20,000,000 people have collected almost 2,000,000 units of trash to that created 260 different products and donated more than $2,500,000,000 to charity.

Have you ever wondered if there was something that could be done with paper and plastic products not accepted for recycling so they wouldn't end up in the landfill? Several Orlando elementary schools and pre-schools are taking part in a national program geared toward reducing discarded trash. Food packaging such as Frito-Lay® chip bags, Kraft Singles® cheese wrappers, Solo® plastic cups, and Scott® paper towel and napkin wrappers can all be turned into useful products at TerraCycle®. TerraCycle was founded in 2001 by Princeton University freshman, Tom Szaky, who packaged organic fertilizer in used soda bottles. Today, the company reports more than 20,000,000 people have collected almost 2,000,000 units of trash to that created 260 different products and donated more than $2,500,000,000 to charity.

Have you ever wondered if there was something that could be done with paper and plastic products not accepted for recycling so they wouldn't end up in the landfill? Several Orlando elementary schools and pre-schools are taking part in a national program geared toward reducing discarded trash. Food packaging such as Frito-Lay® chip bags, Kraft Singles® cheese wrappers, Solo® plastic cups, and Scott® paper towel and napkin wrappers can all be turned into useful products at TerraCycle®. TerraCycle was founded in 2001 by Princeton University freshman, Tom Szaky, who packaged organic fertilizer in used soda bottles. Today, the company reports more than 20,000,000 people have collected almost 2,000,000 units of trash to that created 260 different products and donated more than $2,500,000,000 to charity.