Making recycling fun, rewarding and lucrative might be a few keys to reducing the amount of trash dumped in landfills. To that end, TerraCycle, a company in New Jersey, put on its Solo Summer Celebration contest, inspiring Cheryl Collins of Santa Rosa to collect over 21,000 plastic #6 cups. As a victor and a collector, Collins was able to raise about $1,200 for the Forestville based charity, Paws As Loving Support (PALS), an organization that provides assistance dogs for children with Autism. “I think what TerraCycle does is pretty awesome,” said Collins about the nationwide recycling contest she won.

The Solo Cup Brigade challenged participants to collect more than 1,000 cups between May and September. For each piece of waste collected through this free program, participants earn TerraCycle points that can be put toward charity gifts or converted to cash and paid to any school or charity.