From pencil pouches made of Capri Sun juice packets to candy wrapper tote bags, TerraCycle is putting the fun back in recycling and even rewarding people for their sustainable efforts.

Here is just an Example of the points amounts & prizes: TerraCycle Pencil Pouch=300 Points HappyBaby Coupons=500 Points $25 Target Gift Card=1,000 Points

I hadn’t heard ofTerracycle until it made news recently by making a deal with Wal Mart. Until April 29, the national chain will sell Terracycle’s upcycled backpacks, pencil cases and more, right next to the product the new merch was made from. Want a frito lay purse? Hit up the chip aisle. For a Capri Sun backpack, head down to the drink section.

A recent podcast by the Pat Kenny show on RTE outlined a number of recycling and upcycling ideas including flavour of the month, Terracycle. TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. With over 50 products available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world.

Whether you were in one of the PTA groups in question or the recipient being hassled by them for your trash (i.e.: empty juice pouches, snack wrappers, etc.) for the past year, all of that pestering and collecting of non-recyclable waste has finally payed off. That trash has been turned into some very useful products by TerraCycleand they’re now available in every Walmart in the US throughout the month of April! The 40th Anniversary of Earth day has rumbled some excitement among our “big box” manufacturers and retailers; finally we have huge companies like Kraft and Walmart getting in tow with small upcycling companies, namely TerraCycle, to close the life cycle loop of items destined for the landfill.

Look out, it’s nearly the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (now a month-long affair) and companies everywhere will be grasping at tenuous links to the occasion, vying for the green in your pocketbook. And what are we doing? A green pop up shop , of course, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, in the heart of the busiest part of New York. We are doing this in conjunction with the Times Square Alliance and NY’s Fashion Center Business Improvement District, which is trying very hard to bring more sustainable businesses and retailers to New York. Is this a wise thing for a green business to be doing? After all, creating a short lived store space, then carting off and disposing of all the related materials that went into making it can be quite wasteful. Pop up shops have been largely used by big companies in metro areas in hopes of drawing people out into the suburbs where their full time store is, encouraging additional driving. Why would a sustainability-focused business like ours do such a thing?

Those cute little Capri Sun purses and pencil cases you see in boutiques and Target, come from the juice pouches your little ones drink!  Don't throw those pouches away, your school can get 2 cents a pouch!   Totally awesome right? Now I will admit it can get a little messy, as I am the one in charge of cleaning them, but it is well worth it in the end: 1. We bring in cash for new school supplies and 2. We are making the earth a little cleaner. Go to your school's PTA and ask if your school is a part of the Terra-cycle program. New to the Terra-cycle program is the Elmer's Glue Crew!   Which come on, what school doesn't use a lot of Elmer's Glue? And at 2 cents a container!  WOW!  Find out more here! The best part of the Terra-cycle program is you can get your whole family involved!

Egads, almost three years ago now, I wrote about a New Jersey company (woo-hoo, go Jersey!) called Terracycle that uses discarded stuff of all sorts — discarded technology accessories, empty juice packs and so on — to create stuff like flower pots and tote bags (like the ones pictured below).

The financial crisis has resulted in a wave of business creativity and innovation. Many businesses have turned to implementing new green technology solutions as a way of reducing costs. Many big corporations suffer from a lack of innovation due to their size. Like the proverbial captain of an oil tanker trying to change direction, they can take ages to respond. It’s not just a question of developing new products, it’s also a matter of marketing and making them commercially viable. Read more:http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=4073#ixzz17RehZLoc

While many think of changing their habits on Earth Day, we bet you’re probably in the know and are taking green strides all month. It is Earth Month, after all! To make it easier for you to incorporate more fashionable green choices into your lifestyle, TerraCycle is hosting The Greenup! – a pop-up shop that opened on March 27th in New York City and will continue to be open until the end of April.