May 31--PANAMA CITY BEACH -- After joining a worldwide movement to "outsmart waste" last fall, Pier Park is expanding its efforts this summer by launching an area-wide initiative to keep waste out of landfills. Through a partnership with worldwide recycling pioneer TerraCycle, the shopping center signed on to participate in a Cigarette Waste Brigade last year, in which cigarette butts are collected and recycled into plastic pellets for industrial use. Since the brigade's inception, TerraCycle has collected more than 13.5 million units of cigarette butts from 4,801 collection locations. The effort was so successful at Pier Park that officials have decided to expand to recycling other products through TerraCycle's various brigade programs. "As part of Simon Property Group, Pier Park is proud to expand its recycling efforts aligned with TerraCycle's innovative Waste Brigade programs," said Pier Park General Manager Brent Gardner. "Pier Park is committed to doing its part to create a more sustainable environment for generations to come, and this expanded effort will positively reduce landfill waste, which is a primary environmental goal." Starting in June, area residents and visitors are encouraged to bring recyclables to Pier Park on the first Saturday of every month between 9 a.m. and noon. Pier Park will be collecting items for 21 different TerraCycle brigades, which will then be packaged and sent to the organization to be recycled. Categories include: iPod and MP3 players; laptop, tablets and E-readers; Brita filter products; cellphones; cheese packaging; cigarette butts; cleaner packaging; Colgate products packaging; dairy tubs; diaper packaging; drink pouches; Elmer's glue sticks, bottles and caps; energy bar wrappers; Glad food storage products; inkjet and toner cartridges; lunch kit packaging (Lunchables); pairs of shoes; personal care and beauty products; Scotch tape; snack bags; and writing instruments. Founded in 2001, TerraCycle works with hundreds of major brands in the U.S. and in dozens of other countries to collect and repurpose materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. For more information on TerraCycle, visit www.terracycle.com. For more information on recycling programs at Pier Park visit www.simon.com/mall/pier-park or call (850) 236-9979.

Littlebrook Elementary is one of six schools selected from 18 in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania to win a competitive award from the regional arts-in-education program, Young Audiences (YA) of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania . This will be the first time the school will receive funding for an event that brings together art and recycling. Littlebrook has a tradition of bringing awareness of environmental issues into its classrooms. According to art teacher Colleen Dell, the school-wide festival will draw upon a collection of recycled materials that have been gathered for use in art activities. At Littlebrook, “every student has a hand in the planning, growing, harvesting, and general care of their school garden,” said Ms. Dell. “Our school has integrated garden activities into our student’s curriculum and is a member of TerraCycle as well as participants in the Green Schools Program, the Alliance To Save Energies, the Princeton Garden School Co-Op and Sustainable Princeton.” Through Terracycle “brigades,” Littlebrook students collect all types and brands of reusable containers, plus lids and foil tops. The school receives money in return for mailing these items to Terracycle. The money supports programs such as Littlebrook’s Joe Fund, which provides need-based scholarships for extracurricular activities and summer camp opportunities to any Littlebrook student in need. Ted Holsten, the ESL teacher and the school’s Terracycle coordinator, reports that in the past six years collections at the school have garnered $1,252 for the Joe Fund. Items collected, as of February 2014, include: 21,801 energy bars wrappers; 19,834 drink pouches; 7,731 dairy tubs; 7,563 snack bags; 2,670 candy wrappers; 2,239 cookie wrappers; 1,199 toner cartridges; 602 lunch kits … and the list goes on. In collaboration with Terracycle, the school has demonstrated ways in which small personal changes in habits can drastically impact the environment and community. Fifth graders have created public service announcements about the importance of TerraCycle collections. “The students learned iMovie on the ipad, did some research to plan their persuasive points and then churned out some very creative projects in science class with their science lab teacher, Mrs. Friend,” said Ms. Kosek,

If you’re trying to be an environmentally conscious unclutterer, you probably know that reuse is preferable to recycling. If someone can enjoy the paperback book I’m getting rid of, giving the book to that person (directly, or through a venue such as a used bookstore) is better than tossing the book into my recycling bin. But, sometimes the recycling bin is the right answer. If the book is falling apart or it’s a reference book that’s now seriously outdated, it’s ready to be recycled. Even more: TerraCycle has its Brigades, where you sign up to recycle a specific type of item, such as Brita filters, energy bar wrappers, drink pouches, or cheese packaging. You collect your specific item and then mail the collected items in, postage paid (in most cases).

Not sure what to do with your Little Bites pouches? Now you can recycle them with the TerraCycle Brigade programs and sign up  your school if it is not already participating.

The Alpine Montessori School and Brewster County Twin Peaks 4-H Club are collecting items and sending them to TerraCycle to be repurposed into new products.

Through one of TerraCycle’s free Brigade programs, the department has collected more than 1,300 pounds of bags, diverting a huge chunk of waste from local ecosystems and landfills. It even generates points for each unit of waste sent to TerraCycle, which are being turned into cash donations to local schools around Oregon.

I’m happy to announce that Little Bites and TerraCycle have partnered this Earth Day to spread awareness!!  I received the CUTEST reusable bag made entirely out of Little Bites packaging.

TerraCycle currently operates in 26 countries. One particularly innovative brigade was started in Canada but quickly spread to the United States and Europe: cigarette waste. Butts add up to 38 percent of all of the trash on U.S. roadways.

TerraCycle works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. to collect used packaging and traditionally non-recyclable waste that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It re-purposes that waste (that others deem as garbage) into new, innovative materials and products that are available for purchase online and through major retailers.

They even have a partnership with Recycle Brevard and serve as a drop-off site for items that can’t normally be recycled that are part of the Terracycle brigades they participate in.