Tom Szaky recounts traveling down a heavily polluted Delaware River on a canoe in 2001, as part of an ice-breaking activity for freshmen at Princeton University. He was stunned by all the litter he saw: discarded electronics, slightly torn garments and half-drunk beverages. Szaky, who was born in Hungary and lived throughout Europe before moving to Canada with his parents in 1987, treasured each of the few possessions he had. “As I moved more toward the West, it was really surprising to see how many amazing things people throw away,” he said. “Garbage is a luxury. In the poorest countries, there's much less of it.” Soon after, while still at Princeton, he and classmate Jon Beyer started TerraCycle, a company that takes generally non-recyclable waste — drink pouches, chip bags and even circuit boards — and turns it into consumer products such as bins and bags. Szaky, 32, and Beyer began with a composting system that turned organic waste into fertilizer through the crude conduit of worm droppings. Exactly how much TerraCycle has flourished since then can be captured in a few ways: the 11 straight years of revenue growth, the worldwide network of waste-collecting volunteers that has grown to 60 million or the ever-increasing scope of recycled materials (cigarette butts is the latest addition). Szaky is hoping the business will grow ten-fold by 2024. He's unsure what that would look like, as there's nothing static about the business model. For example, TerraCycle moved away from manufacturing to licensing all of its products a few years ago. “The unique thing about garbage,” he added, “is that there are no TerraCycles out there. There's no dot-com equivalent to waste.” Filling an industry vacancy has allowed TerraCycle to do work in as many as 26 countries; that's after only working within American borders as recently as 2008. Szaky's goal is to stay true to the company's eco-friendly emphasis on finding new use for trash — trash that would otherwise be incinerated, which is reported to have a negative impact on the environment due to carbon emissions. One needn't look further than the look of the office itself — crushed cans on walls, clear-bottle curtains and wine cork cubicle dividers — for evidence that it's a mission Szaky feels strongly about. That aesthetic is one that Szaky intends to preserve throughout each of its global branches. It's a small part of his grander ethos that he expects will be a thread running through the company's past and future. “The way to solve garbage is by not assuming that it's garbage,” he said. “You have to look at it from a completely different perspective. You have to imagine what something like a pen would be to an alien. Think of other functional uses.”

A leading recycling company UF works with has gone Hollywood. UF’s Office of Sustainability has a partnership with TerraCycle, a recycling company that recycles waste that is usually non-recyclable, such as toothbrushes, wrappers and cosmetic containers. “We upcycle or recycle them into a variety of affordable, sustainable consumer products and building materials,” said Albe Zakes, global vice president of media relations. Donors drop off items at TerraCycle tubes located at all Gator Dining convenience stores on campus. The Office of Sustainability then sorts and mails the items to TerraCycle. Schools and nonprofits earn 2 cents for every piece of waste they recycle.Zakes said TerraCycle has made almost $10 million from recycling waste since 2007. But that number may change. The recycling company is scheduled to debut its own reality TV series called”Human Resources.” Each episode will be informative and feature a different product, but it will also be a bit of wackiness, Zakes said. He and his co-workers like to play pranks on each other and have fun around the office, he said. “We hope that that combination is going to make it both educational and entertaining at the same time,” he said. Human Resources will premiere Aug. 8 at 10 p.m. on Pivot, a new network geared towards “socially minded millennials,” he said. However, UF’s connection with the company will remain the same despite its potential stardom. TerraCycle is a starting point for people to become more involved in sustainability, said Joseph Floyd, zero waste coordinator for the Office of Sustainability. “It gives people an outlet and a way to engage,” he said. “There’s other value beyond the monetary factor.” Jessica Gervais, a 20-year-old UF biology and psychology sophomore, said TerraCycle options should be expanded from the current locations. “I think it might be an even better idea to have it all around campus instead of just the P.O.D.,” Gervais said. “Unless you’re there a lot, it’s probably really inconvenient to go all the way there to get rid of a toothbrush.” However, Gervais said she still will start using the P.O.D. Market locations because the planet is more important than a minor inconvenience.

Congratulations to the students and teachers at Parkway Preschool in Metairie, who have been named among the top lunch kit collectors in Louisiana for the Lunch Kit Brigade, a free national recycling  program created by Lunchables, Lunch Combinations and TerraCycle. Parkway Preschool kept 1,000 units of traditionally nonrecyclable waste from going to landfills. Schools interested in learning about the recycling program can visit the website at www.terracycle.com.

Students and teachers at Meadow View Elementary School in Waupun are among the top collectors of lunch kits in the Lunch Kit Brigade, a free national recycling program created by Lunchables Lunch Combinations and TerraCycle. By collecting used lunch kits, the school has helped to divert 3,076 units of lunch kit waste from landfills. Schools earn points that can be redeemed for charitable gifts or a cash donation. TerraCycle recycles the traditionally non-recyclable lunch kit waste into new products and materials.

Instead of pitching plastic lunch kits into garbage cans, Robinson Elementary School has collected them as part of the Lunch Kit Brigade program by TerraCycle and Lunchables Lunch Combinations. Since joining the program in January 2011, the Robinson Township school has collected a total of more than 9,800 lunch kits, earning them the third spot for top collectors in Michigan. Scott Brown, in public relations at TerraCycle, said the local elementary school is one of 60 organizations participating in the state. The national program has collected more than 2.46 million plastic units and raised more than $59,000 at 8,125 collection sites. Although Robinson Elementary School Principal Jeffrey Marcus said he noticed the school’s trash output has been “significantly reduced,” he didn’t pay attention to the total amount that had been recycled. Each year, the school has collected more than 1,200 units. Last year, students recycled more than 2,300 units. The school started participating in the Lunch Kit Brigade after a parent mentioned it. Marcus said the school’s Green Team, teaching staff and Parent Teacher Association oversees the program. The school’s participation in the Lunch Kit Brigade is among the school’s recycling efforts. During each lunch, three or four students devote part of their recess time to helping their peers sort through recyclable items. The school also recycles Styrofoam trays, empty milk cartons, juice bags, batteries, paper, plastic and metal.

Both of these items are super cool to look at and feel. They are made from recycled product packaging from consumers just like you and I. TerraCycle has thousands of locations nationwide to donate used product wrappers for things like Capri Sun, Doritos, and even Lunchables! Here is a little more about the eco-friendly TerraCycle Brigades program

There are a lot of eco-friendly companies out there, but no other company is quite like TerraCycle.  This company literally takes your garbage and makes practical products such as plant food, backpacks, frames, toys and more! This company pays schools and non-profit organizations for their trash saving 1000's of tons of waste from going to landfills. For every item return, TerraCycle donates 2 cents to the school or charity. This company is so amazing! Some of the back to school products they offer include a Clif Kid Backpack that is a colorful and sturdy bag made from Clif Kid Bar packaging and is sure to stand out from the crowd while holding everything a student might need. They offer a Drink Pouch Pencil Case, made out of upcycled drink pouches from Capri Sun, which is perfect for organizing pencils, pens and other classroom essentials. Plus, they offer an iPad/tablet case made from the durable canvas of retired United States Postal Service bags, boasting a vintage look and a soft, protective interior pouch. I had the opportunity to review a Coin Pouch that was crafted from a retired US Mail Bag. The one-of -a-kind pouch has a zipper close for organizing coins, makeup, and other small items (dimensions: 5.5" x 3.5"). I figured this would be perfect for my daughter who is frequently taking money or small items (like jewelry) to school - but often losing it.  Thanks to the recycled material, this coin purse is built tough.  My daughter is really rough with her stuff, but this coin purse should definitely last! It has an easy zipper closure so even smaller children could easily use it.  With this adorable case, she will be much less likely to lose small coins and pieces and she thinks it is really cool that she will have something that no one else has!

Marathons, triathlons, mud runs and Ironman competitions—these are just a few of the popular races and events you’ll find popping up in every state around the U.S. today. Americans are becoming increasingly more health conscious, and participation in these events rises every year; the Tough Mudder mud run alone has seen over 1.3 million participants since its inception in 2010. But these high intensity events have one particularly unanticipated problem: energy bar and other performance product packaging waste. Meal replacement bars, energy shots and gel chews have skyrocketed in popularity, in part due to the surge in the number of endurance events. In 2011 for example, U.S. retail sales for nutrition and energy bars was estimated to be around $1.7 billion, 71% higher than in 2006. As the sales of these energy products increase, trails of packaging are left to accumulate on event grounds. Competitions and races each have their own set of volunteers who sign up to help run events. With hundreds, sometimes thousands of volunteers at each competition, cleaning up can be completed quickly—but how efficiently? As volunteers go through the effort to clean up massive amounts of litter, separation becomes especially difficult as countless pieces of trash and packaging are thrown into the wrong waste streams, inevitably ending up in landfill. Thankfully, there are organizations that help manage and arrange waste-reduction efforts for event staff. One association, called The Council for Responsible Sport, is looking to make a change in the way competitions handle all of their sustainability efforts. The Council evaluates what efforts are being made by the event to become eco-friendly, and when specific criteria are met, the event is awarded a certification for their achievements. The certifications range based on the number of criterion met, from “Basic” to “Gold” Certification. A number of marathons have already taken impressive steps to clean up streets from packaging waste and other race debris. The Philadelphia Marathon, for example, achieved a Gold Certification from The Council for Responsible Sport after using the both the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and the Office of Civic Engagement to help educate race attendees about recycling, as well drive forth the goal to divert 75% of marathon waste from landfills. The Chevron Houston Marathon, also with Gold Certification, bans vendors from using Styrofoam packaging and food containers, also ensuring that a majority of all event-related waste is diverted from the landfill by taking both pre and post-race measures to educate attendees, and direct waste into its proper stream Organizations and government services do their fair share to help maintain the streets at the conclusion of the race, but how are consumer product companies themselves getting involved? TerraCycle, for example, partnered with energy bar producer Clif Bar & Company to collect and recycle energy bar wrappers, shots and packets, even repurposing the waste material into products such as recycling bins and bike racks. All of the waste gets diverted from a landfill, while subsequently being turned into useful, reusable products. Poland Springs is another good example, using its “RECYCLE 4 Humanity” campaign to help eliminate some of their own bottled water packaging waste. Before race weekend begins, Poland Springs sets up large clear bins throughout the course and Athletic Village so people can properly recycle their plastic bottles throughout the day. It doesn’t address the issue of consumption that leads to the issue in the first place, but at least it shows that consumer product companies are beginning to take responsibility for the packaging waste their products generate, “greening” these exciting and popular sporting events in the process. These races and city-run marathons are great for our increasingly health-conscious culture, but can strain resources and promote wastefulness if not managed properly. This is exactly why organizations like the Council for Responsible Sport are critical, and why sustainability efforts like TerraCycle and Clif’s are important to integrate into existing events to ensure that they aren’t just stewards of health and exercise, but of environmental responsibility and proper recycling practices as well.