No one has been more tuned in to climate change than outdoor apparel company The North Face. Many of its customers are climbing those mountains where the snow pack is shrinking or have seen the effect of drought on hiking trails and wildlife habitat. With that in mind, The North Face for the past two years has been asking 25 of its retail stores to participate in a program with TerraCycle where they make sure that those polyethylene bags used to ship clothing are recycled. And they have been pretty successful. Together the two companies have kept 1.5 million plastic polybags, equaling more than 62,000 pounds of plastic, out of U.S. landfills. The bags are being recycled into a variety of different products such as plastic lumber, bike racks and pavers. The North Face has also been trying to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases its operations emit into the air. In a survey, it found that 58 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions come from its distribution centers. With that in mind, it installed a one-megawatt solar panel at its distribution center in Visalia, Calif., which is now supplying 25 percent of the huge distribution center's energy needs while saving 950 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the air every year.

ONTARIO—Snake River Correctional Institution has joined other correctional institutions across the state in a sustainability effort that is aimed at recycling and raising money for local charities. In the Chip Bag Brigade, inmates collect corn and potato chip bags from their kitchen, housing units and vending machine areas and turn them in to a company called Terracycle, which takes used packaging materials and recycles them into new products such as photo frames, park benches and backpacks. “We accumulate one point per chip bag if we send a box of at least 14 pounds. Each point earns 1 cent toward a charity of our choice, and the SRCI Sustainability Group chose the Harvest House Missions in Ontario for our first recipient,” project leader Kailee Evans said. “We have had a very positive experience and have been able to donate over $300 to Harvest House Missions so far. We have also collected over 500 pounds of chip bags that would normally go in a landfill.” Terracycle allows Snake River Correctional Institution to print UPS shipping labels at no cost to ship the chip bags to the company. “The program not only benefits sustainability efforts, which is awesome, but it helps raise money for charity. Our donation goes to the Harvest House,” said Cathleen Shroyer, a public information specialist with Snake River Correctional Institution. “As with most community outreach programs we are involved in, a big part of why we do it is the spirit of giving back. I used to say it’s important to find avenues for inmates to give back to the community as a way to help rehabilitate them and teach them the importance of doing things for others.” Shroyer said the community outreach efforts had been fairly successful. The emphasis has started to turn giving back into something that the people at the prison do. “It’s become a regular part of our lives,” Shroyer said. The project is organized by staff members, and inmates are responsible for the collection and packaging the shipments. To date, the inmates have collected 43,724 chip bags for a cash value of $418.79. That means $419.79 that will be donated to Harvest House Missions. Shroyer said the program — and others like it — benefit prison inmates and staff alike. “A majority of our inmate population has surpassed the learning stage of why doing things for the community is important, and they are really more focused on taking action with that knowledge,” Shroyer said. “Our staff are equally motivated to do things which are beneficial to our surrounding communities. Understanding how much of a positive affect you can have in a given area, even with a small contribution, is well worth going the extra mile to help anywhere we can.” Zachary Chastaine is a news reporter at The Argus Observer. He can be reached at (541) 823-4815 or by emailing zachc@argusobserver.com. To comment on this story, go to www.argusobserver.com.

Students help school earned more than $3,500 in the TerraCycle and Capri Sun contest. Cumming Elementary School students have just reached the second level of TerraCycle and Capri Sun’s Drink Pouch Brigade milestone contest by collecting more than 18,000 drink pouches. For their accomplishment, the school earned more than $3,500. The Drink Pouch Brigade is a free recycling program that rewards people for collecting and sending their waste to TerraCycle to be recycled or upcycled. The Milestone Program began in September 2013 when Capri Sun added prizes for collecting certain amounts. Now, in addition to the money they earn for each piece of waste collected, participants can win prizes made from recycled drink pouches, such as park benches, recycling bins, a playground, and other fun rewards. "The Milestone Program is meant to inspire individuals and organizations to collect more waste while receiving prizes for their achievements," said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky in a release. "It is rewarding to see the students and administration get so involved in making this work. It’s an incredible achievement to have kept so many pouches out of the waste stream." Thousands of other schools across the United States participate in the Drink Pouch Brigade. To learn more about the program or to sign up, visitwww.terracycle.com.  The program is free to any interested organization or individual, and all shipping costs are paid. In addition, for each piece of waste received, participants earn money for a charity of their choice.

A TerraCycle transforma resíduos difíceis de reciclar em uma grande variedade de produtos de consumo. Estes novos produtos desviam os resíduos..

5.A på Aarupskolen har med hjælp fra familie, venner og andre klasser indsamlet 28.000 skruelåg til mælke- og yoghurtkartoner. De har besluttet at det er russiskebørnehjemsbørn og WWF's naturprojekter som Red Orangutangen og Red Regnskoven der skal nyde godt af deres anstrengelser. Læs mere her: 5.A på Aarupskolen.

38.000. Så mange mælke- og yoghurtlåg har lokalbefolkningen i Blære - og i særdeleshed eleverne på Blære Skole - samlet ind i forbindelse med kampagnen Brug Låget!. Læs mere her:  Blære Skole

Manchester Primary School students have become class acts when it comes to wielding magic to turn trash into treasure.  ‘‘Locals can send their collections to TerraCycle for free to be recycled into bright, fun and sustainable items by dropping them off at the school.

Recycle Across America has joined with Participant Media and TerraCycle to launch a social action campaign focused on transforming recycling and improving the economics and prevalence of sustainable packaging and manufacturing. A key component of the campaign is expanding the use of standardized recycling labels to help eliminate confusion at the bins and empowering everyone to "recycle right." The campaign aims to double the amount of standardized labels being used by the end of the year to 1 million. For more, click here.   The Recycling Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization closely associated with the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), is currently accepting applications for both the National Scholarship and the Veterans' Stipend Program. The application deadline for both opportunities is July 1. Find more information here.   Lake City, South Carolina-based ICE Recycling has been acquired by Leigh Delaware Holdings, an affiliate of Wellford, South Carolina's Leigh Fibers. Founded in 2008 by Larry T. Gay Jr., ICE reprocesses post-industrial polymers, cardboard, paper and metals. Gay will continue to lead ICE business. Read more on the deal here.

This week’s featured film on The Progressive Film Hour with Mitchell Rabin is The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard.

The Global Food & Beverage Summit returns to Chicago on July 15-17, 2014 where it will be held at the Chicago Hyatt Regency.  This year the event is rolling out two dynamic learning tracks that offer high quality learning to those in the food & beverage sector—Strategies for Marketing & Brand Differentiation plus Technical Intelligence to Enhance Production & Engineering. Packaging Digest had the opportunity to connect with Albe Zakes, vp of communication, TerraCycle Inc., who will be speaking at the event. His background includes playing an integral role in the transformation of TerraCycle from a small start-up selling liquefied worm poop in reused soda bottles into a successful and highly visible recycling innovator that runs pre- and post-consumer packaging reclamation programs for major manufacturers such as Kraft Foods, Frito-Lay, L’Oreal, 3M, Kimberly-Clark, Proctor & Gamble and Newell Rubbermaid. For companies that are looking to increase their triple bottom line, what are some key practice points for developing a successful sustainability program? Zakes: Unfortunately, sustainability and social responsibility programs don't come in a "one-size-fits-all" so any company looking to improve their triple bottom line, must first understand where their issues and opportunities exist. A good way to start this process is review each major step of your supply chain individually. Start with the "low-hanging" fruit, your own offices and employees. For environmental improvement, look to see how you can reduce waste and increase recycling or reuse. Naming an "eco-champion" for the office helps to provide a more defined sense of responsibility. Then look at all the ways you can reduce waste, without affecting productivity. Do you have a double-sided printing policy? Are recycling bins clearly labelled and widely available? Do you provide reusable coffee mugs and dish ware? Consider a small "reward" for those who bike or carpool to work. Then consider gamifying the whole process. Have internal contests about which department/floor/section can reduce, reuse and recycle the most. Have a leader board and watch the competition heat up while helping to reduce your company's eco-impact. Then for social impact there are fun easy ways to get your employees involved and actually increase their positivity and commitment. Consider local volunteer days, bonus time off for running in charity races, setting up clothing, shoe or can food drives in the office. Every little bit helps and most employees will be glad to participate. Then look at your transportation and manufacturing, a trickier place to improve, but with bigger pay off if done correctly. After all, yours is a for-profit business and making sure you keep your costs controlled is vital. Consider renewable energies in your manufacturing or whether alternative transportation is viable, be it electric cars or using simply using freight train versus trucking. Many investments in sustainable energy can become cost-saving measures, but often have very long horizons before that is the case. At TerraCycle, we leased our roofs to a solar company, who then installed solar panels on our factories and offices. We recoup serious energy savings, the solar company sells the left over credits and in 20 years we will own the panels outright. All at no cost to the company! Try to balance a few long-term investments and with a few smaller, easy and less costly to implement ideas. Look at reducing your post-industrial waste as an easy cost saving solutions. More and more companies are providing free or low-cost recycling solution for trim or off-spec materials, reducing your impact and tipping fees. Triple bottom line efforts don't have to detract from the fiscal bottom line. Start with smaller, easy projects like increased recycling options, updating company policies and running intern drives and charity efforts. Then you can get a sense of your stakeholders’ willingness to tackle the bigger issues.   How can companies increase consumer engagement to purchase sustainably and ethically-packaged products? Zakes: Education, education, education. Consumers can't be expected to pay a premium of any size or make a brand-switch simply because they are told your package is more sustainable or ethical. They need to know why the issue you are addressing matters and what eco/social impact the less responsible choice is creating. Further, they need to how why your package is better, not just have faith that you’re telling the truth. Getting that message across is not easy but can be delivered with honest, straight-forward marketing. Bring the issue to life visually through images, infographics and third party endorsements from reputable figures. Use these talking points and images on your package, POP materials, social media and your website. Consumers trust what they see and information from respected authorities. Use these channels to educate and inspire consumers on why the issue matters and why they should make the better choice. Ask for feedback and give your consumers a voice. Today's social media driven world is a 2-way conversation with consumer like never before. Don't just tell your consumer that your package is more responsible; ask them for their help on a journey to a better package. Take pride in the improvements you've already made and ask them for their opinion on how to make it even better. Consumers feel a much stronger affinity to a product they feel they've helped to build or improved and are far more loyal to a company they think is actually interested in their opinion.   How can an organization maximize its impact on the community and ensure its future sustainability? Zakes: The key is combining long-term and short-term goals into a strategy that can have both an immediate and long-lasting affect. Start with smaller ways to engage the local communities around your offices and facilities. This can take the form of the aforementioned charity drives, mentorship programs, local clean-up efforts or donations to local non-profits. While there are some small costs to these efforts they can also create shared value through PR, Social Media and general impact consumer awareness and opinion. Once you've started to develop these relationships with the local community, use the experience to create templates for how these events can make both social impact and help your business, then decide which to continue or make into annual or recurring events. As your view turns towards a longer horizon think about adding to these annual outreach efforts by setting up a local scholarship fund or mounter/fellowship program. Work with the recyclers and waste management companies in your area to understand how you can work together better to reduce waste. Talk with local government to see who you can support their beautification or environmental initiatives. Host a community "town hall" to discuss and understand the impacts—both positive and negative—that your business and others in the area have on the community. While that type of public transparency might seem risky or intimidating at first, you will gain invaluable insight and massive respect from consumers simply for your willingness to listen.   How do you see the sustainable packaging industry evolving? Future trends and innovations? Zakes: Sustainable packaging has a very bright future. Innovation is taking place across the board and has the buy in from all stakeholders from manufacturers to purchasers to consumers to governments. Tactics like designed for re-use are being explored by giants like Coca-Cola. Compostable, bio-based plastics are becoming more affordable and applicable to a wider range of packaging formats. Post-consumer recycling opportunities for packaging falsely labelled "non-recyclable" are booming lead by TerraCycle, Aveda, Crayola and otherwise. Ways to reduce the energy or materials required to manufacturer packaging are blossoming and more and more decreasing the carbon impact of shipping—through lighter weight packaging or items that stack better—is becoming the norm. Packaging will forever be a part of modern consumerism, but the day when packaging is celebrated—not vilified—for its environmental impact grows ever closer. Albe will be presenting on July 16, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. To find out more about the event, please visit http://pdlinks.com/WGJ9Ds. For more information about how to register for the summit and pre-conference workshop, visit www.fbpackaging.comor call 310-445-8535.