In just over a year and a half, 21 The North Face® stores across the country have recycled more than one million plastic polybags through a program with upcycling and recycling pioneer, TerraCycle. The Natick store on Worcester Street is one of the stores that has contributed to keeping the one million bags or 20 tons out of landfills. Through this program, The North Face, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, and TerraCycle are actively pursuing a solution to a common packaging waste problem in the apparel industry. Until this partnership between The North Face and TerraCycle, the 21 stores were not able to readily recycle the polyethylene bags that protect apparel through distribution and transit. Now, the bags will be recycled into a variety of different products such as plastic lumber, bike racks and pavers.

TerraCycle created recycling programs called “Brigades” for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste. It began a partnership with Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company (SFNTC) last November to launch the first US cigarette-waste recycling program. “SFNTC has a long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability, and we were looking for a way to further bring that to life when we learned about TerraCycle's method to recycle certain types of cigarette waste,” says director of communications Seth Moskowitz. Organizations or individuals can sign-up for free on TerraCycle's website to become members of the “Cigarette Waste Brigade” to collect and ship the waste to TerraCycle. TerraCycle pays for shipping and donates $1 for every pound collected to Keep America Beautiful's anti-cigarette litter program. “We run the recycling program, host the website, and promote the program,” explains Albe Zakes, TerraCycle's global VP of media relations. “Our goals include driving sign-ups and participation and informing the industry of the advancement in cigarette waste recycling.”

Los colegios de educación Infantil y Primaria de la villa de Simancas se han adherido a la campaña de la ONGD burgalesa 'Persona Solidaridad', con la recogida de rotuladores y bolígrafos que ya no puedan ser utilizados, para contribuir a mejorar la educación en las Comunidades Nativas de la Selva Central de Perú. Con esta campaña de reciclaje y solidaridad, los alumnos del CEIP Puente y Los Zumacales, suman esfuerzos para que sus semejantes en el país andino puedan acceder a una educación óptima. Con el material reciclado en numerosos colegios, centros cívicos o asociaciones de la comunidad, entre otros colectivos, la empresa Terracycle donará una cantidad económica resultante de los bolígrafos y rotuladores entregados, que servirá para dotar de material escolar a esta zona de Perú.

¿Sabías que en tiempos de Plinio y Estrabón era tal la continuidad de los bosques ibéricos que una ardilla podía recorrer la Península de costa a costa por las copas de los árboles, sin necesidad de descender a tierra?

Ahora le toca a ASBEM, Asociación Burgalesa de Esclerosis Múltiple, pedir la colaboración de la sociedad mirandesa para salir adelante. El recorte de las ayudas que todas las asociaciones y organizaciones sufren y la dura crisis, pone a funcionar la imaginación de estas para no tener que recortar los servicios a los afectados. La recogida de bolígrafos, rotuladores, correctores que ya no estén en uso, les aportará 10 € por cada 5 Kg. recogidos. Para colaborar colocando una caja en comercios y empresas o instituciones, pueden llamar al 947 310322 informarse en su facebook o enviar un correo a asbemiranda@hotmail.com.

Pack It Up The #1 best way that you can green your lunch is to pack it. Instead of using plastic or paper bags, you should choose a reusable lunch box. Why? According to the EPA, children who bring a bag lunch to school every day create about 67 pounds of waste by the end of the year! If you can imagine how many children are in school and how many people work every day, that’s millions of pounds of brown bag waste.

Here are a few reusable lunch boxes that are great alternatives to bags: TerraCycle Drink Pouch Lunch Box, ACME Cotton Recycled Lunch Bag, Vy & Elle Lunch Bag, Mini Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar.

Mathis, a sixth grader at Nightengale Elementary, asked principal Mrs. Jordan’s permission to get started. With a little help from his mom and from his sixth grade ELA teacher Mrs. Powers, Mathis created flyers that he put up around school asking students and staff to save their of empty CapriSun pouches.   “There is a blue bin in the cafeteria – kids put their CapriSun pouches in it and then my mom and I collect them, take out the straws and make sure they are flat. Once we have collected a full bin, we ship them to TerraCycle,” Mathis said.   TerraCycle, a green company, upcycles and recycles hard-to-recycle waste such as juice pouches, Solo cups and chip bags. Removing these items from the waste stream reduces pressure on landfills.

Earth Day falls on Monday, April 22, this year, and Old Navy has partnered up with trash-to-treasure eco company TerraCycle to turn old, used, or broken flip flops into material for playgrounds. TerraCycle was founded in 2001 and has since become one of the fastest growing green companies in the world. According to TerraCycle’s website, their purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste by recycling one man’s trash into another man’s treasure. Started by 20-year-old Princeton University freshman Tom Szaky in 2001, TerraCycle has diverted billions of units of waste by turning them into different recycled products with more than 20 million people in 20 countries participating worldwide.

MASSENA -- Inspired by the back of a beverage, a Nightengale Elementary student has launched a campaign to help his school and the environment. Mathis LeBlanc, a sixth-grader, said it all started while he was downing a CapriSun. Reading the back of the packaging, he learned he could earn money for his school and help the environment by recycling his juice pouches. LeBlanc told his mother that he wanted to launch a school-wide recycling effort, sponsored by the juice company. With a little help from his mom and from his sixth grade ELA teacher Mrs. Powers, Mathis created flyers asking students and staff to save their of empty pouches. “There is a blue bin in the cafeteria – kids put their pouches in it and then my mom and I collect them, take out the straws and make sure they are flat. Once we have collected a full bin, we ship them to TerraCycle” said LeBlanc. TerraCycle, a green company, upcycles and recycles hard-to-recycle waste such as juice pouches, solo cups and chip bags. Removing these items from the waste stream reduces pressure on landfills. TerraCycle weighs LeBlanc’s pouches and sends him a check. LeBlanc has chosen to donate money from the juice company to Nightengale Elementary’s student council. Once the pouches are cleaned and sorted, they are ready to be repurposed into backpacks, pencil cases, and lunch boxes. Any pouches that are too dirty to be upcycled and are shredded and compressed to be made into new materials.

In just over a year and a half, 21 The North Face® stores across the country have recycled more than one million plastic polybags through a program with upcycling and recycling pioneer, TerraCycle. The Troy store on West Big Beaver Road is one of the stores that has contributed to keeping the one million bags or 20 tons out of landfills. Through this program, The North Face, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, and TerraCycle are actively pursuing a solution to a common packaging waste problem in the apparel industry.