FARMINGTON -- Gloved hands sifted swiftly through bags of trash Wednesday, finding paper, disposable cups, foil-lined granola-bar wrappers and uneaten food that could have been recycled.   For the fifth year, members of the Sustainable Campus Coalition at the University of Maine at Farmington rummaged through bags of garbage collected over a 24-hour period in campus residence halls.   They separated recyclables from trash and for the first time, garnered items such as business folders that the on-campus Everyone's Resource Depot could take for resale.   They also looked for Solo cups, pouch drink containers and granola wrappers that can be "upcycled" -- converted to new materials of better quality or better environmental value -- and sent to TerraCycle where they are used to create usable items. TerraCycle provides free waste collection programs for hard-to- recycle materials and turns the waste into "affordable green products," according to its website.   Students are looking for things such as backpacks, bags, newspapers, pencils and plastic picnic tables, said Joe Digman, an intern with Sarah Martin, an adjunct professor at UMF.   Martin is also volunteer coordinator of TerraCycle for the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area. UMF is working with the United Way to start upcycling on campus, with all donations used to benefit the local region.   Cups, wrappers, beauty products and packaging, oral care products and pouch drinks are collected and shipped to TerraCycle, which pays a stipend to benefit the agencies supported by the United Way. A purple collection bin for such items sits outside the United Way door on Broadway.   "It's a win-win," Martin said.   Items that would normally add to landfills are reused, producing less trash and less impact on the environment. The effort also produces a modest, steady income for the United Way, which helps local people, she said.   Digman has helped set up three bins on campus. Adding more bins is being considered, he said, manning a table that displayed items that can be upcycled.   Sustainable Campus Coalition members were finding a lot of foil- lined granola wrappers, No. 6 plastics and Solo cups, senior Sarah Lavorgna said as she helped separate trash.   Students Samantha Ritson, Jasmin Heckler and Emily Vitone staffed a table for Everyone's Resource Depot where they displayed artistic items created from materials found at the depot.   The trash day, sponsored by the SCC, has shown a decrease each year in items that can be recycled, said Kaisha Muchemore, a UMF senior and co-coordinator of the campus group.   The decrease indicates the exercise is effective, Muchemore said. Last year, about 30 percent of the trash could have been recycled, she said. The group was hoping to lower the percentage to 20 percent or less this year, SCC coordinator Luke Kellett said. Members have met with Sandy River Recycling Manager Ron Slater to better understand which items the facility can recycle. They also are working on a food event set for Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Farmington Grange Hall involving local farmers and local food sources, Kellett said. The group also intends to hold another Fiddlehead Festival in May.

30-year-old social entrepreneur says movement’s time has come Friday November 19, 2012 -- Kristian Partington Being true to a core strength is the biggest lesson entrepreneur Tom Szaky has learned in his business life and that’s the advice he offers others who are eager to dive into the world of social enterprise. “A social business needs to work as a business first and foremost,” he says. “Really focus on what makes you special, and hold onto that. Outsource everything else around you, other than what makes you exceptionally special.” When you stay true to the core principles of a green business, “karma is on your side,” Tom says, and in a world that demands green choices, success is totally attainable. Tom founded TerraCycle in 2001 based on cycling waste into plant fertilizer, and the company has grown steadily since. It is considered by many today to be a leading example of a business that lives and breathes environmental and social sustainability. The company now offers a range of affordable, eco-friendly products created from waste. At 30, Tom represents a new generation of social entrepreneurs that is keenly aware of the public’s demand for consumer choices that allow them to feel good about the companies they support through their spending. TerraCycle’s dedication to environmental stewardship is generating loyal customers and supporters. “For us it’s very simple,” Tom says. “We have very strong customer service in-house, we have very strong social media, and things like that really help foster a relationship with the consumer.” His company and his team are committed to the core principles of sustainable development and growth, he says, and this creates loyalty among consumers. There’s no question in Tom ’s mind that the shift to a more socially-conscious approach to business is a movement whose time has come, and he points to the fact that media and consumers are making green issues a central topic as cornerstones of this growing momentum. “Media has picked up that ‘green’ is an issue that people care about and resonate with, and because of that it’s made it much easier for social businesses to get credit and to be seen as an important aspect of the economy,” he says. Governments are now making green jobs a priority and investing in an ecology of sustainable business enterprise, Tom points out, and that’s because society now demands it. “The topic has gone out there and become mainstream, and I think when you mainstream a topic, that’s when things get very exciting for a movement.” Tom will be speaking at SVN's Fall Conference November 14-17. Resister now www.svn.org/fall2012. If you have questions, comments or a story to share, please contact kristian(at)axiomnews.ca. Axiom News provides Stakeholder News to SVN. To read more news stories, click here.

TerraCycle is very excited to be working with one of its largest and longest-standing partners, Malt-O-Meal Cereals. Malt-O-Meal is a company that has reduced its packaging by 75% through its Bag the Box campaign. Bag the Box, a concept that simplified cereal packaging by losing the unneeded cardboard box and simply using a bag, has saved trillions of BTUs of energy, countless tons of fuel and hundreds of millions of pounds of waste since 2001. This waste-reducing concept made Malt-O-Meal and TerraCycle’s partnership a case of “eco-love at first sight!” The partnership created the Cereal Bag Brigade, which has since collected over 337,000 units and counting. Thus Malt-O-Meal is utilizing all 3 of the Environmental “R’s” – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Like TerraCycle, Malt-O-Meal knows its way around managing waste and we have enjoyed working with them for so many years. We like thinking, talking and living green and that is why from now until November 2nd, the Malt-O-Meal Facebook page is hosting an ongoing chat with our team members here at TerraCycle to give you our expert advice on any sustainable questions you have! Whether you have a burning question about what to do with an item you don’t want to trash, but don’t know what to do with, you’re curious about environmental waste issues, you’re looking for sustainable living tips, or you’re just there to have an eco-friendly chat, the TerraCycle Team is available for whatever your needs are for the next two weeks. We have become a go-to resource for recycling, upcycling and managing waste – both the ordinary and the hard-to-dispose-of varieties, and we are here to share our wisdom with you. We’re passionate about creating an open exchange of sustainability ideas, and we know you are too. So join us, get involved and click here to post your questions or follow our chats!

A happier, healthier hearth: Handmade and DIY fire starter alternatives Avoiding chemical starter logs and gels but not in the mood to go out and gather pine needles? As fireplace season approaches, consider these fume-free fire starters as well as a few DIY options for craft-minded pyros. Thu, Oct 18 2012 at 4:16 PM EST  3 Photo: Digitalshay/Flickr Happy time-to-throw-a-bunch-of-wood-and-wadded-up-balls-of-newspaper-into-that-sooty-box-under-the-mantlepiece season! Whether using a wood-burning fireplace for heating purposes or strictly for the cozy ambiance, everyone has their own special technique when it comes to nurturing that tiny spark into a roaring blaze. Pinecones, palmetto leaves, and dried moss are always a highly flammable — and also free — way to go, but why hunt and gather for tinder when you're at home? Save it for camping! Below are a few effective, chemical-free tinder and kindling options of the non-survival nature (so yes, you'll need fireplace matches). All are made in the U.S., most from recycled and non-toxic materials, and are appropriate for indoor wood-burning fireplaces. All are far easier to manage and less dangerous than using last week's Wall Street Journal. And if you happen to have a stockpile of sawdust and candle wax at home (because who doesn't?), check out the DIY fire starters tutorials at the bottom of the page F-Bomb Firestarter by Shift Studios @ Etsy ($2/each)

Una celebridad de los negocios, la innovación y la sostenibilidad hace campaña en Monterrey. Es Tom Szaky, fundador de TerraCycle, Inc., una empresa que saca rendimiento a la suma de ecología y capital. Este emprendedor treintañero nacido en Budapest, Hungría, difunde el concepto del "upcycling". ¿Cuál es? Fabricar un producto sin destruir ningún aspecto de la materia prima. Su enfoque es que 100 por ciento de la basura puede ser reciclado, mas no necesariamente quemado con afanes de crear energía. La primera escala de Szaky en tierras regias será en la Facultad de Contaduría Pública y Administración, de la UANL, que está celebrando sus 60 aniversario. Pasado el mediodía, Szaky irá a la EGADE, donde impartirá la conferencia taller "Empresa social: Capitalismo del mañana". A Szaky, que emigró primero a Canadá y después a Estados Unidos, Forbes lo ubica en su lista de los Top 30 Emprendedores Sociales del Mundo.

Por su crecimiento industrial y por ser un eje logístico internacional que provee al resto de América del Norte, Monterrey es considerada ciudad clave de TerraCycle en México, empresa que se dedica al reciclaje y a convertir basura difícil de reutilizar en nuevos productos, aseguraron sus principales directivos. Isaac Arjona, director general de la empresa en México, cuya sede está en Monterrey, destacó que la participación de la Ciudad en la recolección nacional estaría entre el 25 y el 30 por ciento del total, que actualmente se ubica en unas 300 mil a 400 mil piezas de basura. Asimismo, añadió que la ubicación geográfica de Monterrey la vuelve indispensable para la operación de la empresa en la región. "Gran parte de lo que recolectamos en Norteamérica lo hacemos en México, y de aquí somos proveedores para Canadá y Estados Unidos, y eso vuelve a Monterrey un eje indispensable para nuestra operación", detalló. En entrevista posterior a una conferencia que impartió en la EGADE el viernes pasado, Tom Szaky, fundador y director a nivel global de TerraCycle, explicó que la recolección de basura, materia prima de la compañía, que se envía a la empresa está creciendo a ritmos de entre 5 y 10 por ciento mensual. "La gente de México está recolectando, ése es el aspecto más bonito", aseguró. "(México) es de las regiones que están creciendo más rápidamente (en reciclaje)". TerraCycle, fundada en el 2001, recompensa a las personas que envíen la basura, dividida por tipo de desecho, a la empresa, con puntos canjeables por regalos de caridad o por un centavo de peso por punto para ser donado a escuelas u organizaciones sin fines de lucro que el recolector desee. En México existen alrededor de un millón 200 mil personas registradas recolectando basura, destacó Szaky. La empresa posteriormente trabaja los materiales de desecho para convertirlos en algún nuevo material, reciclándolos o a través del método de "upcycling", el cual preserva la forma original de la basura, pero convertido en otro producto nuevo, por ejemplo, una bolsa hecha de bolsas de papas fritas en el que es visible el empaque original. Entre los socios principales de la empresa en México, que acceden y promueven la utilización de sus productos de empaque para reutilizarlos o convertirlos en alguna otra cosa, están Bimbo, PepsiCo y Kraft, entre otros. TerraCycle tiene su sede mundial en Nueva Jersey, Estados Unidos.

Monterrey, NL.- • Hace una década el joven universitario Tom Szaky emprendió un proyecto ecológico, comenzó a reciclar desechos como los empaques de los polvos Tang, de dulces, pan y galletas, para elaborarproductos sustentables desde bolsas, estuches y lapiceras. Su empresa TerraCycle avanzó, y en 2008 experimentó un crecimiento internacional en lo que llama ecocapitalismo, a través del upcycling. Hoy, la firma se ha convertido en una micro multinacional de 120 empleados, con presencia en 22 países. La compañía, del estudiante de la Universidad de Princeton, ha estableciendo alianzas con conglomerados como Kraft Foods, Colgate-Palmolive, Grupo Bimbo, PepsiCo y United Parcel Service (UPS). La fórmula de TerraCycle ha sido convocar a la sociedad, a escuelas, iglesias y empresas a recolectar empaques de alimentos, incluso hasta residuos de cigarros para reciclar; involucrando al día de hoy a más de 32 millones de personas en el mundo, de las cuales 1 millón 500 mil se ubican en México. Esa brigada manera mensual recolecta más de 200 mil empaques vacíos de Tang. El empresario Tom Szaky, CEO de TerraCycle, llegó hace dos años a México, instalando sus oficinas centrales para el país en Nuevo León, logrando crecer su presencia. En tanto que su planta recicladora se sitúa en Aguascalientes. Tom Szaky asistió a la EGADE Business School donde compartió su visión de negocio a empresarios y estudiantes en la conferencia “Empresa Social: Capitalismo del Mañana”. En entrevista Szaky, en compañía de Isaac Arjona Alvarado, director general de México y Centroamérica, indicaron que están trabajando para establecer inversiones que les permitan crecer, aproximadamente al doble de su operación actual para inicios de 2014 en este país. Actualmente un 20 por ciento del reciclaje lo realizan en el Valle de México, otro 20 por ciento corresponde a Nuevo León, y el 60 por ciento corresponde al resto del país. Tom Szaky adelantó que próximamente ingresarán a Colombia, mientras que en 2013 se preparan para llevar su concepto a Europa del Este. “Ser sustentable es un negocio perfecto”, asintió el CEO de TerraCycle, negocio que inició con crecimientos de 20 por ciento anual, hasta alcanzar niveles de crecimiento de 100 por ciento anual

FARMINGTON - The scene on the green today at the University of Maine at Farmington was all about finding things that were thrown away that should have been recycled. The annual event was expanded further this year to include a new program that also generates support for local charities.   At the event sponsored by the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition, trash generated in residence halls over a 24-hour period are collected to determine how much could have also been recycled.   The coalition has been working with the Sandy River Recycling Association to pull  items for recycling at the transfer station and, at the same time, items  for possible use by Everyone's Resource Depot on campus.  ERD, a non-profit organization, takes recycled goods and offers them for creative reuse, such as art projects and various teaching tools. A nominal fee is charged to support the program.   Another new recycling effort at UMF was added last spring. Items like chip and candy wrappers, solo plastic cups and shampoo bottles are collected and sent to TerraCycle, which turns them into usable products like backpacks and park benches. In turn, TerraCycle pays 1 or 2 cents per item, with all profits coming back to UMF going to the local United Way.   Since the program began, $215 has been raised for United Way of the Tri Valley's charitable agencies and organizations it supports.   Sarah Martin, an adjunct professor in the Department of Community Health and Recreation, came up with the idea of UMF students working with TerraCycle to not only expand the recycling effort on campus, but to also benefit a local charity. UMF student Joe Dignam, a third-year environmental policy and planning major, is an intern working with Martin and United Way's executive director, Lisa Laflin to coordinate the program.   "When I heard about TerraCycle, I thought, wow, we have to do this," Martin said.   The students and faculty sorting trash today found all kinds of recyclable items that were pulled and resorted into categories that will be sent to ERD, the transfer station and there was a good-sized bag that will go to TerraCycle.   "We want to see the percentage of items that could have been recycled," said Luke Kellett, who is UMF's part-time sustainability coordinator and lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.   At last year's event they found that 25 percent of the trash could have been recycled. Displaying the trash for all to see at noontime on the campus green helps bring awareness of the recycling effort to the forefront.   "We hope to see progress this year and be below 20 percent," Kellett said. Find out more about TerraCycle here. Find out how you can donate your items to United Way of the Tri Valley Area here.

Vous pouvez remarquer qu'on trie les stylos/feutres usagés. Si ça vouPour permettre à chacun de bien se rappeler de "comment on trie les déchets", et pour que chacun puisse rapporter ses connaissances à la maison, j'ai fait un récapitulatif du tri "à l'école", qui sera suivi d'un récapitulatif plus général sur le tri des déchats "à la maison".s intéresse de mettre ça en place dans votre école: http://www.terracycle.fr/