The example of TerraCycle from the US shows how sustainability and charity can go hand in hand. In the US alone, more than 12 million people are already collecting garbage for Terracycle. The company uses it to create new products, such as bags, loudspeakers or cushions. In the space of only four years, TerraCycle has managed to increase its turnover from 4.5 million euros to an estimated 14 million euros this year. Globally, the company has now set up more than eighty thousand collection points. People are paid for collecting, but then donate the money as a next step. So far, the company has been able to raise more than one million euros for charitable causes.

Para comemorar a semana do Meio Ambiente (de 05 a 10 de Junho) a Nestlé, a Terracycle e o Agenda Sustentável querem divulgar as melhores ações de preservação ambiental e premiá-las.

Além das missões, o site dá destaque para o programa "Brigada Tang de Reciclagem", lançado no início de 2010 em parceria com a empresa norte-americana Terracycle, que estimula grupos de crianças e adultos a se unir para fazer a coleta de embalagens usadas de Tang.

My Top 10 Business Travel Tips By TOM SZAKY <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/author/tom-szaky/> Over the past decade, I have gone from being an aggressive domestic traveler to being an aggressive global traveler, constantly visiting our various foreign locations <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/how-we-decided-to-go-global/>  and opening up new operations. I travel so much that I can relate to George Clooney’s character in the movie “Up In the Air <http://www.theupintheairmovie.com/> .” (Last year, I traveled more than half a million miles!) Rather than moan about having to go to an airport three times a week, I’ll share some of the tips I have picked up along the way. By far, my most important rule — and one that too few people follow — is to pack lightly, in fact as ridiculously lightly as possible. After careful consideration, I have been able to get my baggage for any length of business trip down to one medium-sized backpack small enough to put under the seat in front of me. Not only does this free me from checking baggage (of course!), it also frees me from the overhead-compartment scramble — which can be especially important if you arrive late. If I have samples or something that I will need to support my presentation or meeting, I generally send it to my hotel ahead of time. Here are my suggestions for getting everything into a backpack (along with a laptop): 1. Take one pair of pants, one pair of shoes (black running shoes, comfort is key), one sweater (which, according to our general manager in Europe, Chris Baker, is a great way to hide an unironed shirt) and one jacket. None of these have to be packed since you just wear them. 2. Take a week’s worth of T-shirts, socks and underwear. A week is all you need since every city in the world has laundry facilities. Throw in a few dress shirts. 3. Other random items that I have found useful: sunglasses, international power converters, first aid kit, gloves, hat, swimsuit, a few USB drives and toiletries. 4. Hiking clothes are great because they are easy to clean, they’re classy enough to wear to most meetings, and they can work in almost any weather situation — from a Mediterranean beach to a Canadian snow storm. Most important, of course, is to take only things that are critical and to remember that you can always buy things that you forget. Of course, this is much easier for men than for women and it also requires a certain disdain for fashion — but you’ll thank me if you can pull it off, as will your back. A few other travel secrets that I have found useful: 1. If the plane is not packed, look at the back and see if you can find an empty row. It’s a gamble, but if the plane is light you can often get the entire row. It’s one way of getting the “flat seat” comfort you’d be enjoying in business class for a fraction of the cost. 2. Don’t rush getting on and off the plane. How many times does everyone jump up as the plane gets to the gate — only to wait in line for 30 minutes or more before the door actually opens. 3.  If you’re on the red-eye or dealing with time-zone changes, consider handing the time change on the plane versus on the ground when you need to be productive. That may mean sleeping right away or forcing yourself to stay awake – whatever the time change requires. 4. I have becoming a fan of using Skype <http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home>  when traveling abroad. The program allows you to connect to various Wi-Fi hot spots without signing up and paying the typical hot spot fee. Instead you pay a few cents per minute to Skype and you can upload and download e-mails quickly. Wireless modems are great, too. In the United States, my AT&T iPhone serves as a mobile hot spot. My Verizon-using colleagues use a Mifi, which lets up to 5 devices go wireless in hotels or on trains and taxis. If you require your staff to be on Skype throughout the day, you’ll be amazed at how effective you can be, connecting with people instantaneously — even when you are in remote locations. 5. If you’re late to the airport and the check-in agent says that you’ve missed the 30-minute cut off, don’t bother yelling. Instead, ask for a gate pass (the agents will usually give that to you) and if you can get to the gate within 15 minutes of take-off, the gate person will often get you on the flight. This has saved me more times than I’d like to recall.  Of course, check in before you get to the airport, so that you already have your boarding pass. 6. Book your tickets using Kayak <http://www.kayak.com/>  and your rooms with Hotwire <http://www.hotwire.com/seo/> . You can save a lot of money if you explore the various options. Choose an airline alliance (Star Alliance, SkyTeam or One World), and try to stick with it. Ultimately, it will save you money and it sure helps to have clout with an airline when you need to request an accommodation. (Here are some other tech tips for power travelers <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/web-tools-for-the-flexible-flyer-2/> .) Please share any travel secrets you have.

To help quench festival-goers’ thirsts on Friday, the Recycling Club was selling ice cold bottles of water and juice pouches, with one thing on their minds: recycling. “The bottles are for recycling,” explained Debra Stewart, a paraprofessional at Shell Bank. “There is a company called TerraCycle that pays three cents for every pouch and then make bags, backpacks and other things out of them. They recycle snack bags and cell phones and the school can register. They help organizations earn money while recycling.”

11-06-06--Times

Are Dream Machines the Answer to America's Recycling Woes? by Tom Szaky of TerraCycle, Trenton NJ As the head of a company focused on reducing waste, I spend a lot of time finding new ways to do it. While we've had increasing success getting people to send us their waste to put to work in new products, the overall rate of recycling in the US <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/01/how-to-go-green-recycling.php> , how do I say it? Sucks. With 40 years of efforts to increase recycling, from the 70s where you had to bring everything to a recycling center, to the curbside blue bin <http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/03/recycling-bins-from-around-the-world.php>  making even the laziest of us able to easily do our part, we're now barely pushing 30% recyclable waste recovery as a country. What's it going to take? RecycleBank <http://www.recyclebank.com/>  seems to be getting traction, with more than two million people signed up for a program where your curbside waste gets weighed, credits awarded, redeemable for local goods. It's a step forward, as it goes beyond relying on people's self motivation to help the greater good, and adds a direct incentive to recycle more, resulting in something tangible. Especially in this tough economy, people appreciate getting deals and even better, something for free. Now comes a new contender in a shiny polished package that I'll be interested to see how well it works: Greenopolis <http://greenopolis.com/> . Greenopolis is in a way a hybrid of that 70s model of recycling with the data rich, customizing model of business many take these days: You bring your recyclables to their "Dream Machine" <http://greenopolis.com/goblog/revolutionist/7-11-launches-dream-machine-west-virginia>  kiosks, and scan each item, one at a time. In return you get points, which are redeemable for things like discounted movie tickets, pizza, travel, and interestingly, helping post 9/11 disabled veterans. Perhaps taking a cue from TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net> , they're amplifying the impact and quantity recycled by engaging in schools, listing which school has collected the most <http://www.dreammachinerecyclerally.com/leaderboard/> . Nothing like competition to boost motivation! Like supermarket reward cards, the data on what you scanned into the recycler is likely used to garner localized insights on what people are buying, and I'm guessing make Greenopolis users offers based on these. To some, giving away their private information and purchase habits to companies is no biggie. It's become the norm. But I have to wonder, what's your take? Do you think it's wrong for companies to use your personal information for marketing aims? My guess is most people would appreciate having offers that are better suited to them made. And as recycling has become increasingly commoditized by the big players in China, finding ways to both increase the quality of what's brought in and monetize in ways not dependent on the recycling market sounds like a wise path to go down. Readers: What do you think it will take to substantially increase recycling in the US? What can we learn from other countries? What's your opinion about the Greenopolis model?