As packaging designers, you probably have seen, thought about and are working on ecological options. You’ve probably done your homework, and know which options would have the most impact. And that’s not always going the recycled route. But for your average consumer, the concept of recycled, especially post-consumer recycled being the greenest of options, has long been banged into their heads, and that’s just not always true. What am I talking about, you ask? Take eco icon Method, who took cleaning products from hidden under the counter workhorses to ego gratifying stylish counter decoration. Those well-designed bottles take a lot of plastic to make. Yes, you could recycle them and get another, but why not just refill them? That’s exactly what Method has done. Its refill units use 80 to 90 percent less material and packaging. Multiply that times however many people use Method products and choose this option, and you’ve got a substantial amount of materials saved. But there’s a problem. The refills themselves aren’t typically recyclable. So yes, you’re likely still coming out ahead in terms of resource use and impact as compared to repeatedly buying and recycling entire bottles of product. For many consumers though, this is a mental hurdle they may not wish to jump. There is, fortunately, a way to solve for this problem: remake them into bags, trash cans and benches. You heard right. How? Via Method’s new Refill Brigade. Remember the 3 R’s of sustainability are Reduce, Reuse, Reycle, in that order. So the refill pack is reducing packaging use and a collection program is reusing or recycling the materials as well. Accomplishing all three R’s!

My company, TerraCycle, has a very unusual business model. We turn the world’s waste into new products. We collect non-recyclable waste, some straight from manufacturers and some from schools, charities and other community groups, and we partner with other manufacturers to recycle or “upcycle” that material into new products — like plastic lumber from juice pouches and shower curtains from sewn-together granola wrappers. My channel on this blog will be a diary of our experiences and decisions, our lessons learned and opportunities missed. Here’s how our model works: eventually all products become waste. Some, like soda bottles, are recyclable but most are not. Major corporations ranging from Kraft Foods to Colgate-Palmolive work with TerraCycle to create solutions for waste that is currently not recyclable — things like toothpaste tubes and cookie wrappers. These companies pay TerraCycle to run collection programs, covering the costs of shipping and typically making a donation of 2 cents for every item collected to the charity or school of the collector’s choice. We also collect post-industrial waste — like excess packaging, misprints, etc. — directly from these corporations The waste ends up in one of our warehouses, the biggest being right next door to our headquarters in Trenton. Then TerraCycle works with major manufacturing companies to produce products from the collected waste. To accomplish this, TerraCycle’s science team develops a range of materials from each type of waste and then our products team works with the manufacturer to turn the material into something that can be sold. The idea is to lessen the need for virgin materials and render previously non-recyclable items recyclable. The resulting products are then sold at major retailers like Wal-Mart and Target.

For those who like cheese, and recycling, and baseball, here´s one for you. TerraCycle Inc., the company known for transforming used consumer packaging into new products, is teaming up with Kraft Foods Inc. on a recycling program at most Minor League Baseball stadiums around the country. Kraft is offering a buy one, get one free ticket offer for those bringing a Kraft Singles package wrapper to the box office on Tuesday nights. Wrappers redeemed through the promotion will be "up-cycled" by Trenton, N.J.-based TerraCycle to make new products. A donation also will be made to charitable organizations for each wrapper collected, Kraft said.

According to KRAFT, the wrappers will be recycled through a partnership with eco-innovator TerraCycle®. TerraCycle works to turn donated wrappers into functional lifestyle products while furnishing a donation for each wrapper collected to charitable organizations.

Sanford Brands, Office Depot and TerraCycle Inc. are teaming up during Earth Month. Customers can bring their used writing instruments, regardless of the brand, to any Office Depot from April 17-23. In exchange for 10 pens, pencils or markers, customers will receive a coupon toward a new Sanford product. The collected instruments will be sent to TerraCycle, an upcycling and recycling company, to be turned into new office supplies ranging from trash cans to desk organizers. To further reduce waste, TerraCycle and Old Navy are partnering from April 22 to May 21 to collect used flip-flops and recycle them into four public playgrounds. Deposit used flip-flops in designated collection bins at your area Old Navy. For more information, visit terracycle.net.

Get Help with Green Living

Blythe de Orive There are increasingly more companies adopting corporate social responsibility guidelines and becoming good citizens. There are also green living experts on Twitter that have been "banging the drum" of sustainability for years. From tips on saving energy to a "how-to" video on "greening" your wardrobe, these experts help you reduce, reuse and recycle in 140 characters or less. Living green is not as easy as it seems and having others who have forged ahead so you can learn from their trials and triumphs is priceless. Here are a few individuals who can help you through the maze of sustainable living: Tom Szaky started @Terracycle while a freshman at Princeton University. He notes, "that there is no 'waste' in nature".

La compañía estadounidense Terracycle recicla “absolutamente todo” y lo transforma en nuevos productos. Ya está presente en 13 países.

Vill du samla in ditt jobbs pennor för återvinning - och samtidigt stödja en välgörenhelsorganisation som du gillar? Nu är det möjligt, tack vare kulspetspenntillverkaren BIC och återvinningsföretaget TerraCycle. Skolor och kontor kan nu enkelt samla in sina förbrukade pennor för återvinning. BIC sponsrar programmet som omfattar alla pennor, även av andra fabrikat.

BIC, producent av kulspetspennor startar idag ett samarbete med TerraCycle, som går ut på att möjliggöra insamling av förbrukade pennor. Skolor, kontor och företag kan nu samla in sina förbrukade pennor som sedan kommer att återvinnas och åter komma till nytta.

Tang ahora junto a TerraCycle Primer Programa de Reutilización de Envases en Argentina Tang anunció una nueva alianza con TerraCycle, la compañía encargada de la reutilización de envases usados a nivel global, que recolecta aquellos empaques difíciles de reciclar para transformarlos en productos económicos y amigables para el medio ambiente. Siguiendo la consigna de “Gánale a la Basura”, Tang y TerraCycle ponen en marcha el Primer Programa de Reutilización de Envases en Argentina, donde el público en general podrá inscribirse y formar parte de la Brigada Tang. El proyecto tiene previsto un programa de donaciones para la organización Espacio Agua, o las organizaciones sin fines de lucro y escuelas elegidas por cada Equipo de recolección. TerraCycle pagará los gastos de envío y donará $ 0,10 por cada sobre recibido. De esta manera el programa no solo mantiene los residuos lejos de los basurales, sino que además ayuda a escuelas y organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Otro aspecto del proyecto tiene como objetivo la educación a niños formándolos en el concepto de responsabilidad ambiental y la reutilización de recursos. Se espera con este programa generar en las futuras generaciones una mayor preocupación por las cuestiones ambientales.