A TerraCycle é uma empresa pioneira no mercado de sustentabilidade que busca substituir o uso de materiais virgens, como um novo plástico ou tecido.

When left to her own devices, nature will execute a perfect cycle of reuse and compost by which no bi-products are left behind.  Humans, by contrast, execute a cycle of consumption and complex materials that leaves behind billions of pounds of bi-products known as garbage. Eighty percent of what we buy is discarded as garbage just thirty minutes after purchase.  Because it would be nearly impossible to move away from our culture of consumption and convince people to return to a time of patching, mending, and making do, it becomes necessary to scrutinze our garbage. Garbage is the only commodity in the world we pay to get rid of.  The vast majority of our waste ends up in a landfill–five billion pounds per year in the United States–where it has no value.  But what if instead of throwing our money away, we diverted some of the garbage from the landfill and turned it into something of value?  It is with this concept in mind that Tom Szaky led his worm poop empire <http://www.terracycle.net/histories>  called TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  to begin collecting items of garbage and turning them into useful things.  The TerraCycle team of designers is tasked with envisioning new uses for items previously deemed garbage.  Scientists then test the chemical properites of the items and determine the feasibly of the designer’s ideas.  Using these methods, all items collected by TerraCycle are upcycled (made into another product for reuse) or recycled (broken down to their most basic parts and made into something different).  The idea behind TerraCycle is one of those brilliantly simple ones that beg the question, “why didn’t I think of that?”  (Because you lack the business savvy and persuasive charm that Szaky possesses.) Szaky has taken a concept familiar to previous generations (and poor college students) and adapted it to our modern culture of consumerism.  Just as our grandma upcycled a worn button-down shirt into handkerchiefs, cleaning rags, and quilting squares, TerraCycle transforms used juice pouches into a fabric that can be fashioned into a coin purse or a book bag.  TerraCycle does not advertise; its brand partners do.  It is the brands who puts the TerraCycle logo on their products and introduce their consumers to the concept <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RIwGZx-1JTc> .  On its own, TerraCycle generates buzz by averaging 7-15 articles a day, maintaining a high-traffic website, and being invited to participate in television shows.   In just a short few years, TerraCycle has significantly impacted diversion rates and given value to garbage.  They have yet find a product that cannot be upcycled or recycled and have plans to expand their organziation across the world, in AMC movie theatres, Wal-Mart parking lots, in print, and even on Facebook.

On this edition of Recycle What?!? THE POUCH. Here’s a question I get asked all the time…Are Capri Sun packages recyclable??? For me I always thought the answer was yes, due to the commercials where they showed backpacks, laptop bags and other items made from recycled Capri Sun pouches. However, I was wrong, after some research I found that Capri Sun pouches ARE NOT recyclable! What?!?!?!!! The deceit! LOL. Okay, I won’t take it that far. So Capri Sun pouches are not recyclable in the “conventional” sense, meaning, you probably should not throw them in your recycle bins; however, Capri Sun has a pretty interesting recycle program, it’s called “Terracycle”. In short, it works by juice guzzlers sending in their empty Capri Sun pouches, the company uses the empty pouches to make new and cool items such as backpacks, etc., and then they make the items available for purchase online. In the end, not all is lost for the Capri Sun lovers, if you sign up for the “Terracycle” program you will be doing your part in keep these non-recyclable juice pouches from filling up our landfills. You can find out more information at http://brands.kraftfoods.com/caprisun/be-green-earn-green.aspx NOTE: The “Terracycle” program is geared towards schools and organizations to help them earn money, so if you do not have children, perhaps you can speak with a local school or organization and donate your empty pouches. So again Recycle What?!? Capri Suns ARE NOT recyclable in the “conventional” sense, but they ARE recyclable in the “technical” sense. So save up those pouches, send them in for your own school or organization or donate them to a school or organization.

How many juice pouches does one elementary school use over the course of about two years? One school, Anchor Bay's Lighthouse Elementary in New Baltimore, has used approximately 44,640 since October 2009, second-grade teacher Rebecca Eckstein said. The dedicated collection of the used drink pouches has earned the school a place in the top 100 collecting schools of TerraCycle's Drink Pouch Brigade. This is a program that has helped the recycling company reach the milestone of 50 million pouches collected; it has also assisted the school's Parent Teacher Group to benefit students. The school learned that it had earned the honor from TerraCycle in December 2010, and received a plaque made of recycled drink pouches in the mail in January, Eckstein said. The plaque is currently displayed in a school hallway.

Já ouviu falar em lixo patrocinado? Com esta ideia a empresa norte-americana TerraCycle criou, em parceria com grandes companhias, uma maneira inovadora de coletar e reutilizar embalagens de difícil decomposição.

Outra companhia - esta de menor porte - que viu no segmento de logística reversa um filão interessante é a TerraCycle, que se foca na reciclagem de produtos.

Tang lanza bajo el claim “Prepará, Tomá y Hacé” su nueva campaña de comunicación anual. El concepto resume estratégicamente la propuesta de la marca en relación al target infantil y el cuidado del medio ambiente. De esta forma invita a los chicos a un nuevo ritual: prepará tu Tang; tomalo y hacé algo para cuidar el medio ambiente. La nueva campaña de comunicación que podrá verse en Televisión Abierta y Cable y que incluye presencia en Radio, Internet y Vía Pública invita a la acción. Por otro lado, a partir del 1º de Febrero y durante todo el 2011, Terracycle con el patrocinio de Tang, desarrollará un programa de reciclaje. Los consumidores pueden unirse a una “Brigada Tang”, juntar sobres y enviarlos gratuitamente por correo para su posterior reciclado.  El material recolectado será utilizado para la fabricación de merchandising y de cestos de basura; los cestos serán entregados por Tang de forma gratuita a distintas escuelas públicas del país. Además por cada sobre enviado, se donarán $0,10 a Espacio Agua, una organización sin fines de lucro que tiene como principal objetivo el cuidado del agua del planeta. Como alternativa, cada brigada puede optar por seleccionar otra  organización sin fines de lucro o una escuela para enviar sus donaciones.

  A common way to fertilize container gardens in general, and orchids in particular, is to follow the maxim “weakly, weekly.” This means to fertilize them at a weaker strength than recommended on the package, on a weekly basis. A good rule of thumb is 1/4 strength. A lot of orchid fertilizers are synthetic. If you want to keep things organic, one thing I’ve found that works pretty well for orchids is a weak worm tea. Check out a product called TerraCycle Orchid Plant Food if you don’t have your own vermicomposter or just don’t want to have to make it yourself.

Tang lanza bajo el claim “Prepará, Tomá y Hacé” su nueva campaña de comunicación anual. El concepto resume estratégicamente la propuesta de la marca en relación al target infantil y el cuidado del medio ambiente. De esta forma invita a los chicos a un nuevo ritual: prepará tu Tang; tomalo y hacé algo para cuidar el medio ambiente. La nueva campaña de comunicación que podrá verse en Televisión Abierta y Cable y que incluye presencia en Radio, Internet y Vía Pública invita a la acción. Por otro lado, a partir del 1º de Febrero y durante todo el 2011, Terracycle con el patrocinio de Tang, desarrollará un programa de reciclaje. Los consumidores pueden unirse a una “Brigada Tang”, juntar sobres y enviarlos gratuitamente por correo para su posterior reciclado.  El material recolectado será utilizado para la fabricación de merchandising y de cestos de basura; los cestos serán entregados por Tang de forma gratuita a distintas escuelas públicas del país. Además por cada sobre enviado, se donarán $0,10 a Espacio Agua, una organización sin fines de lucro que tiene como principal objetivo el cuidado del agua del planeta. Como alternativa, cada brigada puede optar por seleccionar otra  organización sin fines de lucro o una escuela para enviar sus donaciones.