Mrs. Poremba’s 5th graders at Mt. Pilchuck, who helped collect, store and count the pouches. Hayden Ploeger gathered Capri Sun pouches to help students in Africa. Hayden Ploeger, a 5th grader at Mt. Pilchuck Elementary was searching the web one day and came up with a great idea. Ploeger found out that a company called TerraCycle will take CapriSun pouches and turn them into usable items such as purses, pencil cases and tote bags. To do this, they offer two cents per pouch to anyone who wants to send them to the company. Ploeger’s brain started to move and realized that by collecting these pouches he could not only help keep them out of landfills, but he could use the money to help other students in need.

Students at Faith Lutheran School in Antioch are finding are finding a good turn for the environment is doubly advantageous.

Opt for greener ways to plant your seedlings. Photos: Green Nation Gardens <http://www.greennationgardens.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=T3900>  and TerraCycle <http://www.dwellsmart.com/Products/Gardening-Tools-and-Supplies/TerraCycle-Natural-Fiber-Pot-Natural-10in> When you start those seedlings, there's a greener way to sow your seeds. Instead of using plastic pots, create easily biodegradable seedling pots out of newspaper with this Paper Pot Maker ($15) from Green Nation Gardens. If you aren't planting directly into the ground, the greenest option would be to reuse a container you already have. If you're in the market for a new vessel, we like TerraCycle's Biodegradable Fiber Pots and Saucers made from rice husks, and bamboo and coconut fibers. (We're also big fans of the company's organic Garden Fertilizer  – it's made from worm poop!)

Upcycling is, “simply put - using those items that cannot be recycled and remaking them into reusable items,” says DiColandrea. He uses energy bar wrappers as an example of how materials can be reused when they can’t be recycled. “Its [energy bars] packaging remains very high as a waste, and recycling the packaging is not easy for some local recycling centers to do. Reusing the packaging to create another product is a simple and low-cost answer,” he added. Green Starkville has created a team for Terracycle, a company which collects materials that can be reused to manufacture new items – upcycling. For each item received, Terracycle will give $0.02 to Green Starkville, and Terracycle turns the materials into everything from clipboards, bags, and toys to fences.

  I haven't written about it much lately, but I still make an effort daily to think how I can become more green.  I'm never going to be perfect, but I aim to move in that direction on the spectrum.      Some things I've gotten better at:

• Making green friends.  My pal Megan (also known as my knitting sensei), a fairly new and very green mama to Maeve, and I are often found talking about our green growth and struggles. She introduced me to TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> , and we've spread our efforts to school a bit with two collection brigades.  Still so much more to do.

Along comes TerraCycle to provide me with just one more project to consume time and mind. However, this one is good for the planet and contributes to charity as well.  So it can't be all bad to be obsessed, right?  TerraCycle makes eco-friendly products from lots of  different non-recyclable waste materials and these products are quite affordable.  Sure, you can take your plastic, glass and aluminum containers to your local station or leave on your curb to go to the recycler... but what about those potato chip bags, cookie wrappers, tape dispensers?  Now you have a much more attractive alternative to dropping them at the local landfill.  Not only does this help the planet but TerraCycle will "Pay" you for your work by contributing to your charity of choice.  And on top of that, you can purchase these way-cool products from TerraCycle.

Teachers at McCormick Elementary School used to see a lot of used drink pouches get thrown away. Now the school earns two cents for every pouch collected and sent to a company called TerraCycle—makers of affordable, ecofriendly products from recycled packaging. The school uses the program not only as a fundraising opportunity, but as a way to educate and inspire the students to be environmentally responsible.

The night before, when we were setting up, I noticed that volunteers were putting cookies in small snack sized Zip-Loc bags.   Of course, my "trash-radar" went up and since I could not avoid the baggies, I could gather them and send them to Terracycle.  So, I prepared a box with a sign asking for the empty baggies to be put in the box. While I still had to raid the trashcans, there were many baggies put in the box!  (mind you I had to take baggies out of the 'plastics' recycling can and cardboard boxes out of the 'plastics' recycling can!)

way to educate and inspire the students to be environmentally responsible.