TerraCycle offers fun, free DIY craft ideas for kids to do that has them use would-be-waste items (like potato chip bags and cookie wrappers). Here is one of the craft ideas for anyone who wants to upcycle on their own at home!

Capri Sun drink pouches being thrown away at Assumption Elementary School in Atco is soon to be a thing of the past.  The school now earns two cents for every one of those pouches they collect and return to a company called TerraCycle, which makes affordable, eco-friendly products from packaging waste.  The company has created a fundraising opportunity for the school.  “[We] are glad to have the opportunity to clean our little part of the world in such an easy, convenient but effective way,” said parent and organizer of the program at school, Gabrielle Purvis. The school has formed a “Brigade,” which is part of a free nationwide program that pays schools and non-profits to collect non-recyclable waste that would otherwise go to landfill.

A group of students from Floral Street School gathered recently at 487 Grafton St. to show off their trash. Over the past few months, the students have collected six large bags of trash (primarily juice pouches and snack bags) that can be recycled. They were helped in this effort by a company called The Dumpster Divers. The trash will be sent to the recycling company Terracycle, which paid the students 2 cents for each piece of trash collected (about $50 total). The money will be used to benefit the school.

The Road to Healthy Skin tour gives consumers the opportunity to receive full-body skin cancer screenings conducted by local dermatologists, who are volunteering their time and expertise. The tour is sponsored by Aveeno and TerraCycle, which pays schools, families, and communities to collect non-recyclable waste, which is then upcycled or repurposed to make fun, eco-friendly products like backpacks, picture frames, and notebooks.

Unfortunately, just like in most towns, there’s a limit on what sort of materials they accept. Which is why whenTerraCycle emailed about their program I was so excited! TerraCycle is a small (but growing!) company that takes normally non-recyclable products and turns them into cool and useful stuff.

ANTIOCH – Students at Faith Lutheran School in Antioch are finding a good turn for the environment is doubly advantageous. Last year, students at the school began collecting their non-recyclable Capri Sun drink pouches that previously had ended up in trash bags with the rest of the waste from their lunch periods.  The program they collected the pouches for is run by New Jersey-based TerraCycle, which collects non-recyclable items from schools and community groups across...

Launched in January, the charitable campaign asks only that you bring your used corks to any ABC Fine Wine & Spirits store, which in turn gives the corks to Normacorc and TerraCycle for recycling into such products as corkboard. And for every cork turned in to ABC, two cents is donated to charities chosen by the retailer — including UCP of Central Florida, which provides therapy and other services to children with disabilities.

St. Paul of the Cross School and local office-supply business Garvey's Office Products teamed up earlier this year for the school's Green Initiative with a program they called the Writing Instrument Brigade.    Green Team committee member Amy Bartucci explained: "Children in all grades are being asked to properly dispose of old writing instruments made of plastic to be up-cycled into many different cool products through TerraCycle."

Teachers at Lounsberry Hollow Middle School used to see a lot of used Capri Sun drink pouches get thrown away. Now the school earns 2 cents for every one of those pouches they collect and return to a company called TerraCycle, which makes affordable, eco-friendly products from packaging waste. The schools use the program not only as a fundraising opportunity but as a way to educate and inspire their students. Teacher and program organizer Barbara Mons-chauer said, “Anytime we can teach children to help the environment and make them aware of impact I feel we should take advantage of that situation. The two cents back is a bonus.”

TerraCycle is an awesome program designed to help control the amount of waste produced from everyday items. They actually pay mothers, daycare centers, and schools for their waste which is then upcycled into rad products like backpacks, bird feeders, KITES, and bike pouches. Um, how freaking cool is that? I was seriously blown away by the amount of trash that one tiny baby can create- baby food jars/lids, diaper boxes and plastic wrap, little baggies for this and that...unfortunately, the list goes on. TerraCycle has partnered with major companies like Huggies and Sprout Organic Baby Food (who pay for the costs of the program which = 100% free everything for participants! WIN!) and they need your diaper packaging and food pouches (any brand) so that they can start turning them into things like bibs, diaper bags, and cosmetic cases.