Recycling rates in the U.S. run at about 30 percent compared to other developed areas in the world which are close to 75%.  In 2008, Kraft develop strategic partnerships to help increase recycling rates in the states with organizations such as RecycleBank <http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/03/betting-on-recyclebank-the-next-big-thing/>  and TerraCycle, (a company that “upcycles” waste materials to create fashionable items such as backpacks or totebags made from Capri-Sun packaging).  Participants who send in their waste get as much as 2 cents per candy wrapper or drink pouch.

TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  turns waste into profitable products. It’s an awesome business that embodies the idea of a sustainable economy, as it creates a market for products made from trash. TerraCycle began with two freshmen at Princeton University, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer. Basically, they sold worm castings (fertilizer) in a wasted soda bottle. They took food waste from their school dining hall, fed it to their friendly worms, and voila, a commodity to be sold. This packaging of dining hall-sourced fertilizer in junk plastic bottles continued to sell, and eventually TerraCycle fertilizer was being sold at Home Depot and Whole Foods. Now, TerraCycle has expanded to include purses, bags, fences, and boxes–all made from trash.

Last week I wrote up a post on the new Terracycle Brigades <http://www.myatlantamommy.com/2010/06/terracycle-coupons-to-get-you-started.html> and added some coupon links for you to get started.  These Brigades are incredible. Through them, TerraCycle and its sponsors help schools or other community groups raise money for a charitable organization of the collector’s choice, which can include your child's school. Participation is free and all shipping costs are paid. To date, over 1.8 million units of waste have been diverted from landfill. Plus TerraCycle and its sponsors paid over $800,000 dollars to over 50,000 schools or non-profits. To see the full range of items TerraCycle collects and pays for, visit www.terracycle.net <http://www.terracycle.net/> .

"While school may be out for summer, the custodial staff at Crofton Woods Elementary is hard at work getting the school squeaky clean before students return. Due to budget cuts, the custodial staff saw a reduction in cleaning supplies but thanks to the efforts of Lori Lloyd, chief custodian at the school, the school is getting cleaner and greener. Lori received information a few years back from TerraCycle, a unique company that collects packaging waste and upcycles, or repurposes it, to make eco-friendly products. TerraCycle pays schools and nonprofits to collect the items they upcycle. Lori signed on to the program in 2008 initially upcycling Capri Sun drink pouches and receiving two cents per pouch from TerraCycle in return. Last year, she expanded the program and now collects chip bags, candy wrappers, Ziploc bags, Elmer's Glue bottles, butter tubs and a few additional items. The custodial staff at Crofton Meadows collects, sorts and ships the items to TerraCycle.

TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  has the best business model — “Send us your trash… we’ll make it into cool products!” If you despair of all the waste generated by things like Capri Sun pouches, sign up your school or nonprofit organization for various TerraCycle “brigades.” <http://www.terracycle.net/brigades>  Collect used pouches, candy wrappers, and other items, send them in to TerraCycle, and get paid a couple cents for each. (Given the amount of these products kids go through, that can add up pretty quickly…)

*How great that the top 3 schools in VA that collected the most waste with this program are from the area!  What a great way to pay it forward :) Top 3 Schools in Virginia (based on amount collected this past school year): Cedar Forest Elementary School in Fredericksburg – 42,685 pieces of waste diverted and $853 earned Signal Hill Elementary School in Manassas – 37,566 pieces of waste diverted and $752 earned St. Leo the Great School in Fairfax – 25,581 pieces of waste diverted and $512 earned Terracycle <http://www.myatlantamommy.com/2009/12/terracycle.html>  is a fantastic organization which takes used wrappers and turns them into some super cool stuff! They are always coming up with fun and cool ways to recycle, but they also have come up with a way (actually 6 ways) Moms can go green, reduce waste at home, AND raise money for their kids school and/or favourite charity.

Around here we are doing our best to minimize waste, buying things with less packaging, using more cloths than paper towels to clean up, and frankly, eating the kind of food that doesn’t come wrapped in plastic (amen?) but there will always be left overs. The food we feed OBaby’s when we’re traveling comes in pouches. Yes for heaven’s sake we eat chips from time to time. And cereal. But TerraCycle came up with innovative and adorable ways to reuse whatought to be waste. I absolutely love this idea. TerraCycle diverts packaging waste from landfills and helps raise consumer awareness about reducing, reusing and recycling.  By encouraging people to rethink ‘what is waste,’ TerraCycle is making it simple for consumers to have a positive impact on the environment. YOU can actually be on the recycling end of the equation by sending them your used packaging, including empty baby food pouches to be upcycled into baby-related items such as diaper wallets, bibs, backpacks and totes. Neat, huh? Participation is free and all shipping costs are paid.

Greek to English translation Interview with Tom Szaky: The King of Rubbish Five years ago, Tom Zaki started a small company, Terra Cycle, in order to help the environment, society and the pocket. Today is a 28chronos millionaire and leader in the recycling of garbage.

SHREWSBURY – In May 2010 a bunch of kids started collecting empty juice pouches and snack bags in an effort to clean up the planet while raising $$ for Shrewsbury public schools.  With the help of Floral Street School and an eco-friendly company called The Dumpster Divers, they have collected over 2000 pieces of trash in just over 2 months time!  This non-recyclable waste will be sent in to another eco-friendly company called Terracycle.  They collect all types of trash and reuse it to make new creative products to resell in major stores across the country.  For every piece of trash sent in to Terracycle, 2 cents is donated to the collectors specified school or charity.   Already, these ambitious kids have raised approximately $50 for Floral Street School.  Imagine how much trash we can keep out of our landfills and how much $$ can be raised for local schools and charities if this program spreads throughout Central MA.

Pat Reynolds takes a look at how Nabisco moved from traditional bag-in-box packaging to flexible film packaging with a Terracycle twist when it introduced Wheat Thins and Ritz brands in a toasted chips format.