Teachers at Woodbine Elementary School used to see a lot of used Capri Sun drink pouches get thrown away.  Now the school earns two cents for every one of those pouches they collect and return them to a company called TerraCycle, which makes affordable, eco-friendly products from packaging waste. The school uses the program not only as a fundraising opportunity, but also as a way to educate and inspire their students.  Representative of the school, Susan Recu says, “We were looking for ways to raise money for the school that would also help the environment.”

Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>   is 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 favorite  charity. Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  realizes Moms have enough things to think about  without wondering how to reduce the amount of waste leaving their home  and heading to the local landfill. So they have come up with six new  Brigades (read as free collection programs!) to make it easier than ever  for parents to eliminate waste from their home while raising money for a  school or charity of their choice. All they need to do is collect and  send in the packaging you discard every day, TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  pays the postage  and contributes two cents per unit of waste returned. I keep mine in a  bag by the pantry next to the bag for Box Tops to make things easier.

  when you have kids, you tend to start thinking about things you may not have before. like garbage, landfills and what part you can do to help said kids have a better place to live long after we are gone. going green is such a big part of every day life these days (or at least, it should be – even small steps help). so i was thrilled to hear from TerraCycle and jumped on the opportunity to help them spread their mission. TerraCycle is a small company who takes non-recyclable waste (and pays 2 cents per piece to charity) and turns them into upcycled and repurposed eco-friendly items. they take the things that most of us throw in the trash, because we can’t throw it in the recycle bin, and make pencil pouches, binders, tote bags, shower curtains and picture frames – just to name a few. think capri suns, doritos, skittles and other packaging. they even take soda bottles and remake them into containers for dog shampoo and garden fertilizer.

Terracycle, an organization that transforms trash into new products, has a new curriculum series on Waste. Each set of lessons is tailored to K-2 and grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 and meets McRel National Standards (listed in each lesson plan). The series is being developed by The Cloud Institute. Check out their first set of lessons: Natural Laws and Principles of the Materials Cycle http://www.terracycle.net/curriculums/overview. A downloadable storybook or handout is provided for most levels.

Great companies are built on good ideas. Entrepreneur magazine’s story, 100 Brilliant Ideas, highlights some of the best concepts that spawned startups. For the Green section, 10 companies were highlighted, including TerraCycle, Advanced Electron Beams, Bloom Energy, Environment Furniture, QD Vision Inc, RavenBrick, Recycle Match, Relay Rides, Terra Plana, and The Green Garmento.

As a parent, you’d like your home, community, and children’s schools to be greener. Unfortunately, daily life can get in the way of that. You have limited time and budget in which to make the world around you a more sustainable place. But fortunately, going green doesn’t have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive. In fact, a smart and savvy parent can go green and save green at the same time. Here are a few easy ways you can change the world for the better, and even have fun while you’re at it: * Get trashy - As a parent you probably go through lots of food for your kids that comes in difficult- or impossible-to-recycle packaging, as far as you know. There’s a company called TerraCycle that makes products like umbrellas to backpacks, gardening products to recycling bins from recycled trash. TerraCycle works directly with the public, enlisting their help in the form of “brigades,” - self-organized groups of people, typically schools - that collect packaging. The newest collected product is Malt-O-Meal, the cereal company that long ago decided to “Bag the Box,” skipping the paper box that is typical of cereals; that alone already reducing the packaging by 75 percent.

Southwest-area schools are among many in the county earning cash by sending non-recyclable waste products to a New Jersey company that transforms the trash into new products like kites and backpacks. TerraCycle partnered with home city brand Malt-O-Meal Cereal Company to collect Malt-O-Meal packaging through “Cereal Bag Brigades” stationed in schools across the country. There are about 1,250 brigades, TerraCycle reported in June. Schools are paid 2 cents for every bag collected and sent to TerraCycle instead of the landfill.

Wind is partnering with TerraCycle, a manufacturer of some 50 eco-friendly products sold at major retailers like WalMart and Target. TerraCycle also runs national collection programs that pay non-profits to collect used packaging. In Dallas, Wind Foundation advisor Cheryl Jensen, a leadership consultant and executive coach, has recruited 25+ restaurants and wine bars to participate in the Cork Brigade.

  Wind is partnering with TerraCycle, a manufacturer of some 50 eco-friendly products sold at major retailers like Walmart and Target. TerraCycle also runs national collection programs that pay non-profits to collect used packaging. In Dallas, Wind Foundation advisor Cheryl Jensen, a leadership consultant and executive coach, has recruited 25+ restaurants and wine bars to participate in the Cork Brigade.

We are on a race to nowhere. Consumption drives our economy (watch www.storyofstuff.com to see why). We measure our success by consumption (how much we spend). Global consumption is equal to the cumulative GDP of all countries or the world economy. If we don't increase consumption and grow our economies every year, we deem ourselves in stagnation. We all seem to be tied to consumption. We work hard to earn money so that we can buy stuff to feel good. Yes, innovation is important and we need to replace things with better versions, but why do we need to have more things than the generation before? And by our own "buying in" to these patterns, what messages are we passing on to those who follow? Even more concerning is our trend away from durable products and toward more disposable products. On a personal level, even though I am deeply aware of the issue, I find it hard to consume only what I absolutely need. I'm single and have two cars, create garbage, buy more than I need etc. and sadly in relation to the "average" I'm consuming less per person than the average person in America.