You may have heard me say it before - I am not artistic and I am not crafty. When I am called upon to whip up a homemade project or party favor, I utilize the one medium that I feel truly comfortable working in - garbage. Whether it's juice lid Christmas ornaments (in the hectic holiday season that post didn't make it up) or milk carton bird feeders, if a craft project can be made out of materials that would have otherwise ended up in the trashcan, I am far more likely to give it a go.

As a special promotion in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this month, Walmart will be featuring over 60 TerraCycle product including some new ones in their stores across the country.  The promotion will only last through April 29th, so go check out the products at Walmart.

Terracycle has come a long way in its nine years of existence. The company started out selling plant food made from worm waste products and more recently has begun to repurpose packaging from brands like Frito-Lay and Wrigley's into everything from messenger bags to cell phone cases. Last month, Terracycle began producing more utilitarian products, including trash cans, clip boards, and fences. Now that Terracycle is getting nationwide exposure, the company hopes that the concept of upcycling will become more familiar to consumers.

A recent podcast by the Pat Kenny show on RTE outlined a number of recycling and upcycling ideas including flavour of the month, Terracycle. TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. With over 50 products available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people canchange the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead It's April 12. Earth Day is less than two weeks away. In the next 11 days I'll gather as many Earth-friendly tips and practices that can help make 2010 greener. The quote above is one of my favorites because it shows thelittle things are the ones that make a difference. I'm hopeful that changes, no matter how small, can reduce the weight we're putting on our environment.

Today consumers are encouraged to buy organic, to grow organic, and to shop from local producers. In defense of Lewiston townspeople, they patiently waited their turn for Harold or John Micheel to plow their garden plots for spring planting. There were scads of vegetables eaten fresh from the garden and canned for the winter ahead. It’s hard to fathom that there’s a $7.4 million company today that makes products entirely out of garbage! You can read about 28-year-old entrepreneur Tom Szaky in April’s Reader’s Digest, in an article by Donna Fenn. Along with his partner Robin Tabor, Szaky is spearheading the new industry dubbed “uncycling.” (Another one for Webster!) Waste comes from “fundraising collection brigades, operated by schools and nonprofit organizations and sponsored by packaged-goods companies like Frito-Lay” (and Kellogg’s and Kraft.) Kraft’s Jeff Chahley reported, “We’ve helped divert 50 tons of waste from going to landfill, and contributed over $250,000.”

There are new TerraCycle products - The products are available in every Walmart across the United States (only) - The products are available during the month of April (only), in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day this year

I am not too big a fan of Wal Mart. I sure used to be! It used to be so easy to go into a Wal Mart, and everything I needed was right there...need to get milk, a new bra, and a litter box? All right there! And then close to Easter I went there one night to get something..and I walked in and felt like I was being assaulted by bright lights and multi colored plastic eggs. I actually felt really overwhelmed. Walking through the aisles and aisles of food made me feel like I was going to be sick...I still will go there if I need to, but I usually try to find a more local option if I can. We are on a limited budget, so while I do try to go to more natural stores, we just cannot afford it for all of our needs.

Fashionable?  Well, maybe not to my taste.  Smart marketing?  I think so.  TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.net/) is a company that collects food wrappers and containers and upcycles them into other products ranging from pet clean up products to school supplies. The program is somewhat similar to some of your favorite loyalty programs; Yoplait's "Save Lids to Save Lives,"  General Mills "Box Tops for Education" or Campbell's soup wrapper program.  Like those programs, groups, such as schools, can collect wrappers or containers and get ~.02-.03 per unit as a donation.  The wrappers and containers must be from specific sponsoring brands/products such as Frito Lay, Mars Candies and Kimberly Clark.  The sponsoring companies get "green"  halo from partnering with a green company, build consumer loyalty since TerraCycle only collects waste from specific products and then get major retailers like Home Depot and Walmart selling book bags, folders, Christmas bows, etc made from their packaging.

La marca de bebidas en polvo, Tang, anunció su alianza con TerraCycle, para la promoción de reutilizar los empaques en beneficio del medio ambiente y las comunidades vulnerables en México.