I just came back from the Terracycle Green Up Shop and boy am I inspired.

Conveninently located next to the Port Authority on 41st Street & 8th Avenue, it is an awesome display of  eco friendly items to be used at home, in class, on the go or even the runway.

Yes darlings, there is an entire dress made from m&m candy wrappers that is fabulous, and tons of other clothing items made from bamboo and salvaged fabric.

I am super inspired to keep making my bags and branching out into other items.Maybe next year you will see “smartalecky” in the Green Up Shop!

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. At least that’s what the employees of Michigan International Speedway say. The staff of the track, in partnership with TerraCycle, have pledged to upcycle paper and plastic goods that would normally be thrown into the garbage. In return, TerraCycle will pay MIS Cares, the track’s charity component, up to two cents for every piece collected so the wrappers can be turned into cool, every-day products such as pencil bags, laptop cases, flower pots and toys. “We have pledged to do everything we can, not only as a business, but as individuals, to minimize our effects on the environment and set a positive example that ‘every little bit counts,’” speedway President Roger Curtis said. So what can be upcycled? Drink pouches, potato chip bags, candy bar wrappers, cookie wrappers, energy bar wrappers, pens, markers and highlighters — you name it. Just about anything can be upcycled by TerraCycle.

The words “waste” and “garbage” have always had such negative connotations.  “You’re a waste of space.”  Schoolyard taunts about smelling like a garbage picker.  The phrase “garbage in, garbage out,” which refers to something made with low quality materials that will also yield a low quality final product. Tom Szaky, the 28 year old CEO of Terracycle, sees waste differently.  While he has brought garbage into his company, it seems that the outputs have been nothing short of valuable.  Szaky started Terracycle as a 19 year old Princeton student.  His idea?  Taking food waste from Princeton’s cafeterias, having worms digest it, and producing fertilizer on the other end.  The products were contained in old soda bottles.  After nearly going broke, he was helped out by an investor, which led to the company getting orders into two major retailers.

The Terracycle fertilizers caught my eye on Gardeners.com. They are packaged in recycled soda bottles, first of all. The fertilizers are made from worm poop. These worms are fed an all natural, organic diet. It doesn’t smell at all and is safe to use. I bought the All-Purpose Fertilizer and Orchid Fertilizer and have been using both with success. They are $7.95 each.

TerraCycle produces very cool consumer products from recycled food packaging. But for businesses trying to grow revenues in this “soft recovery” the coolest thing about TerraCycle is its creative business strategies for generating top-line revenue results with attractive profit margins. How it engage its customers is what makes TerraCycle’s strategy unique. For example, it “up-cycles” Capri Sun wrappers to create products like pencil holders that target the very school children who are the principal consumers of Capri Sun juices. Its customer engagement program involves encouraging school children to collect the wrappers as a fund raiser for their school and a path for learning about recycling. Beyond this being a brilliant social marketing example it also makes money. From a production-cycle perspective, TerraCycle takes a zero-cost waste stream and converts it into a product with attractive margins.

TerraCycle was founded by a brainiac college student back in 2001 & started as organic fertilizer company {ever see the  worm poop in an upcycled soda bottle?} in addition ~ they run free national collection programs to collect wrappers from tons of products from companies like Frito Lay (Pepsi), Kraft Foods, Stonyfield Farm, Mars Wrigley {and many more.} from schools & non-profits & regular people like you & me!