Green Alternatives in Norfolk has partnered with TerraCycle in a recycling program that will pay you for certain trash items, including 6-ounce and 32-ounce yogurt containers, energy bar wrappers, Starbucks coffee bags, Unilever spread containers, drink pouches, cookie wrappers, candy wrappers, and Kashi packaging. TerraCycle will pay roughly 2 to 5 cents per item collected. You can call 622-1444 for more information or visit greenalternativesstore.com.

Gardeners searching for the perfect plants at the Kearny Walmart garden center are in for a surprise as Walmart offers its usual annuals with a twist. This month, Walmart has partnered with Garden State Growers and TerraCycle to offer its plants in upcycled margarine tubs in Walmart stores. The upcycled pots will come from used tubs of Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Promise and Brummel & Brown. The tubs are a more eco-friendly option as they will be diverted from landfills, eliminate the need to use virgin plastic and can be returned to TerraCycle to be used again. TerraCycle collects non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste and uses it to create affordable, eco-friendly products, offering an end-of-life solution.

Two New Jersey companies have partnered with Walmart stores in the Northeast to put non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle margarine tubs to a new "green" use -- as flower pots. The companies working with the retailer are Garden State Growers, which grows many types of plants on its 500-acre site, and TerraCycle, which collects waste that is non-recyclable or difficult to recycle and puts it to new use.

One of the latest efforts to improve sustainability and keep hardto- recycle material out of landfills is a collaboration among Clearwater Nursery in Nipomo, international recycler TerraCycle, and food and consumer products giant Unilever. “We’re working with our partners to be the exclusive provider of potted plants in ‘upcycled’ butter containers,” explained Steven Medeiros, Clearwater Nursery marketing executive. “The idea behind the program is to repurpose these containers for a second and third run.”

Solo Cup Company announced it is joining forces with TerraCycle®, Inc. to recycle its Solo Squared® party cups.  Through the Solo Cup Brigade <http://topics.sacbee.com/Brigade/> ®, individuals, schools and non-profits can collect used Solo Squared plastic cups and return them to TerraCycle where they will be recycled into plastic that will be used to make other items such as equipment for playgrounds, park benches and outdoor furniture.

Walmart will soon begin to sell plants in upcycled margarine tubs instead of traditional black pots in stores throughout the Northeast. Credit: TerraCycle

Some of the country's largest nurseries are using used butter tubs instead of the typical black ones made from virgin plastic thanks to an initiative by TerraCycle.

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 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 you  need to do is collect and send in the  packaging you discard every day, TerraCycle pays the postage and  contributes two cents per unit of waste returned! Participating Products  include Colgate, Ziploc, Country Crock, Neosporin, Aveeno and Many Many  More!