Jennie Laustsen fra Dalmose  deltager i Terracycle og Arla Harmonies indsamlingsprogram Brug Låget! som  en lokal indsamlingsplads. Jennie samler mælke-og yoghurtlåg ind til fordel for Børnecancerfonden.

Fonterra has partnered with recycling firm TerraCycle to launch New Zealand's first recycling programme for yogurt pouches.

WHO knew you could make bags out of toothpaste tubes and turn toothbrushes into pens? Students at Mary Help of Christians Primary School were delighted to discover the concept of 'upcycling' when TerraCycle general manager Anna Minns visited their school recently. TerraCycle is an innovative company that tackles difficult to recycle waste streams, turning 'unrecyclable' waste into new sustainable products. Year 6 students and environment ministers Isabella Treleaven and Jake Hicks were amazed to learn you could turn waste items into nifty, new products. "It's so interesting," Jake said. "They even turn babies' nappies into new stuff." The students got to take home items like fruit punch poppers-cum-pencil cases and cleansing wipe packages-cum-bags. In the lead up to World Environment Day on June 5, TerraCycle is calling on Coffs Coast residents to recycle their used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers. The primary school is participating in the nationwide program to save used oral care items from landfill, collecting these items from the community, sending them to TerraCycle to be recycled and getting two cents for every piece of waste in return. Principal Liz Watts said they are excited about starting the program and look forward to a big collection drive. Visit www.terracycle. com.au to learn more.

We speak to two experts about why turning trash into treasure is a worthwhile endeavour. You know about recycling, but what about upcycling? It’s a trend that’s really taking off, and here at homeheaven, we couldn’t be happier about it. I was recently lucky enough to meet and chat to two upcycling enthusiasts, Tiffany Threadgold, the Chief Design Junkie at Terracycle, and Nathan Devine, the founder of Retrash.com.au. Both are passionate about helping people to not only dispose of their waste responsibly, but turn it into products for re-sale. So if you want to live a more sustainable life, read on for their advice… What is upcycling? Upcycling is the recycling of waste materials to create new and practical objects. Here’s an example of Nathan’s suitcase speakers, made from suitcases he found on eBay and speakers from old speaker boxes spotted at the Salvation Army. retrash How to get started Tiffany says that to embrace the upcycling trend, you need to “remember that garbage doesn’t exist in nature. It’s a modern concept.” On the other hand, Nathan believes keeping everything is unrealistic and, ultimately, \Psustainable (see what we did there?), so he suggests setting a goal to “try a small upcycling project and grow your confidence from there.” Tiffany recommends getting your friends and family involved so you’re not doing it alone. Create projects together and make it fun and practical! Even if you’re new to the idea of upcycling, it’s easy to get started. Nathan tells us that he hits eBay when he’s looking for materials to use for his next project: “I scour eBay for items that nobody wants, and items ending soonest that have no bids. I can then create something that is special and productive that would have otherwise ended up in landfill.” Benefits of upcycling Reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfill Creating exciting projects with a fun ‘problem solving’ element Living a more sustainable life Eliminating the idea of waste Making something special out of someone else’s ‘trash’ Have you heard of upcyling? What do you think of the trend?

Workshop with De-cluttering Guru – Tanya Lewis Infoactiv had the pleasure of working with Tanya Lewis, Australia’s EcoOrganiser during our ‘How to Go E-Waste Free’ workshop at this years Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne. She shared with us her knowledge and passion around the notion of organising to help people live more simply. Tanya went through her tips and tricks on how to effectively de-clutter the office and home through her 10R’s of Eco Organising Solutions. This 10-step process helps people regain control over their time and space, in turn saving money and reducing waste. Top 10 things we learned from Tanya during her workshop: 1. Rethink Tanya kicked off our workshop, encouraging people to start from the beginning, that infatuation moment experienced when you are about to purchase something brand new. She asked us to try and pause for 6 seconds in that moment, until our rational thoughts catch up with our emotions. She explained that this time would give us a chance to think about if we really need this product, or do we just want it. Most of the time, we probably don’t need another fancy new phone, when ours is working perfectly well. To start to de-clutter and reduce waste in your life, you need to stop and rethink your purchasing habits. 2. Responsible How can we de-clutter our lives in a more responsible way? Tanya suggests shifting from the ‘throw-away’ mentality when sorting through our stuff, towards other more sustainable options such as repurposing, recycling, donating to a charity or second hand store. We can’t continue to throw things into the bin and assume they are gone forever. There is no such thing as ‘away,’ so lets think twice about the end-life of our products. 3. Refuse This 3rd ‘R’ is going along with the same theme as Rethink. How often do you find yourself at a conference, function or party with bags full of freebies? How often do you find yourself actually using any of this stuff that we are all guilty of accumulating? Tanya is challenging us to politely refuse the things that we will not end up using. This will help to keep our work and home life free from nonsense stuff. 4. Repurpose0609082e807a8bedaab356ee8166f730 This R means instead of throwing away your unwanted stuff, repurpose it into something new. Take this opportunity to tap  into your inner creative self. If you cannot find any creativity, go on Pinterest to find many great ideas about how you can repurpose your unwanted stuff. Tanya even showed us a great  idea on how to reuse those annoying bread clips as labels on    wires in the office. A really great company that’s goal is to repurpose waste is Terracycle, contact them for some up-cycling ideas. 5.Reorganise A key step in the process of de-cluttering your home and work life is to start to reorganise your stuff so that you can find those items you are no longer using and remove them (responsibly) from your space. This will help you to live and work in a highly functional space that flows to increase convenience and ease in your life. 6. Repair and Restyle Instead of automatically throwing something out the second it stops working, try to see if you or someone else can fix it, replace a part or use some parts of it towards something else. As mentioned before, our stuff never really goes ‘away’ anywhere, so reduce the amount of waste you produce and products you purchase by tapping into ‘the good old days’ and repair your broken items. 7. Reduce This point is about noticing the things in your life that have been piling up on your desk or in your closest that you just haven’t gotten around to ‘dealing with.’ Maybe even try tagging or marking those things that you regularly use, if at the end of a couple weeks you notice that half of your stuff has not been marked, its probably time to reduce this clutter out of your life. As Einstein said ‘a cluttered desk is a cluttered mind.’ 8. Reuse We can reuse things instead of throwing them out very easily in the home or office environment. Try to set up a composting program or integrated e-waste recycling solution at your workplace. Maybe organise a clean-up drive at your office, taking all unwanted things to a local opp shop. 9. Recycle This is all about gaining the knowledge and resources on where and how you can actually recycle things. A great resource is by Planet Ark, here you can use the search bar to plug in your location and waste stream to find recycling options near you! 10. Reward It’s no use doing all of this work without recognising you and your colleagues efforts. If people are making serious changes in the workplace to de-clutter, and this is making a huge difference on the flow in the workspace, reward everyone! Maybe this is in the form of an office party of a few hours off early on Friday. Be creative, you have been through this whole process. We are moving towards an economy that will continuously rely on individuals and organisations who think of ways to reuse components and materials in products traditionally considered waste. The innovative companies have already tapped into this, and are saving lots of time and energy in the process. For example, a new Chilean start-up company called Bureo is recycling plastic ocean waste into skateboards. If we can all start to de-clutter and maximise the use of the stuff we already own, who knows the potential for bigger ideas to be inspired by these actions. For more information about how to de-clutter and other practical storage and styling solutions, visit the EcoOrganiser website.

L’entreprise Terracyle créée il y a maintenant plus de 10 ans ambitionne d’éliminer le concept même de déchets. Comment ? En créant des réseaux de ramassage et des solutions de recyclage et d’upcyclage. Tout y passe : emballages, stylos, marqueurs… tout ce qui finit aujourd’hui dans nos poubelles et qui est considéré comme non recyclable peut être revalorisé. Terracyle a pour ce faire mis en place des Brigades qui correspondent à des programmes nationaux dans 15 pays partout dans le monde, dont la France. Elle propose une large gamme de produits de la vie courante : des pots à crayons, des sacs, des cadres photos… Pour en savoir plus sur la « Brigade des Stylos et des Instruments d’Ecriture » de Terracycle et BIC :

• Recyclez vos stylos avec les brigades terracycle !

• Plus de renseignements sur : www.terracycle.fr

Le "magnat des ordures"

En 2001, Tom Szaky abandonne l’université en première année. Huit ans plus tard, la chaîne National Geographic lui consacre un documentaire appelé "le magnat des ordures". Lui préfère le terme "éco-capitaliste". Sur les bancs de Princeton, Tom s’ennuie. Il plaque tout pour investir ses économies et celles de ses proches dans des centaines de milliers de vers de terre dont il recycle les déjections en compost. Il vient de fonder TerraCycle, qui n’est alors "que la petite startup d’un idéaliste qui espère changer le monde", souligne le magazine Business Insider. . Pour le conditionnement, il récupère des bouteilles en plastique jetées dans la nature. Peu à peu, le nombre de lombrics augmente et Tom fait appel à des "brigades de ramassage" pour collecter les bouteilles. Il parvient à convaincre les grands industriels des sodas de lui laisser utiliser leurs bouteilles usagées. Pendant ce temps, il participe à des concours en espérant recevoir des bourses. Il va obtenir bien plus que ça : la notoriété, quand il décline un prix d’un million de dollars qui ne lui sera alloué que s’il change son mode de production. Quelques mois plus tard, il commercialise ses engrais dans des grandes chaines. Il se lance alors dans l’upcycling, la fabrication d’objets à partir de produits destinés à partir à la poubelle. Son entreprise récupère les déchets collectés par des écoles, des congrégations ou des associations et les transforme en nouveaux produits destinés à être vendus. Pour chaque canette ou emballage recyclé, une partie des bénéfices est redistribuée à des œuvres de charité. En deux ans, il a signé deux millions de dollars de chèques à des associations.

565 bancs ont été fabriqués et installés dans des parcs, maisons de retraite, clubs de sport, à partir de dosettes de café et de déchets d'emballages de la marque Tassimo, collectés et revalorisés par TerraCycle.

In exchange, they receive positive PR and “a nice feather in their hat, if you will, as it pertains to corporate social responsibility,” Mr Szaky said.

Manchester Primary School students have become class acts when it comes to wielding magic to turn trash into treasure.  ‘‘Locals can send their collections to TerraCycle for free to be recycled into bright, fun and sustainable items by dropping them off at the school.