TerraCycle: Upcycling: Trash to Tuneful Treasure.  Upcycled Mail Sack iPad. TerraCycle.com  

When shopping for the “green” friend or loved one, it’s important to remember their ultimate concern is reducing waste. However, that is no excuse to not buy a gift. Instead, give a high quality gift they are guaranteed to appreciate or, alternatively, a gift made from recycled materials. Here are five affordable TerraCycle products available at select Walmart and Target stores and online. Coin Pouch

• Recycled Material: USPS Mail Sacks
• Price: $14.00
• Description: This pouch is super sturdy and can hold a number of small items such as money, makeup, and small accessories.Each piece is custom handmade from a distinct mail sack and will differ in terms of graphics. Perfect gifts for the eco-fashionista who loves unique and one-of-a-kind accessories.

Backpack

• Upcycled Material: Capri Sun Pouches
• Price: $21.99
• Description: These fun school supplies are sure to get attention from classmates. The sight of the familiar juice pouches will make any co-ed nostalgic of their grade school days! These are exciting gifts for the cutesy co-ed who loves attention.

Speaker Set 

• Recycled Material: M&M’s Wrappers
• Price: $16.99
• Description: A very practical gift for any co-ed—the “green” aspect is only a plus! This portable speaker set is made from 80 percent recycled materials and folds for easy storage. The 3.5 mm universal plug works with your iPod, iPhone, MP3 player, laptop, or computer. Available at Radio Shack.

Travel Toiletry Case

• Upcycled Material: Tents
• Price: $38.00
• Description: Each unique piece is custom handmade from different parts of a tent. Perfect for the on the go, eco-friendly man in your life.

Corkboard

• Upcycled Material: Wine Corks
• Price: $19.99
• Description: This classy gift will sparkle in any co-eds dorm room. If she needs a place to hang her to-do list, study guides, and family photos, why not make it eco-friendly?

We all want to save the world. Nobody actively wants to destroy this green, beautiful orb we call planet Earth. Still, it’s not always easy to make the right, most eco-friendly choices as a consumer. Thankfully, some tech companies are picking up the slack and offering up products that not only help heal the planet, but also don’t destroy our sense of aesthetics(and also our wallets.)   Case in point, TerraCycle and their new line of iPad cases. The company has always been re-purposing trash into gold and this new line is no different. The company created the bags by refashioning discarded United States Postal Service carry bags. You can almost see the resemblance in the photos. Now those mail bags will never be lost and alone, without a home.  They’ll be filled with an iPad! It’s like Toy Story 3, only a lot more boring. Don’t worry. The bags are water resistant, thanks to scraps of ultrasuede that line the inside. You know that whole whether there is rain, sleet or snow thing. No weather condition will stop you from getting to where you want to go and using your iPad in peace like a true American! Somewhere, somehow, Steve Jobs is looking down at us and smiling. The bags will set you back around $55. You can also buy different-sized versions for carrying around other things other than tablet computers, if that’s your, um, bag. Check a video on all the good work TerraCycle does below.  

Waste not, and what not, I always say! And what better way to outsmart waste than with these upcycled bags made from decommissioned U.S. Postal Service mail sacks? TerraCycle is known for producing quirky accessories from material that would otherwise end up in a landfill, but let’s be honest here. Some of their goods are cute enough in theory, but I don’t think I can pull them off in real life. That is until I spied these gems:

TerraCycle has made a name for itself by turning landfill-bound objects into one-of-a-kind accessories, and its newest line of bags is no different. Stitched together from decommissioned U.S. Postal Service cotton-canvas mail sacks, each upcycled pouch and tote features markings from the original carryall, along with distressing, light fraying, and patch marks from years of service. Plus, all iPad cases are lined remnant Ultrasuede scraps—all the better to keep your precious cargo safe through rain, sleet, and gloom of night.

TerraCycle is a great new way to recycle! You can send in your ‘trash’ things like chip and cookies wrappers, juice pouches and more to be turned into things like binders, pouches, and more.

TerraCycle’s purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste. We do this by creating national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste. Anyone can sign up for these programs, called the Brigades, and start sending us waste.

TerraCycle then converts the collected waste into a wide variety of products and materials. With more than 20 million people collecting waste in over 20 countries TerraCycle has diverted billions of units of waste and used them to create over 1,500 different products available at major retailers ranging from Walmart to Whole Foods Market.

Our goal is to eliminate the idea of waste by creating collection and solution systems for anything that today must be sent to a landfill.

Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, then a 20-year-old Princeton University freshman, TerraCycle began by producing organic fertilizer, packaging liquid worm poop in used soda bottles. Since then TerraCycle has grown into one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world.

Products include traditional garden supplies like a Terra Stone Plant Caddy retailing for $14.99, the Eco-Terra Watering Can for $11.99 and TerraCycle’s trademark All-Purpose Plant Food for $4.99 – $32.00 at major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, independent garden centers and online.

Other unique items include tote bags, lunch sacks, toiletry cases and travel pouches made from repurposed USPS mail bags and upcycled tents. All USPS and tent products will be available online at www.uncommongoods.com. Lunch sacks will retail for $37.00, dopp kits for $38.00, and tote bags for $46.00. The Coin Pouch, Tote, and iPad Case will retail from $14.00 – $84.00. We are also featuring portable, battery free Eco-Speakers for $19.99.

Welcome to the It's in the Bag Giveaway Hop hosted by Life With Two Boys and With Our Best! This is a "what's in your purse?" themed giveaway hop and will feature a variety of products that women find in their purse. Here at How Was Your Day?, we're offering up one of these amazing Upcycled Mail Sack Tote Bags from TerraCycle.  Made from real US Mail bags, these Upcycled Mail Sack Totes bags have that already lived-in look.  Each bag is different and totally unique!  ARV $79! Look for my full review coming soon.

This holiday season, give an awesome, unique gift that helps the planet with one of the many cool upcycled items from TerraCycle. From backpacks made out of your kids used juice pouches to speakers crafted from M&M packages, you’ll find something for everyone on your list at TerraCycle. Plus, you can feel good knowing that your gift isn’t causing extra strain on the planet! I received two really cool items from TerraCycle for this review: the USPS Coin Pouch and the M&M speaker set. Both would make awesome gifts for just about anyone on your list.

The USPS Mail Sack Coin Pouch

“Who put this recyclable item in the garbage???” My kids have gotten used to me asking this question as I’ve become more environmentally conscious over the years. I knew the habit had become deeply ingrained when I attended a church dinner and found myself trying to move a bunch of recyclable 2 liter bottles someone had set on top of the trash to a recycling container.  Since I moved from halfhearted recycling to serious recycling around ten years ago, I’ve tried to support companies who are reusing waste in creative ways, like Terracycle.  They take traditionally nonrecyclable waste, drink pouches, chip bags, toothbrushes and many other products, and create new and innovative products. Have you ever wanted to recycle your nonrecyclable items? If so, Terracycle has a program that pays you cash! You collect these items and send them in to Terracycle.  They produce reusable goods like this circuit board clipboard and you get cool cash in your pocket. It’s a win-win situation.

Do you like to keep the earth clean by recycling? I’m always finding ways to recycle. I’ve even got my daughter, who is only three, recycling. When someone tries to throw away a can or plastic bottle she will pull it out of the garbage and put it in the recycling bins we have. I think it’s great that she wants to help me keep things recycled. Makes me feel great that I’m helping my daughter learn to help keep the earth clean. I’m very excited to have had the chance to review some recycled products from Terracycle.