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!

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 <http://www.terracycle.net/>  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 they need to do is collect and  send in the packaging you discard every day, TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  pays the postage  and contributes two cents per unit of waste returned. I keep mine in a  bag by the pantry next to the bag for Box Tops to make things easier.

I t’s back-to-school time and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the shopping you have to do, especially if you want to be eco- friendly. you needn’t worry. Companies like TerraCycle are making back-to-school shopping and green living compatible and easy.

OK I admit it.  I LOVE trash!  I love seeing that Upcycle It! barrel filled to the brim at the Farmers Market.   It certainly shows Westford's support and commitment to sustainability. Many of us are parents. Seems like the “green bug” bites a little harder when you look at those tiny faces.  TerraCycle has a few new Brigades ideal for parents. Which would you like to see us join? 1) The AVEENO Beauty Brigade – ANY brand and ANY type of personal care beauty tubes. Examples include lotion, sun tan lotion, face wash tubes, body wash tubes. A tube is a container that is crimped at one end and has an opening at the other. 2) The SCOTT Brigade – the outer plastic from ANY brand of paper towel, napkin, toilet paper or similar paper products – no paper wrappings 3) The HUGGIES Brigade – the outer plastic on ANY brand of diaper/personal product packaging; excluding boxes and bins (from baby wipes). Examples would be the overall outer plastic package wrapping on diapers, depends, pull ups, pads, etc.  Does not include the clear plastic wrapping inside a box of diapers. 4) The Home Storage Brigade – This brigade includes ANY size storage bags (freezer, storage, regular, sandwich) and containers. We would need to remove any crumbs and pieces of food, but stuck on ingredients (i.e. peanut butter) are acceptable. 5) The Neosporin Tube Brigade – Any size Neosporin brand antibiotic and ointment tubes 6) The Sprout Brigade – Sprout baby food pouches; excluding glass baby jars.

Terracycle Brigades Terracycle is a wonderful organization that partners with schools to “upcycle” juice pouches and food wrappers. School and non-profit groups receive “cash for [their] trash” when they send in the required materials. The great thing about this program is that it’s easy to get started. There are Terracycle Brigades, and you register for the one you want to focus on. One of the parents at our school started with collecting drink pouches from kids. If you decide to participate in a brigade, you’ll need to provide incentives for kids to bring in what you’re collecting. Set up a system that works for you, like setting up a bin in the cafeteria specifically for drink pouches. Each week, give a small prize to students who bring in drink pouches in a Ziploc bag labeled with their names. If you want to boost your collection, seek out businesses that may already be collecting the items you’re looking for. Our Terracycle parent found out that a local party place for kids was willing to donate juice pouches to our school as long as someone picked them up. That’s easy “cash for your trash”!

Terracycle realizes that Moms are the main shoppers, organizers, and most involved in the school activities. Because of this, they have new, Mom focused brigades. Parents want to make their children's world greener.  Unfortunately, daily life can get in the way of that with limited time and budget, but going green doesn't have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive. In fact, a smart and savvy parent can go green and even earn green at the same time!

The night before, when we were setting up, I noticed that volunteers were putting cookies in small snack sized Zip-Loc bags.   Of course, my "trash-radar" went up and since I could not avoid the baggies, I could gather them and send them to Terracycle.  So, I prepared a box with a sign asking for the empty baggies to be put in the box. While I still had to raid the trashcans, there were many baggies put in the box!  (mind you I had to take baggies out of the 'plastics' recycling can and cardboard boxes out of the 'plastics' recycling can!)

"While school may be out for summer, the custodial staff at Crofton Woods Elementary is hard at work getting the school squeaky clean before students return. Due to budget cuts, the custodial staff saw a reduction in cleaning supplies but thanks to the efforts of Lori Lloyd, chief custodian at the school, the school is getting cleaner and greener. Lori received information a few years back from TerraCycle, a unique company that collects packaging waste and upcycles, or repurposes it, to make eco-friendly products. TerraCycle pays schools and nonprofits to collect the items they upcycle. Lori signed on to the program in 2008 initially upcycling Capri Sun drink pouches and receiving two cents per pouch from TerraCycle in return. Last year, she expanded the program and now collects chip bags, candy wrappers, Ziploc bags, Elmer's Glue bottles, butter tubs and a few additional items. The custodial staff at Crofton Meadows collects, sorts and ships the items to TerraCycle.

TerraCycle <http://www.terracycle.net/>  has the best business model — “Send us your trash… we’ll make it into cool products!” If you despair of all the waste generated by things like Capri Sun pouches, sign up your school or nonprofit organization for various TerraCycle “brigades.” <http://www.terracycle.net/brigades>  Collect used pouches, candy wrappers, and other items, send them in to TerraCycle, and get paid a couple cents for each. (Given the amount of these products kids go through, that can add up pretty quickly…)

*How great that the top 3 schools in VA that collected the most waste with this program are from the area!  What a great way to pay it forward :) Top 3 Schools in Virginia (based on amount collected this past school year): Cedar Forest Elementary School in Fredericksburg – 42,685 pieces of waste diverted and $853 earned Signal Hill Elementary School in Manassas – 37,566 pieces of waste diverted and $752 earned St. Leo the Great School in Fairfax – 25,581 pieces of waste diverted and $512 earned Terracycle <http://www.myatlantamommy.com/2009/12/terracycle.html>  is a fantastic organization which takes used wrappers and turns them into some super cool stuff! They are 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 favourite charity.