Back-to-School with Terracycle

Like most parents, my wife and I were shopping for school supplies with our soon-to-be sixth grader the week before school started. We went to a big box retailer because we're on a tight budget. We had a very specific list of items our public school wanted each student to bring on that first day. One of these was a pencil pouch.

My son uncovered a very cool looking pencil pouch that came complete with pre-punched holes to fit in a three-ring binder. What made it cool was that it was composed of recycled Doritos chip bags. The bags were joined together side by side and topped by a single zipper opening. My first impression was that it was another shameless marketing ploy by Frito-Lay to claim the minds of underage consumers.

But when I looked a little closer, I discovered Terracycle.

The Doritos pencil case and some 50 other products that Terracycle offers, are part of a surprising program that partners with product manufacturers, major retailers, and the general public to get rid of garbage. The goal is to not only stop throw away items from piling up in landfills, but to see these waste items as a valuable raw material. A raw material that can be turned into new products intact, and employing as little energy as possible to do so.

Terracycle has exclusive arrangements with major consumer product goods (CPG) companies, including Kraft Foods, Frito-Lay, Clif Bar, Stonyfield Farms, Mars Wrigley, and others. These arrangements create free collection programs that pay schools and other non-profits to gather used energy bar wrappers, chip bags, yogurt cups, cookie wrappers, et al. This detritus is then upcycled into tote bags, backpacks, purses, shower curtains, kites, and more. Retailers such as Target, The Home Depot, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart carry these products (which are also available on the Terracycle web site).

Check out the list of products Terracycle has created and sells at www.Terracycle.net. And while you are browsing the recycled pots, all purpose cleaner, Clif Bar wrapper holiday bow, the drink pouch messenger bag, and the ice melt in its re-purposed soft drink bottle, you can find out how you can join an existing terracycle collection brigade to gather and repurpose these waste materials and earn money for non-profit organizations in the process. Or better yet, you can discover how to set up your own collection group.

Each brigade earns two cents ($0.02) from every item of trash collected (energy bar wrapper, chip bag, drink pouch, etc.) for a designated non-profit. It seems a no-brainer for schools to jump on the bandwagon to help spruce up their grounds, put less burden on landfills, and earn money for programs canceled or scaled back in the current economy.

I have contacted my son's school and school district to see if there is interest in participating. Perhaps you should do so with yours.

--Timothy Cohrs

www.TimothyCohrs.com