
What's TerraCycle you ask? Good question. I first fell in love with this amazing company when my family received a Tassimo home brewer as a gift this summer. We were super excited to have it, but were a bit apprehensive about tossing the little discs in the garbage (eventually they add up!). So, I hopped on to the internet to see if we could recycle them. They definitely weren't acceptable in the blue bin, and I had a feeling they weren't going to be compostable materials... That's when I came across TerraCycle's website. Not only was this a place to recycle my T-discs, but they were going to swap my discs for money. Okay, now I've got YOUR attention, right???? How can this be possible? Garbage for money? Yes, you heard me right! Before I get into how you go about doing this, let me tell you a little bit about the company.

TerraCycle was founded in 2001 by twenty-year old Princeton freshman, Tom Szaky. Initially they began producing organic fertilizer (liquid worm poop in used soda bottles) and have since become one of the fastest growing green companies in the world. Currently their main focus is to eliminate the idea of waste, and they're doing this by creating recycling programs for non-recyclable items. These free collection programs allow you to send them your waste at no cost to you (a free courier comes to your door and picks up your package) and TerraCycle will then convert that collected waste into a wide range of products and materials. In addition to repurposing your garbage and keeping it out of the landfill, TerraCycle also gives money to the charity of your choice in exchange for your refuse! Depending on the product you can get from $0.02 to $10/a piece. With over 14 million "collectors" in 11 countries they have diverted billions of pieces of waste that are either upcycled or recycled into over 1,500 various products available at major retailers.

So, if you're like me, it sounded a little too good to be true, but I signed up anyway, to check it out. The great news is, is that after working with TerraCycle for over 6 months, I've not once encountered a catch. When signing up, you choose the charity you'd like your money to go to (they have many already registered on their site), OR you can register a charity of your own (I registered my son's elementary school). Then you sign up for each brigade (a brigade is another word for collection program) you'd like to collect for including products like diaper packaging, health and beauty products, cookie/cracker packaging, Tassimo Discs and much, much more! I've rallied all the parents on my son's school council and we do a weekly collection. Each week I'm knee deep and rubber glove'd in garbage as I sort the pieces into packages to send off. But it's worth it, as this is truly a win - win situation...We're keeping the garbage out of the landfill, increasing awareness and instilling Triple R (reduce, reuse, recycle) values in the kids at the school AND raising funds for a great "cause". We started this initiative in the school at the end of October, and since then we've diverted over 50,000 pieces of garbage from the landfill, and raised over $600 from the school. Our goal is to divert 100,000 pieces before the end of the school year! Thanks TerraCycle for opening my eyes to a world of recycling possibilities!
If this amazingly awesome company has inspired you to start your own collection, or if you're just curious about what they do, please check them out HERE!
~F.
If this amazingly awesome company has inspired you to start your own collection, or if you're just curious about what they do, please check them out HERE!
~F.