One person’s trash is another’s recycled treasure

A local environmentalist takes the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle” to the next level and turns trash into treasure by joining a national movement called the TerraCycle Brigades.
“It’s all about taking what we have and using it efficiently,” said LeeAnn Tavares, recycling coordinator for the town of Seekonk and secretary for the Conservation Commission in Wrentham.
Tavares said that growing up she would have never imagined people could someday turn juice boxes into tote bags, yogurt cups into planting pots, and empty milk jugs and laundry detergent containers into lumber.
These are just some of the Earth-friendly creations that the TerraCycle company has brought from the garbage to store shelves across the country.
“It is amazing what is being done out there,” Tavares said. “I thought this was such a great idea and a really positive thing.”
TerraCycle was started five years ago by Tom Szaky, a 25-year-old entrepreneur and Princeton University drop-out, who found a way to turn garbage into a product.
The Brigades are an opportunity for schools and community groups to collect items that would normally be considered waste and raise money for their school or a non-profit organization of their choice.
“The program not only teaches kids about recycling, the environment and why it is so important, but it raises money as well,” said Jennifer Wilkie, spokesperson for the New Jersey-based company TerraCycle.
This program began with the Bottle Brigade, where schools and organizations in nearly 1,000 locations throughout the United States collected milk and soda bottles for TerraCycle. Due to the success of the Bottle Brigade, national companies joined in the recycling effort by sponsoring various other TerraCycle programs.
Three environmentally-friendly food companies — Stoneyfield Farm, Honest Tea and Clif Bar — created an innovative way to collect and reuse product packaging.
They set up collection programs called the Yogurt Brigade, the Drink Pouch Brigade, and the Wrapper Brigade in order to prevent millions of yogurt containers, drink pouches, and energy bar wrappers from overflowing in our nation’s landfills.
“A lot of this material goes through kids’ lunch rooms every day,” Wilkie said.
The national program sponsored by Stoneyfield Farm aims to collect used yogurt containers and reuse them as YoGro! planting pots.
TerraCycle then cleans the used containers, works with inner-city artists to hand-paint each container and make them into attractive, modern planting pots for gardeners.
More than 10 million plastic planting pots are carelessly discarded each year, and this program’s objective is to decrease that number.
Recycled soda bottles are used to package TerraCycle products such as household cleaners and their flagship product, which is a fertilizer made of worm excrement. This fertilizer, called TerraCycle Plant Food, is currently available at WalMart, Home Depot and Target Stores nationwide.
Used drink pouches and wrappers will be sewn into tote bags, handbags and pencil pouches for kids and adults, which will be available at Target, Walgreens and large box retail stores by next month.
Tavares recently bought herself a wallet made out of a recycled Capri Sun juice box and loved it so much that she bought a few for friends and family at Christmastime.
“I absolutely love them, I think they are the coolest thing,” Tavares said.
Participants across the country collect containers and ship them to TerraCycle free of charge. They can earn two cents for every pouch, 6 ounce yogurt container or energy bar wrapper, and five cents for every 32-ounce yogurt container or 20-ounce soda bottle.
Each location then has the option of using the money earned to support their school or donating the earnings to a charity of the location’s choice.
“That way hundreds and thousands of people are benefiting from our programs in different ways,” Wilkie said. “This is going to better communities across the board.”
Tavares, who has been saving yogurt containers and Capri Sun packs, said she plans to donate the money she raises to the Friends of Boyden Wildlife Refuge in Taunton.
Tavares, who “has this thing about throwing things away that are useful,” joined the TerraCycle Brigade a few months ago and has urged her friends and co-workers to chip in.
She set up a cardboard box at work so that colleagues could toss in their recycables. That box is currently full and ready be shipped to TerraCycle, where its contents will take on new forms.
“We are not only saving resources, but we are saving green as in cash,” Tavares said. “We are doing our bit for the environment and the economy.”
Wilkie found the TerraCycle Brigades really “empowering,” especially after seeing their products evolve from start to finish.
“And it all started as good business — reusing materials, reducing costs and reducing garbage,” Wilkie said.
Looking at the business from her perspective, Wilkie said the options are endless and there are “limitless opportunities to find other products and ideas.”
Though the TerraCycle organization has only been in production in this capacity for four years, Wilkie said that they add on an average of 10 new products each year.
“We have doubled in size every year,” Wilkie said. “There are so many opportunities and so much garbage.”
Tavares, who has been the co-coordinator of Taunton’s annual Citywide Clean Up since 1991, knows from experience that there is never a lack of trash. And in most cases, that trash is not where it’s supposed to be.
It is dumped along the railroad tracks, it lines the riverways, it cloaks the city streets, and drifts into nearby backyards with a gust of wind.
Some of the reasons it is so hard for people to dispose of their trash properly are the same reasons why people find it difficult to recycle on a regular basis.
According to Tavares, it’s a matter of laziness and time.
She claimed one of the reasons people don’t make a significant effort recycling-wise is because they can’t or won’t make the time amidst their work and long list of daily duties.
“Time is the most valuable asset, and a lot of people feel they just don’t have time for one more thing,” Tavares said.
In order to better the environment, one must first change the public’s attitude and behavior and many are unwilling to make that change.
“They don’t understand how important it is to save the planet,” Tavares said. “They are not going to get another one. This is it. We are not getting a second shot.”
While the task of changing people’s attitudes may be even more difficult than the process of recycling, Wilkie said it is possible after seeing first-hand the success of the TerraCycle Brigades.
“It shows how willing people are to learn about things and get involved in doing something different,” Wilkie said. “Everyone has been unbelievable. Once people know about it and understand it, they are really into it.”
According to Tavares, locals who aren’t officially a part of the TerraCycle Brigades can do their part for the environment simply by putting “more in the blue bin and less in the orange bag.”
Though there is a long way to go before recycling becomes a permanent part of everyone’s lifestyle, especially in this “disposable generation,” Tavares has noticed the country taking steps in the right direction.
“I’ve noticed a lot more businesses going green and I think it is wonderful,” said Tavares, who also noted the country’s move toward Hybrid vehicles and away from its dependency on oil. “It is a positive step.”
Tavares added, “If everyone made a simple change, like turning off the water when you brush your teeth or saving yogurt containers, it would make a difference.”

alopes@tauntongazette.com