Upcycling - the Next Generation of Recycling
Today, there's a lot of stuff that can be recycled--newspapers, magazines, bottles, cans, plastics. But there's a lot of other stuff, especially newfangled containers such as juice pouches, the cellophane-type material that encases packages of cookies, and energy bar wrappers, that can't be recycled. Until now. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, a company called TerraCycle is taking such materials and turning them into umbrellas, shower curtains, backpacks, binders, computer bags, and more. It's called "upcycling" - taking something disposable and turning it into something more useful and valuable. You can find upcycled products at Target, OfficeMax, and Walgreens.
Matt's View
TerraCycle pays schools, churches, and other non-profits to collect the packaging materials from specific branded products. Check its web site for more information.
In a related story, Home Depot recently announced that its stores now accept compact fluorescent light bulbs for recycling.
This article filed in: Environment
Managing Money by The Book
- "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
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