My family and I had a great opportunity while on vacation. We had the chance to visit Terracycle head quarters in Trenton, NJ. If your not familiar with Terracycle they are here to "Outsmart waste". They do this by taking what would normally go to the landfill and in turn change it into great reusable products. These products range from simple Reuse shopping bag to back packs and even shoes made from candy wrappers. I use a lot of these products in my kids shows because this is how you ReThink everything to be more sustainable. The kids love the idea that nothing needs to go to a landfill but instead can be turned into a great product that can be use over and over again.

When we arrived I met Emily Bradford. She works on all the "Media stuff" for Terracycle. I have been in contact with here via Twitter and email for the past few weeks. She gave us the grand tour of the whole facility. We first met Albe he has been with Tom from the start and we caught up with him in between meetings. The office was made up of old office furniture that was salvaged before going to the landfill. Some of it even came from near by Princeton University. What a great way to keep it out of the landfill. The office is currently under remodel and they are making new desks from the cardboard tubes that the wrappers come to them on from various companies. They then use extra doors from companies (yes doors) as the desk top. They are always looking at ways to keep things out of the landfill! We also saw the "Lab". This is the best part of the tour. In hear we saw a lot of what might come out next or what didn't make it. We also saw the first Worm Poop machine! This is what got them started in the beginning. I recently used this same worm poop on a dying Bonsai tree and it is now very happy and covered in leafs again.


All the products from this company are made from trash. This would make you think that the products would no be a good quality but this is not true. Everything that i use in my show and everything that i saw that they make or are going to make is of the best quality possible. My family and I personally use these products in my everyday life. They stand up to anything that we throw at them. My son has used his Capri Sun Back Pack and lunch box all year long and it will be good for next year to use again.

After I left there office I realized that Terracycle has started something that no one else on earth has done. They have taken Trash and made it into treasure. You can say that others have done this before but they have turned it into there whole purpose. This is what they do! If you look at other companies they only recycle or upcycle to make there company look good or for the bottom line. It is great that places do this and yes they really do want to help the Earth but they continue to do other things that are harmful to the environment around us. Terracycle on the other hand does not produce anything that it does not upcycle or recycle from someone else’s waste. The mantra of Terracycle is "if someone has to pay money to take it away, Why not make something of it and reuse it forever?" If other companies took a step back and looked at all that they do and changed the product from start to finish then they would be a lot more like Terracycle.

The whole tour was great and the company is doing a great thing for our planet! I really want to thank Emily for setting this up and giving us a tour. I also want to thank Albe for taking time to meet us during his busy schedule. If your ever in the Trenton NJ, contact them and see if you can come by and see where the magic happens! I know that you wont be disappointed.
Check out there site and all the products they make. http://www.terracycle.net/

Check out the the Photo tour @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecogeeco/sets/72157624373963458/