Garbage?

At TerraCycle, we see things differently. While some look at mounds of garbage and see waste, we see raw material that worms can turn into a potent, natural plant food. While some look at truckloads of discarded soda bottles and see litter, we see ready-made packaging we can clean, re-label and reuse for our products. While some companies look at misprinted boxes and see rejects, we see shipping boxes that can be turned inside out and reused. Even the spray heads we use are manufacturing over-runs that otherwise might end up discarded.

As our sales have grown, we have expanded our efforts to secure a steady stream of reusable plastic bottles. Rather than buying bottles in bulk from recycling centers, we came up with a better idea.

The TerraCycle 'Bottle Brigade'

The TerraCycle Bottle Brigade rewards schools, charities and other non-profit groups throughout North America for collecting and sending to us de-labeled 20 oz. plastic soda bottles that we reuse to package TerraCycle Plant Food™. We launched the Bottle Brigade in early 2006 after running a popular and highly successful local bottle collection program in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2004.

Our Bottle Brigade campaign offers organizations a choice of earning $0.05 cents per bottle or saving 10 square feet of the rain forest. We make the rain forest donations through The Nature Conservancy. For teachers and other organizations that work with children, the 'Bottle Brigade' web site includes learning materials and suggested projects designed to teach the importance of recycling.

The Bottle Brigade program is a win, win, win campaign. Schools, churches and charities earn funds, we get our packaging at a reasonable cost; and there are fewer bottles in the waste stream. This year, we project that our Bottle Brigadiers will help us divert over one million plastic bottles from the waste stream. The 'Bottle Brigade' concept is also revolutionary. For the first time ever, people can earn money for good causes by literally joining TerraCycle in building the world's most eco-friendly product.

How it works

TerraCycle will mail 4 boxes 1-2 weeks via UPS to the non-residential address you provide after you sign up for the Bottle Brigade Program. Once boxes are filled with 70 soda bottles, apply packing tape to seal the boxes and have it picked up by UPS. Every box already has a prepaid return label back to our factory for your convenience. It should be picked up at a regular UPS pickup location — please do not call and schedule a custom pickup. For more UPS locations, click here.

You will be able to track the boxes you send back to us at your online account. When we receive your boxes and you are down to 2 boxes, you will receive 4 more boxes. Only 4 boxes will be sent at a time. Please keep in mind the 1-2 week processing/shipping times (starting when we receive your boxes) and plan accordingly.

Check out our FAQs here. To signup, visit www.terracycle.net/bb/signup.htm