Over the last 150 years, through the modern industrial revolution to the technological revolution going on today, humanity has made great leaps in how it lives, works and plays. Something as simple as driving from one end of the state to the other once took a whole day. Computers the size of a fist once took up an entire room and only computed simple math equations.

   However, progress has a price, and all the coal needed to power those trains in the 1850s, and all the toxic chemicals needed to make those microchips today, have hit the planet hard. But there’s an even more ubiquitous presence in our lives that has had its own negative impact: plastic.

   As people become more cognizant that their actions have the potential to carry serious environmental consequences, more and more are trying to come up with solutions to minimize that impact.

   The 63 students at The Bridge Academy, located behind Adath Israel Congregation on Lawrenceville Road are doing just that by participating in several of Trenton-based TerraCycle’s recycling programs.

   The programs are designed to keep items like soda bottles and yogurt containers out of landfills and find alternative uses for them. Participants are paid 2 to 6 cents per item, which is then either donated to their school or to a charity of choice.

   Formed in 2001 by 19-year-old Princeton University students Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer, TerraCycle’s programs take items like soda bottles, yogurt containers and juice pouches and reuses them, as the containers for organic plant food, planters, even for purses. The company has to date kept over a million bottles from ending up either in a waste stream or in the recycling stream, said Jennifer Wilkie, media relations for TerraCycle.

   Jen Ferri, science teacher at The Bridge Academy, first caught wind of this program through a cross-curricular project with Bridge Academy art teacher Sarah Bernotas. “We were getting ready for environmental science this year,” Ms. Ferri said. “She knew of TerraCycle. The kids had done a research project on them and decided that was something we should get involved in.”

   Ms. Ferri contacted TerraCycle, as well as the Mercer County Improvement Authority, which would then take recyclable materials TerraCycle could not accept.

   However, Ms. Ferri and The Bridge Academy were not satisfied with simply collecting the stuff and shipping it off. “We wanted to make recycling more of a visual, interactive experience.”

   So, the school built what Ms. Ferri described as “a recycling center,” a wooden structure covered in wire mesh, so students can see just how much waste is being kept out of the trash.

   The strong visual is having an impact.

   ”It’s kind of scary how much stuff we use,” said David Glenny, a ninth-grader at The Bridge Academy. “I didn’t realize it concerned me, but, I guess it does.”

   Recycling “never came to mind” to 10th-grader Jeff Ceglia either until the school began participating in the TerraCycle programs. “It makes you think of how much actually goes to waste and what you can do to improve it.”

   The program has not only changed Jeff’s opinion on recycling, but on waste in general. Where he would have once walked by litter, now he won’t. “If I saw something on the ground, I’d definitely pick it up,” he said.

   It’s that concept of rethinking that Ms. Wilkie said is a very important component toward producing positive change. “Recycle is the one most people are familiar with,” she said. “But, recycling also takes up energy. When you can reduce and reuse, it’s really much better.”

   Ms. Wilkie said the Bottle Brigade program was the first of the “Brigade” programs started by TerraCycle, and was started with children and schools in mind. “It was a fundraiser for them to raise for schools and charities,” she said. “And, it helps us.”

   To date, over 4,000 schools nationwide have signed on to the program. It has been so successful, in fact, that TerraCycle has had to put a hold on allowing any new schools or organizations participate until they can find a sponsor to help offset the costs of shipping collection boxes and payments.

   That is the reason Eldridge Park Elementary, on Lawn Park Avenue, has had to opt out of the program this year after participating for two years. While Bridge Academy was able to sign up before TerraCycle placed a hold on new participants, Eldridge Park is not, said kindergarten teacher Amy Hnasko.

   In the two years that school had participated in the Bottle Brigade Program, it was able to collect enough bottles to protect three-fourth of an acre of rainforest in Borneo, through the Earth’s Birthday project, the school’s charity of choice.

   ”It’s terrific and I think it’s very hands on for the kids,” Ms. Hnasko said. “We would sort the bottles. The kids loved it. They counted up to 75 in each box. I think it’s a really good project for kids to do and shows them something that they just think is garbage can really make an impact.”

   Until the Bottle Brigade program finds a sponsor, TerraCycle is pushing its two other “Brigade” programs, the Yogurt Brigade, sponsored by Stonyfield Farm, and the Drink Pouch Brigade, sponsored by Honest Kids, a division of Honest Tea.

   Next up for The Bridge Academy, Ms. Ferri said, is finding ways to not just reuse their waste, but to reduce it overall.

   Ms. Ferri, standing over the rapidly filling recycling center at the school, paused and shook her head.

   ”It really shows how much waste we produce,” she said.

   For more information about TerraCycle’s bottle, yogurt and juice box Brigade programs, visit www.terracycle.net/brigades.