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Contributed by Jennifer Wilkie 2008-03-31

Portland — Stonyfield Farm, the organic food leader and environmental pioneer, is partnering with TerraCycle in a national program aimed at collecting used yogurt containers and reusing them as YoGro!™ planting pots.

TerraCycle will then sell YoGro! to large retailers who currently use black plastic planting pots, millions of which are discarded by consumers every year.

“We are always looking for ways to help our consumers who want to recycle or reuse our cups, but have few or no options to do so,” says Stonyfield Farm President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg.

TerraCycle’s national Yogurt Brigade will include schools, community groups and others collecting 6 and 32 oz yogurt containers. For every container collected, Stonyfield will donate 2 cents or 5 cents, respectively, to a charitable organization or school of the collector’s choice.

In the case of Stonyfield Farm, its yogurt cups are made from Polypropylene Plastic #5. A study by the Center for Sustainable Systems determined that #5 was the most environmentally preferable choice of plastics available for Stonyfield Farm yogurt because it allows for the cups to use a minimal amount of plastic. However, since many recycling centers are not equipped to handle #5 cups, Stonyfield Farm has teamed with TerraCycle, which currently runs a nationwide recycling program collecting used soda bottles.

“The environmental mantra is ‘reduce-reuse-recycle,’” says Hirshberg. “We’ve reduced by using #5, and this project offers an opportunity to reuse some of our yogurt cups.”

Once schools, non-profits and others are enrolled in the program, TerraCycle will provide prepaid UPS shipping boxes to consumers, who fill the boxes with clean yogurt containers and return them to TerraCycle at no cost. TerraCycle will then clean the containers and work with inner-city artists to handpaint each container making them into attractive, modern planting pots for sale to retail outlets.

The program is part of TerraCycle’s Sponsored Waste movement in which socially and environmentally responsible companies and brands provide funding for TerraCycle to collect and reuse their packaging, including bottles, yogurt containers, drink pouches and bar wrappers.

Participating locations will earn two cents for every pouch, 6 oz yogurt container or energy bar wrapper and five cents for 32 oz yogurt container or 20 oz bottles. Donations will be made to a charitable organization or school of the location’s choice.

“TerraCycle has a unique opportunity to help larger companies to reduce their waste streams, while procuring zero cost materials to make eco-friendly products.” Says TerraCycle Founder and CEO, Tom Szaky. “This idea, called ‘Sponsored Waste’, benefits any large company with a non-recyclable packaging and helps TerraCycle provide consumers with affordably priced, eco-friendly products.”

These programs will limit the amount of waste in landfills, teach kids about the importance of recycling, and give money back to non-profits and schools. Plus, all the collected materials will be the building blocks of sustainable, eco-friendly products.

To sign up your school, charity or even your office visit: www.terracycle.net/brigades

About Stonyfield Farm

Stonyfield Farm, celebrating its 25th year, is the world’s leading organic yogurt maker, and produces yogurt, smoothies, cultured soy, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and milk. The company advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet. It was the nation’s first dairy processor to pay farmers not to treat cows with the synthetic bovine growth hormone rBST. Stonyfield donates 10 percent of its profits to environmental causes; was America’s first manufacturer to offset 100 percent of its CO2 emissions from its facility energy use; and recently installed the largest solar array in New Hampshire to help power its production plant -- all efforts to reduce global warming. For more information about Stonyfield Farm, its products and initiatives, visit www.stonyfield.com .

About TerraCycle, Inc.

TerraCycle (www.terracycle.net) was founded by Tom Szaky, a 25-year old entrepreneur and Princeton University dropout. The company debuted its revolutionary worm poop plant food line at Wal*Mart and The Home Depot. TerraCycle Plant Food™ and TerraCycle’s other products are also the first consumer product to earn the right to carry the Zerofootprint™ seal. The seal signifies that the materials and manufacturing process used to produce its products have virtually no negative environmental repercussions.