(Never had such a hard time giving away free stuff before, so far two winners have been chosen and emailed but no one emails me back with shipping address. I’ll try one more time to choose a winner. Thanks)

TerraCycle is offering a free back to school prize pack for one lucky Eco Child’s Play reader.

Would you like to win a TerraCycle Billboard Backpack, a Drink Pouch Lunch Box, a Drink Pouch Pencil Case, and a Chips Ahoy Notebook, for a retail value of around $55?

All you have to do is read through this post and leave a comment with your contact info to be entered in the contest.

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And while we know that that aiming for zero waste is a fast, cheap and effective strategy for combating climate change, its not always easy to do. You can’t find the resources, it involves trips here and there, its expensive. There are all sorts of obstacles. However, these six companies (some are actually non-profit organizations and government agencies) make recycling easy.

1. Earth911.org is an excellent site with good recycling information.  Their recycling search tool makes it easy to locate waste collectors and drop-off sites.  It covers resources for paper, metal, hazardous waste, plastic, glass, electronics, automotive, household, garden, and construction waste. Two of my favorite resources are: 1) a great list of manufacturer and retail take-back e-waste programs and 2) an awesome free widget for your website that can not only give your customers access to the world’s largest database of over 100,000 recycling locations, but can pre-populate recyclable materials search to fit your readers. For example, a blog focused on car care can auto-populate the widget to search for locations that accept used motor oil or car batteries.

2. LampRecycling.com is a new online resource for facilities that need a simple and cost-effective way to recycle their fluorescent bulbs, CFLs, batteries, ballasts, and electronic waste. These guys make it super easy to recycle. You can order recycling containers for multiple types of waste and return them via pre-paid FedEx. Once the waste has been received for recycling, a recurring order is triggered and a new EasyPak container is shipped out automatically. You can view recycling reports that give totals of all waste you have recycled and every time waste is recycled with EasyPak, you are issued a certificate of recycling that verifies your recycling efforts and details exactly how much waste was recycled.

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It’s easier to buy green office products than ever before. The three largest office supply retailers, Staples, Office Depot and Office Max each carry thousands of reasonably priced products with recycled content and other environmental attributes.

Some even innovate. Take Office Max, they were one of the first national retailers to carry TerraCycle products and they now sell a range of their products from notebooks made from used potato chip bags to juice pouch pencil cases.

There are also a number of green office suppliers online such as Green Line Paper.com, TheGreenOffice.com or Green Apple School Supply that offer thousands of eco-friendly products. And green promotional item companies like John Simonetta’s ProformaGreen.com and EcoPromotionsOnline.com are also good places to find green office supplies.

I found ten awesome green office supply products under $10 because no matter how small every single purchase has an impact on the environment. Whether you’re buying copy paper or forklifts, that purchasing decision is an environmental decision. So, if you want to start with some small stuff, basic office supplies are a great place to start.  Here are my favorite cheap, green office supplies:

#1. on my list is reasonably priced private-label recycled content copy paper from office supply retailers. A scan of websites today (July 2, 2009) revealed the following prices for a 10 ream case (5,000 sheets) of 30% PCW 20 lb. 8.5″ x 11′ copy paper:

Office Depot: $3.30/ream (for a limited time until stock lasts; regularly $4.00/ream)

Office Max: $4.00/ream

Staples: $4.10/ream

2. & 3. The TerraCycle E-Waste Recycling Can is made from 100% e-waste (such as crushed computers and fax machines) that would otherwise have ended up in landfills. It comes in both blue and green, holds 28 quarts and costs $9.99 (www.officemax.com).  For a more funky and slightly smaller version, the TerraCycle 12″ Urban Art Recycled Trash Bin (its that groovy one above) also costs $9.99 (ShopOnlyGreen.com).

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TerraCycle has teamed up with Frito Lay to collect used packaging from FritoLay snack products- Doritos, Cheetos, Tostidos and other chip bags and turn them into affordable upcycled products- folders, tote bags, purses and pencil cases.

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Now they are expanding their selection of products made from waste to include rain barrels and composters made from discarded wooden wine barrels and cork boards made from used wine bottle corks. They’ve also expanded into making office products from various materials. The cork boards and other office products are available at Office Max stores.

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Question: What do you get when you mix a team of extremely creative geeks with a whole lot of trash?

Answer: Terracycle.

Paul Smith wrote a series of articles about Terracyle last year.  Founded by Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer in 2001 while students at Princeton, Terra Cycle started as a way to spread the benefits of vermicomposting (that is, composting with worms) to a larger audience. Szaky and Beyer were eventually able to earn startup funds, and by 2004, Home Depot was carrying Terra Cycle Plant Food on their website.

Today the story has developed much further. The Terracyle team now visits landfills on a routine basis to collect whatever garbage they can find, for ultimate conversion into usable products. With computer bags made from billboards, pencils made from rolled newspaper and kites made from Oreo cookie wrappers, Terracycle now has regular sales appointments at major retailers like Office Max and Walmart.

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Terracycle turns trash to Gold

“Trash” has certainly been the talk of the town lately.

The Inspired Economist recently published a story about Funding Factory, a company that provides funding through recycling. Ecopreneurist has featured several stories about recycling startups. However, even with all the buzz, IBISWorld, an industry research firm tell us that recycling is expected to decline significantly in 2009 - after five years of strong growth.

“Falling prices have put the recycling industry on the scrapheap this year,” explained George Van Horn, senior analyst with IBISWorld. “It is the thirteenth biggest revenue loser in 2009, and is expected to plummet a drastic 20 percent.”

Growing at an annualized rate of 6.3 percent for the past five years to 2008, Recycling Facilities is one of the few industries in the “green sector” to observe a decline.  Metal price declines combined with lower demand for recycled material are major factors impacting sales.  A fall in revenue and profits may hasten consolidation between the larger industry players, such as Waste Management and Covanta.  Smaller operators, more labor intensive, and without integrated waste collection and disposal activities, may be forced to exit the industry all together.

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Keynote speakers are from Terracycle and McDonough partners, and corporate attendees include Microsoft, Walmart, HP, BP, 3M, Dell, Dupont, and General Motors.

Unfortunately, the early bird discount deadline is past - and the conference now costs $1999.  The good news is that if your company registers 3 people, the 4th is free!

Last years conference was rated very highly - and this looks like a MUST ATTEND for any business wanting to harness some of the green economic momentum that is gathering daily.

This Christmas, you can decorate with upcycled goods from Terracycle.  The Eco-Friendly Juice Pouch Tree Skirt is made from sewn together juice pouches.  At first glance, you may wonder why you would want such a thing under your tree, but it really does look nice, especially under a live tree.

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As this recent article in Fast Company details, it’s not currently profitable for recyclers to take much beyond the most common, high volume items, like aluminum, paper, and a select few types of plastic. You can forget about candy and snack wrappers. Too many comingled materials, too difficult to create a consistent, usable result on the other end.

But, thanks to Terracycle and companies like mega food producer Kraft Foods teaming up, that’s changing, on a potentially huge scale.

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Many people spend a great deal of time working in offices, and to have a mainstream supplier actively promoting awareness about the value of using green office products will likely lead to many people that may not have previously found relevance in their lives to consider more deeply what they choose to purchase for their office, and perhaps other parts of their lives.

Why Office Max?

Why exactly did Terracycle, the scrappy company (literally, reusing scrap production waste in some products) decide to partner with the massive Office Max? Listen up green startups, this is important: They are able to go beyond their youthful  excitement about all things green, and hear from people with decades of experience what consumers are actually buying, where they want things to be greener, and where the most impact can be made. And, having a large, deeply ingrained distribution network, Office Max can also allow Terracycle to more confidently venture into making new products, with a sharply reduced time on the development cycle. This plus being able to produce larger numbers right away leads to  being able to keep their prices at an everyday level, so that a broad segment of the population can and will try them.

Review of  innovative green office products from Terracycle

So where does that lead Terracycle? It leads them to start with 7 new products, and have several more coming soon, including paper made from Mango leaves. More on that below. I had the pleasure of trying many of them out, and here’s what I found:

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During the first day of the conference, the focus was on defining the green economy and demonstrating that taking care of the environment can mean the recovery of the economy as well.

On the second day, the focus shifted to sharing examples of green economy successes. I found these examples to be educational and inspiring. I’ve provided links to a few of these examples to allow you to explore the progress of these companies.

• Gamesa - a Spanish based, worldwide wind power company founded in 1996 “is engaged with the manufacturing, sale, installation and operation and maintenance of Gamesa wind turbines” in the USA, Canada and around the world. With a manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania, headquarters in Philadelphia, and three offices in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Texas, Gamesa has completed wind farms in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas and has plans in progress for additional wind farms in other areas. Establishing this company in Pennsylvania is expected to add 1000 jobs across the manufacturing plant and the headquarters. Additional jobs will be found in other areas where they have offices and wind farms.
• Johnson Control - Originally founded to manufacture an electric thermostat in 1885, this global company, with 140,000 employees in more than 1,300 locations serves customers in 125 countries, has become a global leader in “automotive experience, building efficiency and power solutions.” Johnson Control has a fairly long history of sustainability and social responsibility and has a plan to be carbon neutral in five years. One of their most exciting energy efficiency projects will require 60,000 new employees in major cities around the United States to conduct energy audits and retrofit the buildings to increase energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gases, and lower utility bills. You can scan job openings within North America and beyond.
• Terracycle - In 2001, two college students founded an innovative company that packages waste (fertilizer created from worm waste) in recycled waste (used soda bottles collected by students and community groups around the country). In 2004, Home Depot started carrying their product, now Whole Foods, Wal-Mart Canada, and many other companies carry a variety of products produced by Terracycle and distributed in recycled packaging. The company never manufactures their packaging. Instead they set up collection brigades for particular packages that have been previously used (a soda bottle, a yogurt container, a juice box, or a energy bar wrapper) and pays the senders a few cents for each item delivered. Take a look at Terracycle’s products to see how they’ve come up with viable products that are made from or packaged in recycled items. Voted one of the 100 most innovative companies in 2004, it’s still worth tracking their growing and expanding success! Explore their career opportunities to learn more about how they work.

Innovation is one of the keys to the green economy. Add inspiration to your life. Watch for innovations in your geographic area and your profession.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has filed a suit against TerraCycle, claiming their plant food bottle looks too much like their own Miracle-Gro bottles; both bottles, though dramatically different, both have yellow and green on their lables along with pictures of flowers and vegetables. Interestingly, at least 120 other lawn and garden products currently on the market also have green and yellow packaging.

Scotts is also demanding that TerraCycle hand over results of scientific tests conducted at Rutgers University that support the eco-friendly company's claim that their plant food is "as good or better than the leading synthetic plant food", although Scotts has refused to hand over their own similar study to TerraCycle.

Further investigation notes that Scotts, whose annual sales total an estimated $2.2 billion, has sued 20 different competitors for infringement of intellectual property in the past ten years. TerraCycle, whose annual sales came in at an estimated $1.5 million, has started a blog documenting the David versus Goliath drama. You can find more information there, including information on how you can help.