One company that I greatly admire is Terracycle. What they do is get teams (brigades) together to recycle things that normally go in the trash. They turn around and reuse them to make all sorts of eco-goodies.
Now, I had a friend, who collected shoes to raise funds to go on a mission trip. Since I gather at least one shoes a day in my beach trash pick-ups, I had quite a bit. She was doing a paired shoe fundraiser. Ended up giving her 30 pairs of shoes. I had already donated over 30 pairs of saleable shoes and have 500 more left of paired and unpaired shoes. (This is in 6 months)
Anyway.. they do fundraisers, called GoEco, which is the point of this post. TerraCycle ‘Brigade’ members receive a special code, which earns their school or non-profit organization of their choice 15% of all purchases of TerraCycle products made on DwellSmart.com. The fundraiser is easy to operate; even kids can get their communities to buy the very product they help to create through the TerraCycle recycling system.
Some examples:
Elmer’s Glue Crew Sweepstakes
The Elmer’s glue crew is a free program that pays schools to collect used glue packaging. Three winners will be randomly selected each month out of those who send in any shipment. Every shipment counts as an entry into the contest. The more shipments you send, the greater chance you have to be a winner of a prize pack of Elmer’s and TerraCycle products!
Scotch Tape Brigade
The Scotch Tape Brigade is a free program that pays schools to collect tape packaging. Once you send in your first shipment you will be rewarded with 3M prizes. Then, each month, the top 10 collectors involved in the Scotch Tape Brigade will win eco-friendly 3M products!
I cruised through their products and collections: I could do this very easily just from beach trash.. For instance, Chip Packaging.. yesterday I picked up 10 big bag of Chips on the beach. Flip Flops ( I have over 200 unpaired), Cigarette butss (the #1 litter problem) bottled water, candy wrappers, cell phones.. you name it, you can collect and earn.
I sent an email to see if they will take sandy beach trash.. hopefully they will.. I would love to find a reuse home for shoes.
Those who are interested in signing up for these programs or a TerraCycle Brigade should visit goecofundraiser.com or www.terracycle.com.