Energy bars often come in wrappers lined with foil. They aren't easily recycled, but Terra Cycle has created a solution. They've set up the Energy Bar Brigade, asking groups to join up and send their wrappers to Terra Cycle.

In the last seven months, the Energy Bar Brigade has collected 200,000 'post-consumer' — ready to be thrown away — wrappers. That adds up to two tons of waste that have been diverted from landfills. Terra Cycle doesn't quite recycle the wrappers their organization collects. Instead, the company repurposes them into products like pencil and tote bags.

The Energy Bar Brigade is growing rapidly. While Terra Cycle is based in New Jersey, the Energy Bar Brigade has hundreds of members across the country. In the state of California alone, there are over 100 members sending in their energy bar wrappers.

Terra Cycle maintains similar recycling projects, collecting such items as drink pouches and yogurt cups. It's a brilliant business decision. The materials that Terra Cycle needs to create the company's products could have been expensive even with the decision to repurpose materials already used by consumers. Instead, Terra Cycle essentially pays postage to get all the materials they need to make their products. They have no costs to collect the energy bar wrappers and yogurt cups they need. Terra Cycle has even convinced the makers of a number of energy bars — and therefore energy bar wrappers — to sponsor the Energy Bar Brigade.

Image — Terra Cycle