Saving the Earth, One Flip-Flop at a Time

A recycling company from Trenton, NJ has teamed up with Old Navy and Office Depot to recyle hard-to-dispose of items.

TerraCycle Inc. is participating in Earth Month collections throughout the United States. TerraCycle has teamed up with organizations and school groups to collect used flip-flops and used pens. The program runs April 22 through May 21, a press release from TerraCycle said.

Shoppers can deposit their old flip-flops in colorful collection bins found inside the Old Navy Store at 8881 Ladue Rd. in Ladue.

TerraCycle will then recycle the flip-flops into playground materials that will be donated to communities around the country. This is the first time any nationwide retailer has initiated a large-scale effort to collect and recycle hard-to-dispose-of items like flip-flops.

Shoppers can also bring in 10 used pens, markers or mechanical pencils to Office Depot locations and receive a coupon toward new Sanford products (maker of Sharpie, Expo and PaperMate writing instruments). The used instruments will be sent to TerraCycle to be recycled into new office products, such as trash cans and desk organizers.

Betsy King, the district manager for Old Navy in the St. Louis region, said that four playgrounds will be built and filled with the recycled flip-flops. King said there's no word yet on which communities those playgrounds will be built in

Schools and community groups in Ladue can get in TerraCycle’s free upcyling fundraisers. The fundraisers pay the participating school two cents for every piece of used packaging returned.

“We are interested in saving the environment. We are helping people to recycle some of the more difficult items by doing this program,” said Megan Yarnell, publicist for TerraCycle, Inc.

TerraCycle, Inc. is an international upcycling company that takes difficult-to-recycle packaging and turns it into affordable, eco-friendly products. Founded in 2001, Terra Cycle is the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of nonrecyclable post-consumer waste.