Terracycle: Combining Recycling and Technology for Kids

When TerraCycle first launched its products in major stores across the nation, the upcycled backpacks, lunchboxes and pencil cases were welcomed by parents and students alike as the perfect "Go green!" options for school year necessities. The fact that these products are all made out of recycled materials that have been donated to the company through TerraCycle's "recycling brigade" programs (common at many schools across the nation) only further adds to their appeal. In fact, with the expansion of the brigade program to include old computer accessory parts (such as computer mice), the brigades could easily see more popularity this year than ever before. However, perhaps even a more exciting addition to the TerraCycle line of recycling-related materials is their launch of the first ever upcycling-focused Facebook game.

Trash Tycoon was launched by TerraCycle as part of a new way to raise both money and awareness for environmental nonprofit CarbonFund.org. In the game, participants work to build up the green factor of towns that they are in charge of. Their actions can include collecting the waste that is strewn throughout the entire town, as well as completing various recycling-related missions throughout the entire game. While playing the game, participants earn in-game money. CarbonFund.org then benefits from these in-game profits, as 10 percent of all in-game earnings are donated through TerraCycle to CarbonFund in real-life cash.

In this way, participants can learn about the importance of recycling while actually having a real impact on the world around them. Additionally, the game offers options that allow users to build in-game upcycling facilities similar to the actual TerraCycle-operated facilities in real life. Another option for game participants is to build a natural fertilizer-generating worm plant, also similar in design to the actual TerraCycle original business model.

Brilliantly enough, TerraCycle had the foresight to combine Trash Tycoon with their already well-established brigade program. Members of TerraCycle's brigades who play Trash Tycoon enjoy added in-game gifts and other items to their accounts, as well as enjoy special surprises and bonus points to their chosen (and real-life) TerraCycle brigade accounts. Through these special in-game and real life incentives, TerraCycle has created a way for brigade members to contribute even more to the fight against trash.

Trash Tycoon can be currently played through TerraCycle's Facebook page or through trashtycoon.com. TerraCycle has also announced the arrival of a non-Facebook attached, non-branded version of this new recycling game.