Local Family Recycles for a Cause

"We've raised about 200 dollars and we've kept 13,000 items out of landfills," says Bertou.  

This is part of a "green" fundraiser run through the company TerraCycle.

"They take hard to recycle or non-recycleable items and turn them into new products.  So they find ways to re-use and re-purpose things that we normally just throw in our trash," she says. 

Right now the Bertou's are collecting candy wrappers, chip bags, and personal care and beauty items like old lipstick containers. Once the boxes are full, they ship them off to terracycle. Then the trash is turned into one of more than 1,500 products.

"I look at all this stuff that's in my basement and I'm happy it's not going to a landfill to leach chemicals and all of those things....that we're re-using them and turning them into new, useful things," adds bertou.   

An added bonus, for all the items donated, TerraCycle donates back to different causes. The Bertou's chose one near and dear to their son Josiah's heart,  building schools in Sudan.

"Me and my dad went to hear Manute Bol speak about schools in Sudan."  "I asked how can a six-year-old help.    He answered send in some money and I did but I just wanted to do more so I decided to have a website called Josiah and friends that raised money for schools in Sudan," says Josiah Bertou.   

This is one of many fundraisers he's done over the past few years. And at 9-years-old. He's raised about 4,500 dollars for schools in Sudan.