Stonyfield Farm, the organic food company and environmental pioneer, is partnering with TerraCycle in a pilot program aimed at collecting used yogurt containers and reusing them as YoGro! planting pots.

TerraCycle’s pilot Yogurt Brigade will include schools, community groups and others collecting 6- and 32-ounce yogurt containers. For every container collected, Stonyfield will donate 2 cents or 5 cents, respectively, to a charitable organization or school of the collector’s choice.

Maine organizations already participating in the program include Corner House in Islesboro, Montville and Rockport; Capt. Albert Stevens School in Belfast; Crisis Stabilization Unit of Midcoast Mental Health Center, Rockland; Center for Teaching and Learning, Bath; Woodside Elementary in Topsham; and Via Group LLC in Portland.

TerraCycle will sell YoGro! to large retailers who currently use black plastic planting pots, millions of which are discarded by consumers every year.

“We are always looking for ways to help our consumers who want to recycle or reuse our cups, but have few or no options to do so,” said Stonyfield Farm President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg.

Stonyfield Farm’s yogurt cups are made from polypropylene plastic No. 5. A study by the Center for Sustainable Systems determined that No. 5 was the most environmentally preferable choice of plastics available because it allows for a minimal amount of plastic in the cups. However, since many recycling centers are not equipped to handle No. 5 cups, Stonyfield Farm has teamed with TerraCycle, which runs a nationwide recycling program collecting used soda bottles.

“The environmental mantra is ‘reduce-reuse-recycle,'” said Hirshberg.

Once schools, nonprofit organizations and others are enrolled in the program, TerraCycle will provide prepaid UPS shipping boxes to consumers who fill the boxes with clean yogurt containers and return them at no cost. TerraCycle will clean the containers and work with inner-city artists to handpaint each container making them into attractive, modern planting pots for sale.

The program is part of TerraCycle’s Sponsored Waste effort in which socially and environmentally responsible companies and brands provide funding for TerraCycle to collect and reuse their packaging, including bottles, yogurt containers, drink pouches and bar wrappers.

To sign up your school, charity or office, visit www.terracycle.net/brigades.