Countryside Elementary School has earned a $30,000 grant for placing second in a statewide contest that encourages the “upcycling” of post-consumer packaging. A public school serving children in grades K-4 in Mount Laurel, Countryside community saved 46,554 items from the trash, including juice pouches, candy wrappers, sandwich and snack bags, and yogurt containers. Parent Kate Esaia rinsed them out and prepared the items to be shipped to Terracycle, a Princeton-based international company that creates new products, such as insulated coolers, with the recycled materials. The “Trash for Cash” contest was sponsored by TerraCycle and Walmart. A total of $125,000 is being awarded to New Jersey schools that contributed the most post-consumer packaging between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15.