Students at Pine Creek Elementary sort through boxes of wrappers and other recyclables for a program called TerraCycle in which students earn points that are redeemable for cash for the school, or they can choose o donate the money to charities. Now, Pine Creek students and staff are raising money for their school while keeping hard-to-recycle items out of landfills. TerraCycle eliminates waste through upcycling, the process of converting waste or useless materials into new products of better quality or a higher environmental value. Through the program, students at Pine Creek upcycle a majority of their food wrappers, such as chip bags, granola bar wrappers and Capri Sun pouches and send them to TerraCycle. With 44 different brigades, or waste streams, schools and other organizations can recycle items from cellphones to toothpaste tubes to writing instruments. Pine Creek participates in more than 20 of the brigades.