The next time you snack on your favorite potato, tortilla or corn chips,don’t throw away the bag! The folks at Trenton-based TerraCycle are teaming up with Hamilton Township officials like Mayor John Bencivengo to “Chip In For Change.” Dozens of collection sites across Hamilton (like the library, the YMCA, and certain stores) are your places to deposit empty chip bags so that they may be recycled, or even up-cycled.

What do you do with your potato chip bag after you eat the chips? Most of those bags end up in the trash, but a New Jersey company wants to turn them into usable products. Trenton-based TerraCycle has selected neighboring Hamilton Township as a test site to determine whether consumers are willing to help keep chip bags from ending up in landfills.

The Trenton-based “up-cycling” company Terracycle has announced the launch of a new program to collect discarded potato chip bags and turn them into useful products. TerraCycle announced a pilot program in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, inviting residents to “Chip in for Change.” CEO and Founder of TerraCycle, Tom Szaky joined Mayor John Bencivengo to unveil their goal to collect and recycle at least ten percent of Hamilton’s used chip bags.

When I was young, an older schoolmate told me paper gum wrappers were edible. She said that if you pop the whole stick in your mouth, wrapper and all, the paper would just disappear. Later that night, I unwrapped a stick of gum and suspiciously put only the wrapper in my mouth. I waited and chewed a bit, but it didn’t dissolve. It seems my schoolmate was either mashing up the paper wrapper in the stick of gum and didn’t notice a difference or she was just messing with me. I thought of the gum wrapper when I read this article about WikiCells, a form of edible packaging developed by Harvard professor David Edwards. Unlike the flavorless, “disappearing” gum wrapper, WikiCells add flavor and nutrients that compliment whatever is contained inside. According to WikiCells, “This skin may be comprised primarily of small particles of chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, or many other natural substances.” They are mainly used to package soft foods, such as ice cream, yogurt, cheese or beverages. This got me thinking about using edible packaging for more than just soft foods. A lot of things have been made in edible versions – necklaces, tableware, under garments, even shoes – but they are mostly novelty items or prototypes that haven’t taken hold in a meaningful way.

When I was young, an older schoolmate told me paper gum wrappers were edible. She said that if you pop the whole stick in your mouth, wrapper and all, the paper would just disappear. Later that night, I unwrapped a stick of gum and suspiciously put only the wrapper in my mouth. I waited and chewed a bit, but it didn’t dissolve. It seems my schoolmate was either mashing up the paper wrapper in the stick of gum and didn’t notice a difference or she was just messing with me. I thought of the gum wrapper when I read this article about WikiCells, a form of edible packaging developed by Harvard professor David Edwards. Unlike the flavorless, “disappearing” gum wrapper, WikiCells add flavor and nutrients that compliment whatever is contained inside. According to WikiCells, “This skin may be comprised primarily of small particles of chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, or many other natural substances.” They are mainly used to package soft foods, such as ice cream, yogurt, cheese or beverages. © TerraCycle This got me thinking about using edible packaging for more than just soft foods. A lot of things have been made in edible versions – necklaces, tableware, under garments, even shoes – but they are mostly novelty items or prototypes that haven’t taken hold in a meaningful way.

What do you do with your potato chip bag after you eat the chips? Most of those bags up in the trash, but a New Jersey company wants to turn them into usable products. Trenton-based TerraCycle has selected Hamilton Township as a test site to determine whether consumers are willing to help keep chip bags from ending up in landfills.

TerraCycle announced today that Hamilton would serve as the pilot township for its "Chip In For Change" program, which aims to collect 10 percent of empty chip bags thrown out by Hamilton residents. TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky said at a town hall press conference that Hamilton recycles less than 1 percent of its used chip bags. The program aims to bring that number up to as high as 30 percent, equivalent to the rate of soda bottles or aluminum cans.

TerraCycle announced a trial test in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, inviting residents to "Chip in for Change." CEO and Founder of TerraCycle, Tom Szaky joined Mayor John Bencivengo to unveil their goal to collect and recycle at least ten percent of Hamilton's used chip bags.

TerraCycle has a solution for getting rid of all the non-recyclable waste from the Fourth and other summer parties through its collection program, the TerraCycle Brigade program. Anyone can send non-recyclable packaging from summer events – such as chip bags, napkin wrapping or plastic cups – to TerraCycle free of charge to be recycled or even repurposed into new, useful and innovative products. http://www.terracycle.net/

I speak for many of our eco citizens and dedicated environmentalist when I say that it pains me to throw anything away, but unfortunately, there are just some things that just can’t be recycled. Chip bags, candy wrappers, tape dispensers and used pens all have to go into the trash… or normally would… Thanks to the company TerraCycle, hard-to-recycle items like those listed above are not trashed, but are actually recycled, or even upcycled. TerraCycle partners with the companies that produce these items, and works with them to create an environmentally friendlier end of life- which means that for many of them, they are turned into something completely new-for example, pens and sharpies are turned into dry erase marker holders, and cookie wrappers are turned into backpacks. Awesome, right? Wait- it gets better.