Many people have a very clear idea of what "recyclable" looks like, and many products are helpfully marked with the symbol of three arrows in perpetual triangular circulation. The meaning is clear — once used, recyclable products can be reused almost infinitely. But what of the non-recyclables? Do they, too, have purpose, or are they fated for the landfill, never to be used again? That's where TerraCycle comes in. On the Mary Baldwin campus, it is proving to be a force to be reckoned with. A small, up-and-coming company founded in 2001, TerraCycle makes use of products that are often challenging to recycle. From ink cartridges to digital cameras, Scotch Tape to candy wrappers, TerraCycle's eco-friendly approach takes several of these products to create items like all-purpose cleaners (made from soda bottles), bike pouches (made from energy bar wrappers), and backpacks (made from cookie wrappers). It is a creative approach that is environmentally friendly, efficient, and economical, shrinking the amount of trash sent into landfills in a way that has people paying attention.

Upcycling is, “simply put - using those items that cannot be recycled and remaking them into reusable items,” says DiColandrea. He uses energy bar wrappers as an example of how materials can be reused when they can’t be recycled. “Its [energy bars] packaging remains very high as a waste, and recycling the packaging is not easy for some local recycling centers to do. Reusing the packaging to create another product is a simple and low-cost answer,” he added. Green Starkville has created a team for Terracycle, a company which collects materials that can be reused to manufacture new items – upcycling. For each item received, Terracycle will give $0.02 to Green Starkville, and Terracycle turns the materials into everything from clipboards, bags, and toys to fences.