For the most part, candy wrappers are not recyclable. Most of the wrappers are coated with wax or plastic, which makes them really hard to recycle. So what are we to do this Halloween with candy wrappers coming out of our ears? Very simple – get your kids to collect the wrappers, sign up for a Terracycle Candy Brigade and send them in to Terracycle in a prepaid envelope. The kicker? Your kids get to earn money for their school or favorite charity.
Terracycle is genius because it’s in the business of ‘up-cycling”, which means it takes waste and turns it into useful items – everything from pencil cases to kid’s playgrounds and plastic furniture.
I got my daughter’s school involved last year. We collected chip bags in one large trash bin and cookie wrappers in another. The kids loved taking responsibility for their waste packages – it’s amazing that when you explain the process to kids, they become more vigilant than adults – all of them policing each other!
So do yourself and your kids an amazing favor this week, by having them sign up for The Candy Brigade and even some other brigades too. You can keep a special box in your home for the week and have every kid who has candy waste to dump it in the box. By the end of the week, I’m sure you’ll have enough wrappers to send off. I’m going to go find a box right now!
This is a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing this valuable information! Kids are great when they have a mission like this to accomplish!