Taylor Rollins photo: The candy wrappers students donate will be reused for new products thanks to Sustainability.

If the Mercyhurst Sustainability Office has its way, that next candy bar wrapper you discard could eventually become part of that chic new purse you just have to have at the mall.

Beginning this semester, the Mercyhurst Sustainability Office has partnered with TerraCycle to reduce, reuse and upcycle your used candy wrappers. Partnering with over 100 brands in the U.S. and overseas, TerraCycle focuses on reducing the amount of waste put in to landfills each year by taking normally non-recyclable items and turning them into useful items including purses, scrapbooks and clipboards.

“Our goal is to make students more aware of their eating habits and decrease our carbon footprint,” said Brittany Prischak of the Sustainability Office.

Upcycling, the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value, has been a trend sweeping the nation.

“The trend has finally come to the Laker campus,” said Prischak. “We want to reduce the amount of solid waste produced on campus.”

If Laker students and faculty respond in a positive way, Prischak said her office plans to add at least half a dozen more recycling bins in addition to those already in place at the entrance to Hammermill Library, the Hirt Center and Zurn Hall.

Who knows…maybe someday the wrapper from that Nestle 100 Grand Bar could make its way into your $100 purse.

If you would like to know more information, please contact Sustainability Department Chair Chris Magoc at (814) 824-2075 or cmagoc@mercyhurst.edu.