This year’s Trick or Trash™ recycling and education campaign, designed to help reduce the waste that accumulates every year around Halloween, is well underway. 

Now in its fourth year, Trick or Trash provides free and easy-to-assemble mail-back recycling boxes to schools, independent businesses, and community organizations, which can be filled with discarded candy wrappers. Last year, almost 2,000 collection boxes were sent to more than 1,250 schools, independent businesses, and community organizations in all 50 U.S. states, and we have already surpassed that number for the 2022 campaign!

For this Trick or Trash Spotlight, we spoke with Larissa Russo, Founder of The Refillery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

How does Rubicon’s mission to end waste match-up to The Refillery’s mission? 

The Refillery’s mission is to reduce single-use plastic and single-use packaging by making reusing and refilling easy, accessible, and affordable. We want to help Pittsburgh reduce our eco-impact by curating locally, ethically, and sustainably made products and refillables.

We are so excited to partner with Rubicon for Trick or Trash because of our shared mission and values. Although we are operating on a much smaller local level, I believe both of us are trying to solve big issues with creative solutions and new systems! 

What drew The Refillery to participate in Trick or Trash? 

Recycling and properly disposing of waste is often confusing and inaccessible. We wanted to take out the confusion and offer a convenient solution for our community. Plus, now we can feel less guilty about buying festive plastic-wrapped candy! 

What do your customers enjoy most about Trick or Trash? 

I think customers enjoy knowing that there is a tangible solution to this specific plastic wrapper problem. When it comes to trying to live a zero waste lifestyle, there are always these little challenges that can feel like setbacks. So it’s great to come together as a community and make an impact! Plus, the Trick or Trash box is so bright and cute! 

What are the most common questions that you get from customers when they see your Trick or Trash box? 

Most people ask what the trash gets recycled into. They are curious about the process and what types of items can be made from recycled candy wrappers! The Trick or Trash box is a great conversation starter and encourages people to think differently about their waste! 

Finally, what has been the most common candy wrapper in your Trick or Trash box so far? 

So far, we’ve been putting a lot of our own Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin wrappers in the Trick or Trash box! Hey, we get hungry during the day… Our community trick or treat and one year anniversary celebration is coming up next week though so we anticipate a lot of contributions after those events! 

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