As teachers and students prepare for the beginning of a new school year, Keep America Beautiful hopes to ignite a passion for recycling in schools across the country with the launch of its 7th Annual Keep America Beautiful Recycle-Bowl.
The national K-12 school-based recycling competition begins on October 16 and culminates on America Recycles Day, November 15. Champions will be crowned in five categories: School Division, Community Division, District Division, Waste Reduction, and Food Scrap Collection. Through participation in Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day, the only nationally-recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the U.S., Keep America Beautiful is helping communities spotlight recycling on a local level by educating students and community members on how and what to recycle, while providing an array of resources to improve recycling in America.
“Keep America Beautiful is determined to end littering, improve recycling, reduce waste, and beautify America’s communities,” said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president, recycling, Keep America Beautiful. “Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day are key fall initiatives to educate, motivate, and activate individuals and entire communities to better understand what to place in recycling bins and the many environmental, economic, and social benefits of recycling.”
Registration is now open for the fall competition.
New this year, Recycle-Bowl is partnering with PepsiCo, a presenting sponsor, to offer participants the opportunity to concurrently sign up for PepsiCo’s Recycle Rally program.
“Keep America Beautiful’s Recycle-Bowl is a great way to get schools and communities fired up about recycling, and we think Recycle Rally is a natural complement to extend that level of engagement throughout the rest of the school year,” said Tom Mooradian, PepsiCo Sustainability Manager. Recycle Rally rewards schools for recycling beverage containers and offers frequent promotions and access to free downloadable resources to help schools boost recycling.
Registration for the four-week in-school competition is open to teachers, school administrators, school facility managers, PTA/PTO and other parent groups and local advocates. Recycle-Bowl registration will remain open until October 10.
Nearly 700,000 students and teachers from more than 1,290 schools across the nation competed in the 2016 Recycle-Bowl. Recyclables recovered during that competition totaled 3.2 million pounds across 47 U.S. states, with Bon Air Elementary of Kokomo, IN crowned as the 2016 champion.
America Recycles Day: November 15, 2017
America Recycles Day will take place on and in the weeks leading into November 15. Registration is open for businesses, community organizations, government entities, individuals, and others planning to host an America Recycles Day-themed event. For educators, the program provides an opportunity to improve recycling by reminding individuals what can be recycled.
Event organizers can access valuable resources to plan, promote, and host an event on the America Recycles Day website where there are guides for hosting events, activity ideas, downloadable posters and banners, media outreach tools, sample proclamations, and more. Events can be scheduled at any time during the fall leading into the official America Recycles Day celebration.
The #BeRecycled Pledge
For the second year, Keep America Beautiful is encouraging people to #BeRecycled in every aspect of their life. Available online and via paper pledges at events across the country, the #BeRecycled Pledge is a promise to actively choose to live a recycled lifestyle by committing to “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.” in all aspects of daily life:
- Recycling at home, work/school and on-the-go;
- Buying products made with recycled content; and
- Educating and encouraging friends, family and neighbors to take the #BeRecycled Pledge.
“America Recycles Day and Recycle-Bowl are moments in time that provide the inspiration and education to make recycling a common practice, every day of the year,” said Pulley. “We encourage everyone in communities across the country – including schools, business, and organizations – to participate and to take the #BeRecycled Pledge in a national effort to improve recycling in America.”
Sponsors of this year’s initiative include American Chemistry Council, H&M, Indorama Ventures, Keurig Green Mountain, and Waste Management.
- Read: Keep America Beautiful Launches 2017 Recycle-Bowl at FacilityExecutive.com.