As students begin to gather their notebooks, backpacks and pencils for the new school year, Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, plans to ignite a passion for recycling in schools across the country with the launch of its 7th Annual Keep America Beautiful Recycle-Bowl. Registration is now open for the fall recycling competition at http://Recycle-Bowl.org/.

Recycle-Bowl, Keep America Beautiful’s national K-12 school-based recycling competition, begins on Oct. 16 and culminates on America Recycles Day, Nov. 15. Champions are 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 United States, 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.”

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 .More information on this collaboration will be available in the coming weeks.

Registration for the fun and engaging four-week in-school competition is open to teachers, school administrators, school facility managers, PTA/PTO and other parent groups and local recycling advocates. Recycle-Bowl registration will remain open until Oct. 10, one week before the start of the competition. Nearly 700,000 students and teachers from more than 1,290 schools across the nation competed in the 2016 Recycle-Bowl.

Recyclables recovered during the 2016 Recycle-Bowl competition totaled 3.2 million pounds across 47 U.S. states, with Bon Air Elementary of Kokomo, Indiana, crowned as the 2016 champion. Whether a school has an existing recycling program or is looking to launch one, Recycle-Bowl is an excellent way for teachers, students and facility managers to engage their entire school community in recycling.

AMERICA RECYCLES DAY: NOV. 15, 2017

America Recycles Day, a Keep America Beautiful national initiative, takes place on and in the weeks leading into Nov. 15. Registration is open for businesses, community organizations, government entities, individuals and others planning to host an America Recycles Day-themed event. For recycling 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, Nov. 15. Learn more at AmericaRecyclesDay.org.

TAKE THE #BERECYCLED PLEDGE

For the second year, Keep America Beautiful is encouraging people to #BeRecycled in every aspect of their life. Available online at americarecyclesday.org/pledge/ 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, Keurig Green Mountain, and Waste Management.

About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Established in 1953, we strive to End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision.

Behavior change – steeped in education, research and behavioral science – is the cornerstone of Keep America Beautiful. We empower generations of community stewards with volunteer programs, hands-on experiences, curricula, practical advice and other resources to deliver measurable environmental, economic and social benefits. The organization is driven by more than 600 state and local affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities and government officials. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Donate and take action at kab.org.

CONTACT

Emily White
+1 (203) 659-3004
ewhite@kab.org
Keep America Beautiful
http://www.kab.org
http://www.recycle-bowl.org
http://americarecyclesday.org
http://www.twitter.com/recyclesday
http://www.facebook.com/americarecyclesday  

Larry Kaufman
+1 (203) 659-3014
lkaufman@kab.org
Keep America Beautiful