Stamford, Connecticut-based Keep America Beautiful has announced the launch of its fifth annual Recycle-Bowl youth recycling competition. The competition, supported by New York-based Recyclebank, runs from Oct. 19 through Nov. 15, 2015, culminating on America Recycles Day.
Last year, almost 1,500 elementary, middle and high schools around the country, representing nearly 900,000 students, teachers and administrators, participated in this race to collect the most recyclables and learn about waste reduction and environmental responsibility through in-school recycling. Participating schools recycled 4.4 million pounds of material in 2014—10 percent more than schools that did not participate in the program, KAB says. Magnet Traditional School, a Phoenix, Arizona, elementary school, was crowned the 2014 national winner.
Registration for this incentive-based recycling competition is open to all public and private schools in the United States at the Recycle-Bowl website, www.recycle-bowl.org. Participating schools will track and report the weight of the recyclables they collect for a chance to win prizes and bragging rights.
At the close of the four-week competition, the national winner will receive a recycled-content bench donated by Trex. The returning school that demonstrates the most improvement over 2014 will receive recycling bins from Busch Systems. Schools in each state (and the District of Columbia) that collect the most recyclable material per capita will be awarded their respective state title.
“Through this fun competition, we’re providing students, teachers and administrators across the country with an opportunity to learn more about the economic and environmental benefits of recycling and inspire their families to take similar actions both at home and on the go,” says Jennifer Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Recycle-Bowl is also a great way to integrate math, science and sustainability lessons into classroom curricula.”
Educational recycling resources and activities are also provided online at www.recycle-bowl.org.