Dive Brief:
- Registration has opened for Keep America Beautiful's sixth annual Recycle-Bowl. The nonprofit's K-12 competition encourages students, teachers, and staff to recycle as much material as possible during a four-week period starting on Oct. 17.
- This competition leads up to America Recycles Day on Nov. 15. The day is celebrated throughout the country as a way to raise awareness and offer education about local recycling programs.
- Keep America Beautiful will be using the #BeRecycled hashtag as a way for people to pledge their commitment to reduction, reuse, and recycling.
Dive Insight:
Organizations like Keep America Beautiful play a crucial role in promoting recycling education for consumers throughout the industry—something that is desperately needed. Last year, nearly 700,000 students and teachers from more than 1,200 schools in 46 states competed in the Recycle-Bowl. This resulted in the collection of 3.9 million pounds of material and New Jersey's Egg Harbor City Community School was the winner. This year, Keep America Beautiful will also be working with schools to customize their competitions on a regional level to promote local recycling programs.
"Keep America Beautiful is determined to end littering, improve recycling and reduce waste, and beautify America's communities," said Brenda Pulley, a senior vice president with the organization, in a press release. "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."
More than 1.5 million people participated in America Recycles Day last year including government agencies, celebrities, and businesses. The nonprofit also hosted its 18th annual Great American Cleanup this spring with a focus on public spaces. Their strategy of social media pledges has been a successful way of engaging people and has been emulated in other recent waste-related challenges.
