Keep America Beautiful Spotlights Recycling with National Fall Initiatives

STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 4, 2015 /3BL Media/ – As students and teachers begin to return to school in August, Keep America Beautiful, the national nonprofit, will ramp up its yearlong efforts to increase participation in recycling by helping people across the country better understand how to recycle more and recycle right at home, at school, at work and on-the-go. Keep America Beautiful, which envisions a country where every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, today announced opening registration dates for two of its key fall recycling education and awareness programs: Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day.

Registration opens today for Recycle-Bowl, Keep America Beautiful’s national K-12 school-based recycling competition, which will begin on Oct. 19 and culminate on America Recycles Day, Nov. 15. America Recycles Day, a Keep America Beautiful national initiative, is the only nationally recognized day and coast-to-coast community-driven awareness campaign dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the U.S. It has been held on – and in the weeks leading into – Nov. 15 since 1997. Registration will open on Monday, Aug. 10, for businesses, community organizations, government entities, individuals and others planning to host an America Recycles Day event.

Register your K-12 school (open to public and private schools) for Recycle-Bowl starting today at http://recycle-bowl.org and register your America Recycles Day event starting Aug. 10 at http://americarecyclesday.org.

“Keep America Beautiful is focused on four complementary areas: eliminating litter, reducing waste, increasing recycling and protecting natural beauty,” said Jennifer Jehn, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful. “Our fall recycling programs, Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day, are key initiatives in our efforts to regain momentum for recycling in America, to help people recycle more and recycle right and to change behavior to make recycling a daily social norm across the country.”

Recycle-Bowl, the nationwide recycling competition for elementary, middle and high school students, is conducted during the four weeks leading up to America Recycles Day on Nov. 15. The fun, friendly in-school competition opens its registration today for teachers, school administrators, school facility managers, PTA groups and local recycling advocates. Registration will remain open until the official start of the competition on Oct. 19. Nearly 900,000 students and teachers from more than 1,450 schools across the nation competed in the 2014 Recycle-Bowl.

Recyclables recovered during the 2014 competition totaled 4.4 million pounds with Magnet Traditional School in Phoenix, Arizona, crowned champion. Participating schools leverage Recycle-Bowl to educate students, staff and parents about the importance of recycling, with some even taking field trips to their local recycling center. Competing schools recycle 10 percent more than non-competing schools, demonstrating the focus on increasing participation in recycling carries beyond the four-week period of Recycle-Bowl through the entire school year.

“Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day provide key moments in time in urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide to educate, motivate and help make recycling a social norm 365 days a year,” said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president, recycling, Keep America Beautiful. “Get involved in Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day by encouraging your schools to join the competition and holding an America Recycles Day event in your hometown. Take the “I Recycle” Pledge and invite your friends, family and neighbors to do the same. Let’s get people recycling more and recycling right!”

Local organizations, including Keep America Beautiful’s national network of more than 600 community-based affiliates, governmental institutions, schools, businesses, faith-based organizations and other community partners, will schedule educational workshops and recycling collection events in communities throughout the fall in celebration of America Recycles Day. In 2014, more than 2,000 America Recycles Day events were registered, engaging more than 2 million estimated participants nationwide. More than 200,000 people have taken the “I Recycle” Pledge online and on paper at America Recycles Day events, joining a growing movement of caring citizens committed to increase the recycling rate in America.

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.  Organizers are asked to register their events on the website.  Events can be scheduled any time during the fall, leading into America Recycles Day celebration, Nov. 15.

About Keep America Beautiful
At Keep America Beautiful, we want to ensure that beauty is our lasting signature. A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. We envision a country where every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise, programs and resources to help people prevent litter, reduce waste, increase recycling, and protect the natural beauty of the areas around us. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 600 community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. To learn how you can donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.