Recyclebank® — the company that rewards its members with discounts and deals for making more conscious daily actions — today announced the schools selected for its 2014 Green Schools Program. Each year, the program grants money to schools to bring to life unique projects that will lead to greater sustainability in their classroom and community.
Through March 16, Recyclebank members are encouraged to donate points to participating schools to help them reach their target funding goals. Recyclebank members can learn about the schools’ project ideas, donate their points and track each school’s progress by visiting Recyclebank.com/greenschools. For every 250 member points donated, Recyclebank awards schools $1 to help fuel their sustainability projects. Despite the fact that last year not all of the schools were able to garner enough points to fulfill their grant requests, Recyclebank opted to fulfill each school’s financial needs, enabling all projects to be completed.
Schools across the country submitted green project proposals to Recyclebank for a chance to participate in the Green Schools Program. Proposed ideas include planting community gardens, starting a school-wide recycling program and teaching the community about the impact of green actions.
For the second year, Domtar Corporation, the environmentally responsible paper company and longtime Recyclebank partner, is supporting the Green Schools Program. Domtar will contribute additional donation dollars as well as awarding a year’s supply of EarthChoice® Office Paper to the school with the most innovative project. Since 2011, Domtar has been working with Recyclebank to increase awareness of the benefits of responsible paper production, use and recycling through various educational gaming modules, Web content and rewards.
“At Recyclebank, we understand that the younger generations want to take actions to make our planet a greener and cleaner place to live, and we are thrilled to partner with Domtar to empower them to make that interest a reality,” said Javier Flaim, CEO of Recyclebank. “The Recyclebank Green Schools Program is about more than just students — it’s about getting everyone involved. Members can turn their green actions into funds for a local school by donating points, and the school will in turn create something to inspire the whole community to live a little greener.”
Last year, Domtar and Recyclebank chose Henry County Middle School in McDonough, Ga., as the school with the most innovative green project, and awarded it a year’s supply of EarthChoice Office Paper. The school came up with a fresh approach for promoting sustainability using art: Students within the school scoured classroom shelves and storage closets to transform used books into “book tree” art projects.
“At Domtar, supporting educational projects like the Recyclebank Green Schools Program is an important part of our company’s commitment to the sustainable development of our community,” said Paige Goff, VP of Sustainability and Business Communications at Domtar. “We are proud to do our part in fostering tomorrow’s environmental leaders and can’t wait to see this year’s green projects come to life.”
Since 2007, Recyclebank’s Green Schools program has granted close to $450,000 to more than 150 schools across the country.
Speaking of efforts to enrich children’s lives: To mark the launch of its Project Sunlight campaign on Universal Children’s Day in November, Unilever donated funding to two million children around the world through its ongoing partnerships that provided:
- School meals to a million children through the World Food Programme, which provides strong incentive to send kids to school rather to work in the fields
- Clean, safe drinking water for up to 500,000 children in emergency response programs through Save the Children
- Improved hygiene through UNICEF, which will give 500,000 children across 3,500 schools in India a healthier start in life by providing hand washing facilities and promoting group hand washing programs
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Published Jan 8, 2014 3pm EST / 12pm PST / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET