- COMMIT/School Registration
OOnce a plant has decided to participate, each facility should designate one or two employees to spearhead the America Recycles Day Aluminum Can Challenge activity internally and with schools. Plant ARD Challenge Coordinators would be responsible for:
- Printing and distributing flyers and posters (provided on the web site) at the facility
- Ordering recycling bins, bags, and ACC promotional items
- Rallying co-workers and encouraging them to recruit family, friends, and the community to help
- Taking the ACC ARD Challenge to area schools registering them at www.cancentral.com as participants, and providing support materials and guidance for establishing a great aluminum can roundup
- Issuing information to the local media about the program
- Choosing a charity or worth cause to receive the funds generated by recycling
- Emailing success stories, poundage recycled and dollars earned to the ACC at jday@cancentral.com
- Contacting Jenny Day at CMI with any questions, special needs or concerns.
- COLLECT
Employees should be encouraged to begin collecting cans as soon as each facility has "stepped up to the challenge". All employees will be asked to participate and recruit their family, friends and local schools to help, and to sign a pledge card (provided on the website) committing them to recycling aluminum cans for America Recycles Day, and every day. Each signed pledge card will be entered into a plant-wide or school drawing on America Recycles Day. The winners of the plant drawings will be awarded t-shirts. The winners of the school drawings will be awarded cute Al the Can guy stuffed toys.
Suggestion: Each employee or student who brings in a bag of cans on America Recycles Day will receive another entry for the prize drawings, increasing their chances of winning. Free temporary Al the Can tattoos are available as handouts.
For schools in need of a large outdoor recycling bin, may want to contact recycling centers and see if they can help. Some schools have set up arrangements where they split the profits 50/50 in exchange for an aluminum can recycling bin that the community can use 24/7 and know the cans will be recycled regularly with a check cut each month for the school.
- PROMOTE
Plants
Facilities are encouraged to involve local communities in the America Recycles Day Challenge. Employees may choose to ask local schools, community groups and businesses to save cans and turn them into the plant or designated location on November 15, 2007 to raise funds for a local charity. Local media outlets (television and radio news stations, newspapers and bulletins) may want to publicize the Challenge and the fundraising aspect of the can collection drive.
America Recycles Day Pledge Cards are another means to help the community and associates catch the recycling spirit and win! Challenge pledge cards are available by clicking on "Artwork & Materials" for facility drawings for ACC provided Al the Can Man t-shirts.
Schools
Register your ACC ARD School Challenge with your ARD state coordinator for inclusion on the state and national ARD websites.
Promote in school newpapers, PTA bulletins, neighborhood newsletters, community bulletin boards. Ask the recycling center you are working with if you can display a poster so customers can donate their cans to your school. Coordinate media activities with your Aluminum Can Council member plant.
Keep the community informed of your goals and progress. As November 15th nears and more cans need to be had, watch the community rally with extra cans to support your cause.
- NETWORK WITH SCHOOLS
The ACC ARD Cans for Cash School Challenge is easy to join, fun to conduct, offers prizes, cash awards along with a fundraising opportunities and helps the environment by building a sustainable future. . , builds environmental stewardship, grade appropriate interdisciplinary curriculum and reduces the school's carbon footprint. There are a multitude of ways to bring schools onboard with your ACC ARD Aluminum Can Challenge here are a few ideas.
- Contact the principal and pitch the idea. Your school kit has a letter of introduction, grade appropriate lesson plans, and how to information backed by cancentral.com for all materials necessary.
- Check if co-workers have children enrolled in the school. They would be a good conduit to start the conversation with the teacher.
- Older students or environmental clubs can develop a school recycling action plan (see ABCs of Environmental Education Lesson Seven: "Action, Please!" for developing and promoting a recycling program at http://www.cancentral.com/curriculumSelect.cfm) and present to the school's environmental educator, science teacher, principal, or PTA.
- Boy and Girl Scouts can earn environmental patches for their role in helping set up and run a school recycling program.
- Fund hungry PTAs should jumping at a chance to raise money by recycling for the environment and encouraging good stewardship.
- Local recycling coordinators or Keep America Beautiful affiliates can provide support and should be thrilled about the aluminum industry's outreach to schools. They also can make available websites and newsletters to support your efforts.
- List your school's Cans for Cash Challenge entry on the National Recycles Day website through your state's ARD coordinator. This could propel other area schools to join the school challenge. While there is a national competition recognizing the top three per capita recycling schools with cash awards, your plant may want to offer local mini-competitions. Be sure to list your company as the contact. The proceeds of the school collection goes to the school, but the number of pounds of cans the schools collect should be added to your ARD ARD Challenge totals.
- RECYCLE
On America Recycles Day, the total cans recycled from September 1 to the close of business on November 15 will be tallied and checks made payable to your charity or worth cause by the local recycling center or scrap dealer you have contracted. Most recycling centers will be willing to send a recycling trailer when a large volume of beverage cans are anticipated and will work with you on the arrival availability of the trailer and a departure preferably on November 16. ACC wants to announce and award additional $500 checks to the top three Aluminum Supplier/Can Manufacturing Category (plants who per capita recycles the most cans) and the top Plant/Municipality Recycling Category Winner (facility who per capita recycles the most cans) chosen charity in November. Your quick turn-around of your UBC pounds recycled and amount earned by December 1st is key.
Registered school aluminum can poundage needs to be reported and then added to your total poundage recycled. The school poundage you report will determine the three winners of $250 based on top per capita recycling schools.
