Another successful America Recycles Day has come and gone. Those of you recently reenergized and motivated about recycling, might be wondering what now?
Don’t despair! There are plenty of ways to stay involved in recycling initiatives all over the country throughout the year. Here are just a few.
Dream Machine
Pepsico has made it easy to get involved in recycling by partnering with Keep America Beautiful and Waste Management to create the Dream Machine initiative.
By using a Dream Machine bin or kiosk to dispose of beverage cans and plastic bottles, recyclers get the satisfaction of helping their community reduce litter and save energy. However, the purpose of the Dream Machine project is to increase recycling throughout the country, so the deal has been sweetened with some additional incentives to motivate the masses.
Participants that donate their cans and bottles to Dream Machine kiosks also get to enjoy a point-based rewards program through a partnership with Greenopolis. For every bottle or can donated, you get points that can be redeemed for discounts and coupons for restaurants, entertainment and travel. If you would prefer it, you can even donate your points to different charities involved with the program!
READ: Vending Machine Comes with Major Karma Points
On top of that, through the Dream Machine initiative, Pepsico has committed to donating $500,000 a year to the Entrepreneurship Boot camp for Veterans with Disabilities. The EBV is a charity established to provide free education to post-9/11 veterans in with disabilities in entrepreneurship and business management. But it gets even better still – for every 10 million pounds of recyclables donated to the Dream Machine bins and kiosks, Pepsico will donate an additional $250, 000 to EBV.
The Dream Machine project contributes to the big picture recycling initiative across America, and is working to keep people motivated about the cause. To get started, just use the Dream Machine locator to find kiosks and donation bins in your area.
Earth Day and A Billion Acts of Green
Earth Day 2012 provides a perfect mid-year milestone for recyclers looking to stay involved.
Held annually in April, Earth Day promotes environmental awareness and education on a global level, and encourages everyone to make green choices part of their everyday lives. You can organize an Earth Day event, or find one in your community to participate in.
So April isn’t exactly around the corner. In the meantime, check out A Billion Acts of Green, a campaign launched on Earth Day 2011.
The campaign’s focus is to accumulate a billion acts of environmental advocacy and service by Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Brazil in May 2012. Similar to taking the ARD pledge, participants pledge an act of green.
Whether it is a new commitment to advocacy or to an individual behavior like recycling your grocery bags, every act counts! Making new personal green goals helps keep the recycling momentum going in between major events.
READ: 20 More Green Things in 20 Minutes
Our Directory
For great recycling ideas and tools year round, don’t forget about us! Offering the largest directory in the nation, Earth911 is a one-stop shop for figuring out where and how to recycle different materials in your community.
It’s an easy way to keep that new ARD energy buzzing all year long!
