WALLET FRIENDLY RECYCLING – BEING GREEN JUST GOT KA-CHING-IER!

Eco-minded individuals may carry with them certain…um…stereotypes which summon a variety of dopey labels from critics wide and far. Such classics as “tree hugger,” bunny lover,” “nature Nazi” and “captain planet” come to mind, and while they can go ahead and call us what they like, the truth is that we are the ones who will laugh last. Why, you ask? Oh…you’re gonna LOVE THIS. You recycle your household paper, glass, metal and plastic regularly, right? I thought so. Well, if you are located in a RecycleBank area, everything that you normally deposit into your recycling bins will earn you coupons and gift certificates valued at up to $35 a month which you can use toward the purchase of traditional and “green” goods and services. Consider it a reward for a job well done – one that you were already doing anyway – and in these recession-weary times, every little bit helps.

Launched in 2004, the RecycleBank program was initially rolled out in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after a contract was negotiated with the city’s pre-existing municipality. By offering to divert materials that would normally go into the city’s landfill and prompting the municipality to generate income by selling those recycled resources to major companies that would ultimately re-use them, RecycleBank offered them a winning proposal which would create significant economic value for the city. Incentivizing the recycling process for community members with tangible rewards and a no-sorting policy only added to the appeal. Today, customers can sign up for the RecycleBank service as soon as their trash hauler or city municipality inks a contract, or they can click on this link in order to request service in their area.

RecycleBank has been able to implement their seemingly ambitious plan simply by augmenting all recycling bins in their collection area with radio frequency identification chips (RFIDs), linking each participating household to an account. Once the recycled materials are collected, special levers retrofitted onto city garbage trucks weigh each household bin and transfer the information to each customer’s online account, enabling them to log in and redeem their monthly points for coupons and gift certificates. RecycleBank reward points are issued at a ratio of 2.5 reward points for each pound of recycled material collected, and there is a cap on the maximum amount of credits that can be earned on a monthly basis.

To ensure that participants aren’t trying to buck the system, recycle haulers are able to flag any addresses that add non-recyclable (but especially heavy) items to their containers -- cheaters can be kicked out of the program at their discretion. The same rules apply to kiosk users (available in certain communities where curbside pickup is not) via security cameras that capture recycling ne’er-do-wells.

The program has proven to be so successful that it’s rapidly spread to multiple states in the Northeast (including Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, New York, Vermont, New Jersey, Nebraska, and Maine). The first full-fledged city program that RecycleBank initiated (in Wilmington, Delaware) achieved a 95% participation rate among community members, resulting in an impressive landfill diversion rate of 40% -- and company representatives claim that those figures are consistent across all cities that they work in.

RecycleBank is slowly but surely extending its reach nationwide, hoping to have 5 million households signed by the end of 2010, and they are presently targeting communities in Texas, Minnesota, Illinois, Washington, Oregon, California, and even Canada. Additionally, they are expanding their recycling kiosk program throughout 2009. So....what are you waiting for? Spread the word and look for RecycleBank in your area!

QUICK RECYCLEBANK FACTS:

1. Since the inception of their recycling program, RecycleBank has saved 1,372,268 trees and has also saved 91.667,521 gallons of oil.

2. Participating in the RecycleBank program is free to consumers.

3. Convenient curbside single stream recycling is available.

4. Centrally-located recycling kiosks are also available in certain communities.

5. Each participant can earn up to $35 in credits each month just for recycling their household paper, glass, plastic and metal.

6. Credits can be redeemed at hundreds of businesses for popular goods and services, including natural food stores and LEED certified establishments.

7. Credits can also be donated to causes that customers deem worthy, such as the Green Schools Program, Green Dimes and Sierra Club.

8. Their upcoming Points in the Right Direction loyalty program will reward users who go beyond the simple act of recycling by living a green lifestyle.

9. How does RecycleBank pay THEIR bills? They take a portion of the money that municipalities save via landfill diversion – less material to dump in landfills results in smaller expenses overall.

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GREENWALA COMMUNITY MEMBERS -- Are any of you currently participating in this recycling program? Please share your RecycleBank experiences and feedback in the comments section below!

http://agricultureguide.org/wallet-friendly-recycling-being-green-just-got-ka-ching-ier/