L’école Paul-VI est en compétition pour gagner une table de pique-nique fabriquée avec des gourdes-collation grâce au concours «À vos marques, prêt, GoGo!». Le concours est géré par GoGo squeeZ, la marque des gourdes de compote de fruits, et de l’entreprise de recyclage, TerraCycle. L’école Paul-VI espère recueillir le plus de déchets de gourdes-collation, y compris les gourdes de compote et leurs bouchons en plastique, avant le 31 mai. Les écoles reçoivent un point pour chaque gourde-collation envoyée à TerraCycle pour être recyclée, et un point pour chaque vote reçu sur la page du concours. La table de pique-nique sera faite avec les déchets collectés par le programme de recyclage des gourdes-collation, un programme gratuit géré par GoGo squeeZ et TerraCycle. « En tant qu'enseignante de l'école primaire Paul-VI à Laval,  j'ai implanté la collecte car je voyais les élèves en utiliser chaque jour, » dit Lucie Frenette, enseignante à l’école Paul-VI. « En expliquant le bien-fondé de l'entreprise, c'est-à-dire,  recycler, moins polluer et obtenir des récompenses. Nous nous sommes tous investis dans ce projet. » « Depuis deux ans, avec l'aide de l'équipe-école et des 330 élèves, nous collectons tous les types de gourdes-collation à l'école.  Jusqu'à ce jour, nous avons recueilli 9 500 gourdes! » Frenette continue. « Nous sommes heureux d'aider à diminuer les déchets et très fiers de ce projet. » Le programme de recyclage des gourdes-collation a récemment surpassé un jalon national de plus de 315 000 unités collectées et près de 7 000 dollars recueillis pour des organismes de bienfaisance. Le programme de recyclage est une activité continue, ouverte à toute personne, famille, école ou organisme. Pour chaque morceau de déchets envoyé avec une étiquette d'expédition prépayée, les participants gagnent des points qui peuvent être traduits en des dons à l'école ou à l'organisme de bienfaisance de leur choix. Pour en savoir plus sur le programme, visitez http://www.terracycle.ca/fr-CA/brigades/gogo-squeez-brigade.

Rosedale Public School in Sarnia is participating in a nation-wide recycling contest hoping to win the grand prize of a picnic table made from recycled snack packaging waste.   Since March, students have been sending snack pouches to be recycled and submitting daily votes for their school. Now, the school sits 14th in the running to win the grand prize. Rosedale Public School hopes to collect the most snack pouch waste, including the flexible pouches and plastic caps, before May 31st. The contest is put on by TerraCycle, a recycling company that takes difficult-to-recycle packaging and turns it into innovative products and Materne, the creators of GoGo squeeZ, a squeezable applesauce sold in plastic pouches. Schools earn one point for each GoGo squeeZ pouch sent to TerraCycle for recycling and one point for each vote received on the online contest page. Anyone wanting to support Rosedale’s efforts can go online and vote for the school by following this link. The contest is part of the GoGo squeeZ snack pouch recycling program which has collected over 315,000 units and raised nearly $7,000 for charity nation-wide. The program is ongoing and open to any individual, family, school or community group. For each piece of waste sent in using a pre-paid shipping label, participants earn points that can be translated into charitable prizes or cash donations to the school or charity of their choice. More information about the program can be found on TerraCycles’ website.

Goodfellow Public School students are learning it pays to recycle. Literally. Three years ago, the school started an intricate recycling program through TerraCycle, which pays two cents for every plastic lunch snack container collected. The students must separate the cardboard from the plastic, and also recycle cereal bags and squeeze snack containers for products like applesauce. Now the school is in the running to win $3,200 through TerraCycle’s inaugural Collection Craze recycling contest. “We started the recycling club three years ago,” Grade 3 French Immersion teacher Alexandra Brand said. “All ages are in the club, but my students run it.”TerraCycle recycles and upcycles waste instead of incinerating or landfilling it. An example is purses made out of drinking box containers. The students give strict instructions to other classrooms for sorting the waste, which doesn’t go into the regular blue bins. “I really like doing the TerraCycle program. We go in front of other classes and tell them to put the cap onto their squeeze containers,” student Sam Takacs said. “Even the Grade 8s.” Charlie Matheson said if students forget to put the lid back on, fruit flies can gather. She also doesn't like it when people don't rinse their Schneider's Lunch Mate containers, leaving cheese or sauce behind. While it can be a smelly job, she enjoys the work. "I like doing TerraCycle because I'm helping to make the world a better place and raising money for the school," Donnell Richards said. In the three years of the program, the club has raised $456.18 from recycling. The club has donated $200 to Books with No Bounds, a charitable organization created by a 13-year-old Oakville girl to provide resources to First Nations communities. “The club decides where the money goes,” Brand said. “In social studies, we learned about early Canadian history, which is where the First Nations idea came from.” The rest of the money reimbursed goes to Goodfellow Public School, and the club can earmark where it's spent. The school has until May 31 to collect containers and public votes for the Collection Craze contest. Votes can be logged from the public at the TerraCycle website.

Jamieson Elementary in Ohsweken is competing to win a share of $3,200 through the inaugural “Collection Craze” courtesy of Schneiders Lunchmate, and recycling company TerraCycle. The school is competing to collect the most lunch kit waste, including plastic trays, film, and content packaging, sent to TerraCycle for recycling before May 31. The top 10 collecting schools will win a share of $3,200 in TerraCycle points that are redeemable for cash payment to an organization or school of their choice. Schools earn one Lunchmate Credit for each shipment of lunch kit waste, including plastic trays, film, and content packaging, sent to TerraCycle for recycling, and one credit for every online vote cast for the school at http://www.terracycle.ca/en-CA/contests/schneiders-lunchmate-collection-craze by May 31. During the “Collection Craze” contest period, participating schools also have the opportunity to win an extra $1,000 by entering a photo submission sweepstakes draw. All photos must be submitted via TerraCycle’s sweepstakes form. The first annual “Collection Craze” launched April 1 specifically for schools throughout Canada. The Schneiders Lunchmate Recycling Program recently hit a nationwide milestone of nearly 500,000 units collected and more than $10,000 dollars raised for charity. The Schneiders Lunchmate Recycling Program is an ongoing activity, open to any individual, family, school or community group. For each piece of waste sent in using a pre-paid shipping label, participants earn points that can be translated into charitable prizes or cash donations to the school or charity of their choice.

Northern Sliders, of Val Caron, are competing to win a share of $3,200 through the inaugural Collection Craze, courtesy of Schneiders Lunchmate, and recycling pioneer TerraCycle. Northern Sliders are competing to collect the most lunch kit waste, including plastic trays, film, and content packaging, sent to TerraCycle for recycling before May 31. The top 10 collecting schools will win a share of $3,200 in TerraCycle points that are redeemable for cash payment to an organization or school of their choice. During the contest period, participating schools also have the opportunity to win an extra $1,000 by entering a photo submission sweepstakes draw. All photos must be submitted via TerraCycle’s sweepstakes form. The first annual Collection Craze launched April 1 specifically for schools throughout Canada.  The Schneiders Lunchmate Recycling Program recently hit a nationwide milestone of nearly 500,000 units collected and over $10,000 dollars raised for charity. The Schneiders Lunchmate recycling program is an ongoing activity, open to any individual, family, school or community group.  For each piece of waste sent in using a pre-paid shipping label, participants earn points that can be translated into charitable prizes or cash donations to the school or charity of their choice. To learn more about the program, please visit http://www.terracycle.ca/en-CA/brigades/schneiders-r-lunchmate-r-brigade-r.

Chimo Elementary in Smiths Falls is competing to win a share of $3,200 through the inaugural Collection Craze, courtesy of Schneiders® Lunchmate® — one of Canada’s largest producers of premium quality food products — and recycling pioneer TerraCycle. Chimo Elementary is competing to collect the most lunch kit waste, including plastic trays, film and content packaging, to be sent to TerraCycle for recycling before May 31. The top 10 collecting schools will win a share of $3,200 in TerraCycle points that are redeemable for cash payment to an organization or school of their choice. During the Collection Craze contest period, participating schools also have the opportunity to win an extra $1,000 by entering a photo submission sweepstakes draw. All photos must be submitted via TerraCycle’s sweepstakes form. The first Collection Craze launched on April 1, specifically for schools throughout Canada. The Schneiders® Lunchmate® Recycling Program recently hit a nationwide milestone of nearly 500,000 units collected and over $10,000 dollars raised for charity.

Depuis 2015, les écoles Marguerite-Bourgeois et Jacques-Buteux ont recyclé plus de 133 896 articles. Le programme de recyclage TerraCycle Canada leur a versé plus de 3 500 $ pour leurs efforts.

C'est en recyclant, notamment, des emballages de collation, des bouchons de toutes sortes et des sacs de céréales en plastique que les écoles sont parvenues à de tels résultats. TerraCycle attribue des points pour les objets recyclés. Ces points sont par la suite convertis en dons pour une organisation de bienfaisance ou une école. TerraCycle Canada transforme les objets amassés pour leur donner une deuxième vie. Avec les déchets, l'organisation fabrique, entre autres, des tables à pique-nique.

À l'école Jacques-Buteux, le recyclage est supervisé par une brigade verte comptant une douzaine d'élèves de la 4^e à la 6^e année et un comité formé de membres du personnel. Cela fait deux ans que l'école participe au programme de TerraCycle, mais plus de 10 ans que l'établissement mise sur le recyclage et les valeurs qui s'y rattachent.

«C'est une belle façon pour nous de recycler, de diminuer nos déchets et de faire des sous pour les réinvestir dans notre jardin scolaire, mentionne Marie-Andrée Abel, enseignante à l'école Jacques-Buteux. On a un jardin de fleurs et de fines herbes devant notre école. On va bientôt faire nos plantations, alors on va se servir des sous pour la terre, entre autres.» Jusqu'à présent cette année, l'école a amassé plus de 100 $.

Plus de 3 000 $ en deux ans

Maman de trois garçons à l’école Marguerite-Bourgeois, Mélanie Poisson coordonne la collecte et l'envoi des objets recyclés. C'est d'ailleurs grâce à son initiative que l'école a amassé plus de 3 000 $ en deux ans.

«Quand mes enfants sont entrés à l'école, il y a eu une grosse campagne pour recycler les bouchons, raconte-t-elle. Ça adonnait que le parc-école de l'école était à refaire, alors j'ai pensé que ce serait une bonne idée pour amasser des sous. Avec 3-4 bouchons, on a un sou. Ça semble vraiment très peu dit comme ça, mais on a quand même amassé des centaines et des centaines de dollars depuis le début.»

«Au départ, les gens n'y croyaient pas, ajoute-t-elle. Il a fallu beaucoup de mots pour convaincre. Maintenant, le parc-école est payé et l'argent sert pour des activités scolaires. C'est une belle façon de s'impliquer pour l'école, mais aussi de transmettre de belles valeurs aux enfants. Ils peuvent voir à quoi ça sert concrètement de recycler.»

Au fil du temps, le réseau de recyclage de l'école s'est agrandi. Plusieurs commerces sont mobilisés pour la cause, dont des pharmacies. L'an dernier, dans le cadre d'un concours organisé par TerraCycle Canada, l'école Marguerite-Bourgeois a gagné un montant de 1 000 $ pour avoir amassé le plus de bouchons parmi tous les participants au Canada.

D'ailleurs, jusqu'au 31 mai, l'école participe à un autre concours, cette fois pour gagner une table faite de matériaux recyclés. Jusqu'à présent, l'école est au premier rang. Pour en savoir davantage ou pour voter : terracycle.ca Le saviez-vous?

Chaque année, à travers une vingtaine de pays, TerraCycle collecte et réaffecte des milliards de déchets, redistribuant des millions de dollars en dons à des écoles ou des associations.

 

As you may know, in February 2017, we installed a Terracycle cigarette butt recycling receptacle outside the shop. This was prompted by the large volume of butts discarded on the sidewalk. They are not only unsightly but they pose a tremendous environmental threat to our water system as they are washed away into grates, streams and lakes. Terracycle offers several recycling programs and this is no exception. Once the container is filled, we empty it, print a shipping label and UPS picks up the package at no cost to us. It’s easy! The waste is then recycled into plastic products including pallets. Fabulous!

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, and it is not a feature reserved only for products and services. B2B and retail companies, too, face the challenge of distinguishing themselves in the marketplace with a strong identity that stands out from direct and indirect competitors. The expanded retail landscape has altered the way consumers interact with brands, and E-commerce sites, dynamic mobile apps, and text message ordering systems afford infinite possibilities for communicating initiatives and marketing. Sustainability is now an essential aspect of brand building. Consumers increasingly expect companies to dedicate themselves to making a positive social or environmental impact on society as a baseline, rather than it automatically adding value. It’s no new idea that consumer brands that have not embraced sustainability and CSR initiatives are at risk. But creating the kind of value that grabs the attention of consumers requires some creative legwork. Think about the interactions that you, as a consumer, have with retail gift cards. You’ll sometimes get store credit for returned items on a charge card, get gift cards from your favorite store around holidays or on your birthday, take out a “points” card to accrue rewards at oft frequented retailers. These things are often connected to a phone number or credit card, and can be used digitally, but the fact is that 93 percent of U.S. consumers purchase or receive a gift card annually and less than 3 percent of local businesses sell their gift card online — that’s a lot of gift cards floating around. So what do you do with your retail gift card once it runs out or expires? Some stores allow you to put more funds on your card, extending its life, but for the most part, most gift and other retail cards just end up in the trash. Many registers and checkout stations have a waste bin in which you can throw your used cards, but then the plastic in these items is wasted. Many gift cards are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or #3 plastic, which is not accepted in the current recycling infrastructure by most municipalities. Further, even if their plastic was accepted curbside, their small size would make them difficult to recycle. Addressing a novel need in the consumer experience creates a memorable association that keeps consumers coming back. For example, 20 VIC Management is a commercial property group in Canada working with TerraCycle to recycle gift cards. At 22 of its retail locations, which include malls and shopping centers, there will be a customized recycling box with eye-catching signage calling on consumers to recycle “Your Gift Cards Here!” The boxes will be located next to the Guest Services desk in the mall and where gift cards to the mall are sold for the convenience, access and information of consumers. This example illustrates the growing understanding that sustainability is becoming one of the most important aspects of reaching retail consumers. There is a demand for resources to inform and educate retailers and distributors on integrating new processes into their company infrastructure. Recognizing this, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and Sustainable Brands® have come together to host a Retail Innovation Track next month at SB’17 Detroit, where attendees from retail and consumer goods companies can focus on those issues most important to consumer-facing brands. This collaboration between the international trade alliance and the global business network is focused on growing the potential for business success through purpose-driven, sustainability-led innovation that creates scalable positive impact and profitability in retail. Demonstrating an authentic commitment to environmentally sound practices requires branding strategy in order to be effectively communicated to consumers, and tools are available for companies of all sizes to realize their full growth potential.

Consumers increasingly report a willingness to pay a premium for companies dedicated to sustainable causes, but they haven’t been as willing to pay it forward with more of their time. Despite an increased awareness of the need for more resources placed toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and social action, the challenge for the consumer (and volunteer managers) has long been a question of what they can do for sustainability, rather than showing what sustainability can do for them. To engage volunteers in a successful way, volunteer managers and organizers must effectively communicate an alignment with the volunteer’s personal values. When it comes to communicating an alignment with personal values, it doesn’t get more personal than on social media. Today, two-thirds of millennials — the most technologically inclined generation in history — use social media to engage around CSR issues. For advocacy groups and nonprofits, social media is an invaluable tool for reaching conscious consumers (including the more than nine-in-10 millennials reporting a willingness to switch brands to one associated with a cause) with targeted, effective calls-to-action. For example, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a group on a mission to build the capacity of organizations working to alleviate poverty. Using social media, VISTA members have the opportunity to communicate the parameters of their respective programs, as well as provide real-life examples of their community impact to inform and recruit potential volunteers. This is done particularly well on the AmeriCorps VISTA Tumblr, which features engaging, visual photo and text posts that are short, to the point and have high visibility; the microblogging platform had 332.8 million blog accounts as of January 2017, 69 percent of whom are Millennials. At my company, TerraCycle, we too have continually seen the value social media can bring to our partners’, and our own, sustainability and activism efforts. Schneiders® Lunchmate®, a TerraCycle Canada program partner, is using social media to increase recycling collections and signups for its free, national recycling program by pushing out its new sign up promotion and a first shipment promotion online. Strategic cross-promotion via both the TerraCycle and Schnieders social media platforms communicates how easy it is to sign up and recycle through the program, and that participants have an opportunity to earn money for charity, incentivizing participation and adding value. Standard marketing says that practical, emotional, and social benefits are types of values consumers look for when buying a product. Similar principles apply to “selling” a cause. Where matters of time, money, and energy can be deterrents to getting involved through volunteerism, consumers must see activism as important, accessible, and relevant to their lives. Social media puts social responsibility and its benefits in the palm of our hand (often literally), and is a powerful tool in its ability to tell a story and allow consumers to see themselves as being a part of it. When leveraged strategically by identifying top priorities in your organization and communicating directly with stewards for social good, the value of volunteers will be made clear to the people you are trying to reach: the volunteers themselves.