Choosing not to litter is so important for the health and appearance of our community, cigarette butts included. As of now, around 32% of all litter that is collected are cigarette butts, making it the most littered item in the country.   One reason cigarette butts are littered is the misconception that they are not litter. However, cigarettes do not biodegrade. Cigarette filters contain cellulose acetate, a plastic substance that breaks down very slowly. Not only are piles of cigarette butts in our public areas, parks and roadsides unsightly, but they can end up in our waterways, affect wildlife and attract even more litter to the area.   Another reason for cigarette litter is the lack of cigarette receptacles. Most cigarette litter happens in “transition zones.” These zones are where a smoker might be forced to put out their cigarette like restaurants, businesses or bus stops. By installing ash receptacles at transition points, cigarette litter can be drastically reduced.   Keep America Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program has reduced cigarette butt litter in participating areas by 50% every year since it’s been implemented since 2002. KBB is a 2020 recipient of Keep America Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grant that aims to reduce cigarette litter by increasing the availability of cigarette receptacles and portable ashtrays as well as educating the public on the impacts of cigarette litter.   Working with the City of Maryville, Blount County, and local businesses, KBB is placing cigarette receptacles at transition points entering downtown restaurants and bars, county government buildings and local businesses. Cigarette receptacles have been placed in downtown Maryville at Sullivans, Bluetick Tavern, Two Doors Down and Brakins Blues Club; in Blount County at the Blount County Public Library, Blount County Justice Center, Blount County Animal Center and Blount County Probation Court; as well as local businesses Mama’s Kountry Kitchen and Cally’s Pet Grooming. The cigarette waste is being sent to Terracycle for recycling. The tobacco and paper are composted, and filters are turned into plastic pellets that can be used in new plastic products.   KBB also has free pocket ash receptacles available to the public for use when there is not a cigarette receptacle around. For more information on cigarette receptacles in Blount County or how to obtain a pocket receptacle, contact KBB at 865-681-4809 or keepblount@gmail.com. For more information on the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, visit https://kab.org/pro grams/cigarette-litter/.  

(PRESS RELEASE) LAVAL, QC — Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health business of Bausch Health Cos. Inc., announced that its ONE by ONE Recycling program has recycled nearly 27 million used contact lenses, top foils and blister packs since launching in November 2016. The program, made possible through a collaboration with TerraCycle, a leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, has diverted more than 162,000 pounds of contact lens waste from oceans, lakes, streams and landfills. (PRESS RELEASE) LAVAL, QC — Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health business of Bausch Health Cos. Inc., announced that its ONE by ONE Recycling program has recycled nearly 27 million used contact lenses, top foils and blister packs since launching in November 2016. The program, made possible through a collaboration with TerraCycle, a leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, has diverted more than 162,000 pounds of contact lens waste from oceans, lakes, streams and landfills. “At Bausch Health, we continuously evaluate all aspects of our company to identify ways that we can achieve a more sustainable and regenerative state, while reducing our overall environmental footprint,” said Amy Butler, vice president, Global Environment, Health, Safety + Sustainability, Bausch Health (NYSE/TSX: BHC). “We are proud to offer the ONE by ONE Recycling program to customers and contact lens wearers to help ensure these used materials do not end up in our environment.” Today, more than 5,500 optometry practices are registered with the ONE by ONE Recycling program. To participate, contact lens wearers can bring their used contact lenses and packaging to one of these offices, which collects the used lens materials in a custom recycling bin provided by Bausch + Lomb. Once the bin is filled, the optometry practice will ship the materials to TerraCycle for proper recycling using a pre-paid shipping label. “Millions of people wear contact lenses every day to help them see, but many do not realize the significant impact that these materials can have on the environment,” said Tom Szaky, founder and CEO, TerraCycle. “In just four years, we have recycled hundreds of thousands of these used materials, removing them from our environment, and instead using them to give back to the community. It is a program we’re proud to be part of and one we look forward to building upon in collaboration with Bausch + Lomb for years to come.” Additionally, for every 10 pounds of material received from the ONE by ONE Recycling Program, TerraCycle donates $10 to Optometry Giving Sight, an organization that funds programs that provide eye examinations and low-cost eyeglasses to people in need, including tens of millions of children with uncorrected myopia. In 2019, Bausch + Lomb took the program one step further by repurposing the recycled waste and combining it with other recycled material to create custom training modules that were donated to the Guide Dog Foundation, a national not-for-profit that trains guide dogs for people who are blind or visually impaired. The modules, which included benches, tables, waste stations and an agility ramp, are used to train the dogs and to further enhance the organization’s Smithtown, New York campus for those who visit. For more information on the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE Recycling Program, visit www.bauschrecycles.com.

JUNO BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Loggerhead Marinelife Center's "Unwrap the Waves" program is back for its fifth Halloween season. The center and several other organizations in the area collect candy wrappers to 100 percent recycled. "We work with both the schools and community partners to do this," said Lindsay French, the education coordinator for Loggerhead.

A Bic, líder mundial em papelaria, acendedores e barbeadores, anunciou que irá transformar sua abordagem em relação ao plástico, melhorando significativamente a pegada ambiental de seus produtos e reduzindo suas emissões de carbono. Os novos compromissos fazem parte do programa de Desenvolvimento Sustentável 2025 “Escrevendo o Futuro, Juntos” da BIC, abrangendo suas embalagens e produtos.

 

Quem convive com crianças, sabe! Os brinquedos que elas ganham durante a infância, seja dos pais, de parentes ou amigos, vão se multiplicando a cada dia. No entanto, elas continuam ganhando mais e mais brinquedos. Mas será que precisa?

SAINT-LAURENT, Quebec – Residents and employees of Montreal’s Saint-Laurent borough will be able to drop off personal protective equipment, including single-use masks and gloves, in new Terracyle boxes that have been set up in municipal buildings. According to the United Nations, it is expected that “approximately 75 percent of the masks and other tools used during the pandemic will end up in landfill sites or float in the oceans”. Saint-Laurent has taken the initiative to find a concrete solution to this real problem, in line with the objective of the Sustainable Development Policy adopted in January 2019 to make Saint-Laurent a sustainable and resilient municipal territory. Drop-off boxes accessible to the public and to municipal employees can be found at the following locations: Borough Hall, the Bibliothèque du Boisé, the Bibliothèque du Vieux-Saint-Laurent, the Centre des loisirs and the Sports Complex. Additional boxes have been added at municipal workshops to meet the specific needs of the employees in the Borough’s public works department. Once full, the boxes are sent to Terracycle, which recycles the contents, transforming them into new raw materials, such as plastic granules. These are then used to make new objects, such as pallets or storage boxes or synthetic wood street furniture. “In the face of the present situation, everyone’s health is still our priority. However, we must keep in mind our responsibility to continue our efforts to reduce our ecological footprint,” explained Saint-Laurent Mayor Alan DeSousa. “As a result, these items – which are non-biodegradable and are potentially contaminated – mostly end up in landfill sites or in sewers and waterways. I am therefore encouraging employees and residents to dispose off their personal protective equipment at the various drop-off points we have made available to them. This small effort will definitely have a huge impact on the environment.” TerraCycle is a waste management company that recycles products traditionally considered non-recyclable. Saint-Laurent is the largest borough in the city of Montréal. It places sustainable development, and environment protection, in particular, at the heart of all its decisions. More than 70 percent of its territory is devoted to industrial and commercial activities, with over 4,500 businesses.

The startup shoe retailer, Thousand Fell, has a line of classic white lace-up and slip-on shoes. Based in New York City, the company was launched by Founders Chloe Songer and Stuart Ahlum last year. But, the brand isn’t just a regular sneaker company. It’s a full-circle economy shoe company that’s creating zero-waste footwear.   According to the company’s website, about 2.4 billion pairs of shoes are sold in the U.S. every year. As many as 97 percent of all shoes will end up in a landfill each year. It takes leather soles about 40 years to decompose in the landfill, and rubber soles take twice as long to decompose. Thousand Fell recognizes that waste is a huge environmental issue and wants to be a part of the solution with its biodegradable footwear line.   The company’s shoes are all made with materials that can either be “biodegraded, recycled to make new shoes, or upcycled into materials for new projects.” The company uses items like recycled rubbers and bottles to make soles, leather-like uppers, and next generation laces. Other ingredients such as aloe vera, coconut husks, and sugar cane are also used to offer a soft-touch feel, stability, support, and comfort.   Thousand Fell’s mission is to be sustainable and to never send another sneaker to the landfill. And to get there, it’s incentivizing its customers to recycle their purchased products. When you’ve worn out your shoes, or simply don’t want them anymore, you can return your shoes to Thousand Fell at no cost.   “Thousand Fell owns the material feeds and covers the cost of recycling, as well as the resale or reintegration of recycled material back into new shoes and the issuance of the $20 recycling cash that is sent back to the consumer once they recycle,” wrote Ahlum in an email to TechCrunch.   In partnership with TerraCycle, customers can easily recycle their purchased products through the company’s “Thousand Fell Recycling Program”. All you have to do is place your shoes in any box you have. You create an account, request a prepaid UPS shipping label, print it, and affix it to the box. Then, you can mail them via UPS. Once your shoes are scanned for return, you’ll receive $20 that can be applied to your next Thousand Fell order.   When the company receives the shoes, they are catalogued, sorted, and broken down to be used to make raw recycled materials.   “We create sneakers with a life cycle you can follow—and feel good about,” the company’s website states. By taking a step forward to create a zero-waste product that can be used and reused to create a new one, Thousand Fell is going full-circle and doing just that.

Check out this year’s impressive list of finalists. The finalists in Ragan’s 2020 PR Daily Awards represent the organizations and communications teams behind the best communications campaigns, projects, initiatives and content from the past year. Congratulations to this elite list of finalists. Stay tuned for the winner announcement in December. Campaigns, PR Events and Publications Automotive Campaign

• Landis Communications and Velodyne Lidar, Inc: Strategic PR Campaign – Automotive
• Mirrored Media: BMW IconicSounds Electric
• Nissan North America: Overall Sentra PR/Social/Marketing Campaign
• Ogilvy and Intel: Inside the AI Black Box: Mobileye
• RepairSmith: RepairSmith Donates $100K in Free, ‘No-Contact Car Repair’ Services to Support People Experiencing Hardship During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

B2B Campaign

• Affect: LLamasoft COVID-19 Story Hijacking Campaign
• G&S Business Communications: DuPont Customer Narrative Program
• Oracle: Movember
• Oracle: “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” Research Campaign
• Proofpoint and Axicom: Putting People at The Center: How Proofpoint Stood Out From 700+ Vendors
• Synamedia supported by Breakaway Communications: How to Get “Up Close and Personal” for Big Results…Virtually with #SynaMEDIAday

Beauty, Fashion or Lifestyle Campaign

• 1Milk2Sugars: NIVEA Oil-Infused Body Lotions
• Jeneration PR: Keeping a beauty brand fresh in the era of COVID-19
• Sally Beauty Holdings: My Black Is Beautiful

Branding Campaign

• Blue Yonder: JDA Software Becomes Blue Yonder
• Dashlane: Unnamed Temporary Sports Blog
• GS&F: Salata Salad Kitchen Rebranding
• IBM & Precision Strategies: IBM Policy Lab
• IFS: For the Challengers
• INLIVIAN: Housing Redefined
• MWWPR & Milbank: The Modern Milbank

Cause-Related Marketing Campaign

• IW Group: #WashTheHate
• OkCupid: #BlackLivesMatter Badge
• Oracle: Movember
• SSPR: El Paso County Public Health Department COVID-19 Campaign
• SPACE.tm and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE): #Trade4Solidarity

Community Relations Campaign

• College of DuPage: Up to S.N.O.W. Good
• IW Group: McDonald’s Asian American Community Engagement
• Landis Communications and Save the Redwoods League: The Campaign to Save Alder Creek
• RepairSmith: RepairSmith Donates $100K in Free, ‘No-Contact Car Repair’ Services to Support People Experiencing Hardship During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
• The Home Depot Foundation: Operation Surprise
• U-Haul International, Inc: College Students: U-Haul Offers 30 Days Free Self-Storage amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Content Marketing and Brand Journalism Campaign

• 1Milk2Sugars: Yves Rocher
• Clarity: Entrupy’s State of the Fake: Leading the Conversation on Product Counterfeiting

Corporate Communications Campaign

• Barings: #BaringsWFHLife
• Love’s Travel Stops: Road to 500
• Navy Federal: Best Careers After Service
• R1 RCM: R1 is Grateful
• The National Museum of African American History & Culture: We Return Fighting
• V2 Communications: From Kanye to Daniel Dines: Securing a Forbes Cover Story

Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign

• Clyde Group and Rover.com: Domestic Violence Foster Program
• Ogilvy and Medela: Breastfeeding Uncovered: Four Women, Four Journeys
• RB: RB’s Healthy You, Healthy Planet
• The Colony Project and Aphria Inc.: Plant Positivity Winter Garden
• U-Haul International, Inc: College Students: U-Haul Offers 30 Days Free Self-Storage amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Crisis Communication Campaign

• College of DuPage: ChapsUnite
• ESPN: COVID-19 Response Plan
• NewYork-Presbyterian: COVID-19 Response
• SPM Communications: Crisis During a Crisis: Turning Two Negatives into a Positive
• UW Medicine: UW Medicine Covid-19 Crisis Response

Education Campaign

• APCO Worldwide and North Carolina Community College System: Your Hire Education
• IW Group: McDonald’s Asian American Education Initiative
• Lifelong Learning: Learn4Life Pandemic Response Communications
• Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation: Better Schools, Stronger Economy

Entertainment Campaign

• IW Group: Godzilla x Steve Aoki x Johnny Dang
• National Geographic: COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS MEDIA RELATIONS CAMPAIGN
• National Geographic: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S 2020 EARTH DAY  INTEGRATIVE MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Event Marketing Campaign

• Citizens Bank: Made Ready
• Layton Construction: Healthcare Design Expo 2019

Hospitality, Travel or Tourism Campaign

• Peppercomm: Restarting the travel industry from zero: Peppercomm and Flagship for trivago
• The Atkins Group and South Padre Island CVB: Cook Your Catch

Influencer Campaign

• ANDER & Co: Miami’s Gio Midtown Tap Takeover
• Dole Food Company: Silver Lining Selfies
• Epson America, Inc: Epson + Shaq “Just Fill and Chill”
• GS&F: LP House
• Mirrored Media: BMW Road to Coachella 2019
• Praytell and evian: So Good You’d Do Anything For It
• Technica Communications: Winnebago Accessibility-Enhanced RV Influencer Trip Garners Nearly 8 million Social Media Views

Location-Based Campaign

• ANDER & Co: From Junior to Juggernaut: Building the Centennial Bank Brand in Florida
• Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs: Citizens for Responsible Solar

Marketing Campaign

• APCO Worldwide and North Carolina Community College System: Your Hire Education
• Citizens Bank: Made Ready
• Pollock Communications: Moon Cheese Marketing Campaign
• Quicken Loans Public Relations: Rocket Mortgage Classic
• The Brand Guild: Back To School With Yoobi
• Whereoware and Cuisinart: Air Fryer

Media Pitch

• Brand Definition: TV or Vitamin D?
• College of DuPage: Scooby Doo
• NewYork-Presbyterian: Staff Sing in COVID Units
• Peppercomm: D’Artagnan: Moving the meats online during COVID-19

Niche Campaign

• Ogivly and Intel: Mobileye D.R.I.V.E.S
• Nissan North America: eSports Ultimate Gaming Chairs

Online Newsroom

• Alibaba Group: Alizila
• Blue Cross NC: Newsroom Redesign

PR Event

• 1Milk2Sugars: Laline
• CBRS Alliance: 10Fold Elevates New Mobile Broadband Opportunity to Vital Industry Stakeholders – Ready. Set. OnGo!
• MSL and The Home Depot: The Home Depot Breaks Through Busy Holiday Season with Early Cheer
• Nissan North American: Nissan Versa 2020: The Hill Country Experience
• V2 Communications: Evolving ASG’s EVOLVE

PR on a Shoestring

• Clarity: Entrupy’s State of the Fake: Leading the Conversation on Product Counterfeiting
• E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University: Aimee Edmondson book promotion
• TerraCycle: TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Box Program Gives Consumers the Power to Recycle Virtually Anything

Product or Service Launch

• Diffusion PR: Burrow: from D2C startup to lifestyle brand
• Nissan North America: 2020 Nissan Sentra Reveal at Los Angeles Auto Show
• Ogilvy: The Craft Ice House by LG
• RepairSmith: RepairSmith Donates $100K in Free, ‘No-Contact Car Repair’ Services to Support People Experiencing Hardship During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Publications

• Association of Equipment Manufacturers: AEM Industry Advisor
• Marathon Strategies: COVID-19 Covered
• MWWPR and Deloitte Global: A generation (and annual report) disrupted: Deloitte’s 2019 Millennial Survey

Social Media Campaign

• Barings: #BaringsWFHLife
• Dole Food Company: Silver Lining Selfies
• IW Group: #WashTheHate
• Mirrored Media: BMW Road to Coachella 2019

Technology Campaign

• Diffusion PR: Amplifying the Ghostery Brand: from Browser Extension to Consumer Privacy Powerhouse
• Haymaker Group: Launching The Augmented Reality Social Network of the Future
• Ogilvy and Intel: Inside the AI Black Box: Mobileye
• Ogilvy and LG Electronics USA: LG UltraGear Female Streamer Campaign
• Trevi Communications: RightHand Robotics RightPick2 Product Launch
• V2 Communications: Answering the Call: Tech Solutions for a Nation in Need of More Effective Emergency-Response Services
• V2 Communications: The World is Your Backyard: Launching a First-of-its-Kind Pet Product

Thought Leadership Campaign

• Amendola Communications (for Kaufman Hall): Advocating for Hospitals, Health Systems and Other Institutions amid a Pandemic
• ANDER & Co: Making a Name for Pebb Capital in Saturated CRE Market
• Axicom and Proofpoint: Standing Out in A Cybersecurity Crowd: A Proofpoint Elevation Story
• MWWPR and Deloitte Global: A generation (and annual report) disrupted: Deloitte’s 2019 Millennial Survey
• Pearson: Unwritten: Author and Student Perspectives on the Pandemic.
• The Zebra: State of Auto Insurance

Viral Campaign

• Clearlink: USDISH.com’s Stephen King Campaign: Results So Good—They’re Scary
• Landis Communications and Peninsula Open Space Trust: POST and the Coyote-Badger Adventure
• Mirrored: BMW Road to Coachella 2019

Website

• Ferrovial: Ferrovial Global Website Launch
• Smithsonian Institution / National Museum of African American History and Culture: Talking About Race
• The National Museum of African American History & Culture: We Return Fighting

Health Care PR & Marketing Blog

• Livongo: Livongo Blog
• UC Davis Health: Good Food is Good Medicine

Content Marketing and Brand Journalism

• JPA Health and National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA): MyPAnniversary
• UC Davis Health: Year of the Nurse

Digital Publication

• Patient Safety Authority: PATIENT SAFETY: A scientific journal with a patient’s perspective
• UC Davis Health: Year of the Nurse

Marketing Campaign

• MDVIP: Year of Cardiovascular Health
• Omron Healthcare & MWWPR: HeartGuide Launch
• Solutionreach: 202 Comeback Plan
• The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: This Is Breakthrough

PR or Media Relations Campaign

• Amendola Communications: Thought Leadership & Awareness Campaign Builds Singapore Start-up Biofourmis’ Reputation in the U.S.
• JPA Health/American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists: Up To Here
• Livongo: Livongo COVID-19 Pandemic Response and Messaging Pivot
• Ogilvy and Medela: Designed for Life, Medela Launches Freestyle Flex, Allowing Each Mom FLEX in Her Own Way
• Millennium Health: Millennium Health Commitment to Clinical Excellence
• The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: This Is Breakthrough

Social Media Campaign

• Blue Cross NC: COVID-19 Response Campaign
• JPA Health / Medicines36: Birth Control is #NotAwkward: Let’s Talk About It

Thought Leadership Campaign

• Amendola Communications for Air Methods: Amendola Helps Air Methods’ No Membership Required Program Take Off
• Zeno Group and AstraZeneca: Making YOUR Cancer OUR Cancer

Patient-Focused Content

• G&S Business Communications: INSIGHTEC Essential Tremor Month 2020
• Miami Cancer Institute: Cancer Patient Education Folders
• UC Davis Health: Good Food is Good Medicine

Video

• Ketchum and Blue Cross NC: Anthem Live-Action Spot
• The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: This Is Breakthrough

Website Launch or Relaunch

• Edelman and Regeneron: Look To Your Future
• Fiaschetti Communications and Saama Technologies: Saama 2020 Website Refresh
• JPA Health / Milestone Pharmaceuticals: Change of Heart: Relaunching for a Patient-Centric Website
• The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: This Is Breakthrough

Grand Prize Grand Prize: Health Care PR and Marketing Campaign of the Year

• Amwell: Amwell Brings Telehealth to the Forefront During COVID-19
• JPA Health / The Physicians Foundation: Vital Signs: Attend to Your Wellbeing
• MDVIP: Year of Cardiovascular Health
• Omron Healthcare & MWWPR: HeartGuide Launch
• The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: This Is Breakthrough
• UC Davis Health: Year of the Nurse

Grand Prize: PR Campaign of the Year

• Amendola Communications: Thought Leadership & Awareness Campaign Builds Singapore Start-up Biofourmis’ Reputation in the U.S.
• Association of Equipment Manufacturers: CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE PR Campaign
• Axicom and Proofpoint: Putting People at The Center: How Proofpoint Stood Out From 700+ Vendors
• U-Haul International, Inc: College Students: U-Haul Offers 30 Days Free Self-Storage amid Coronavirus Outbreak