Recycle Across America® (RAA), a nonprofit that has developed the first and only society-wide standardized labeling system for recycling bins to help eliminate the public confusion surrounding recycling, has joined forces with Participant Media on a social action campaign called Recycle Right!, focused on transforming recycling and improving the economics and prevalence of sustainable packaging and manufacturing. The campaign is inspired by Participant’s new show “Human Resources,” a reality series following the daily operations and challenges of TerraCycle as it sets out to eliminate waste on a global scale, which premieres August 8 on its television network Pivot.The Recycle Right! campaign offers informational videos, tips and practical solutions – such as standardized recycling labels — to help everyone, well, recycle right and increase the amount of quality raw, recycled materials available to be used by manufacturers looking to lessen their environmental footprint. “We can’t sit idle knowing that millions of tons of valuable recyclable materials, which are easy to convert into new products and packaging, are going to waste every year. Which one of us wants to throw billions of dollars and our environmental wellbeing into landfills? That’s what we’re doing if we’re not recycling right,” said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky. “We’re thrilled to join forces with Participant Media and Recycle Across America to fix the dysfunction of recycling and move the needle toward progress. And we can’t wait for audiences to watch ‘Human Resources’ to see inside our world at TerraCycle, where every day we’re proving that even the most undesirable and traditionally non-recyclable materials can have a new purpose and can be valuable.” Historically there have been thousands of different labels on public area recycling bins, causing confusion and resulting in tons of garbage being thrown in recycling bins each day. A key component of the campaign is expanding the use of standardized recycling labels to help eliminate confusion at the bins and empowering everyone to ‘recycle right.’ The campaign aims to double the amount of standardized labels being used by the end of the year to one million. Use of the standardized labels on recycling bins has been shown to:

• Increase recycling levels by more than 50 percent and significantly reduce the amount of trash thrown in recycling bins.
• Help ensure a consistent quality and quantity of recycled materials, helping keep the cost of recycled raw materials competitive with virgin materials.

“We are incredibly excited to work with two of the most predominant leaders of change in their industries, Participant Media and TerraCycle,” said RAA executive director, Mitch Hedlund. “Worldwide waste is expected to double by 2025 and with the US being the largest producer of waste in the world, it is imperative that we address this issue today. “We need to remind ourselves that it’s not just waste that’s doubling; it’s the use of finite natural resources and generation of excessive CO2 that will also double,” Hedlund continued. “This is why we’re thrilled to work with these companies to advance the use of the standardized labels. It’s a deceivingly simple solution that creates exponential progress — and I think we’re all ready for some progress!” Chad Boettcher, EVP of Social Action and Advocacy at Participant Media said: “We know that recycling is the most important action we can do to improve the environment yet the percentage of valuable materials being recycled has not improved much over the past 17 years. We are eager to work with Recycle Across America and TerraCycle to spread awareness on such a tangible and easy step we can all take in improving the health of our world environmentally and economically.” Today approximately half a million of RAA’s standardized labels are in use throughout the US, Canada and Europe labels by a host of industry leaders and at a variety of locations, such as: NBCUniversal; Hallmark; Kohler; Walt Disney World employee areas; Procter & Gamble manufacturing facilities; SanDisk; AOL; 2,000 US K-12 schools — including all the public schools in Washington, DC; universities including University of Denver, George Mason University and Johns Hopkins University; and thousands of other adopters. RAA and Participant Media aim to continue to expand this reach through Recycle Right!  Efforts to understand and eliminate the confusion around recycling in order to make it the norm is right up there with understanding and eliminating the gap between attitudes and behaviors (and sometimes related), and studies, labeling schemes and campaigns continue to abound.

Recycle Across America (RAA) has joined forces with Participant Media to launch a social action campaign focused on transforming recycling and improving the economics and prevalence of sustainable packaging and manufacturing. The campaign is inspired by Participant’s new show “Human Resources,” premiering Aug. 8 on its television network Pivot. “Human Resources” follows TerraCycle, a company whose mission is to eliminate waste on a global scale. The Recycle Right! campaign offers informational videos, tips and practical solutions — such as standardized recycling labels — to increase the amount of quality raw recycled materials available to be used by manufacturers looking to lessen their environmental footprint. The partners say use of the standardized labels on recycling bins have shown to:

• Increase recycling levels by more than 50 percent and significantly reduces the amount of trash thrown in recycling bins.
• Help ensure a consistent quality and quantity of recycled materials. This helps keep the cost of recycled raw materials competitive with virgin materials.

Many industry leaders have already begun using the labels on their bins, such as: NBCUniversal, Hallmark, Kohler, Walt Disney World employee areas, Procter & Gamble manufacturing, SanDisk, AOL, 2,000 US K-12 schools — including all the public schools in Washington DC, many universities including University of Denver, George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University and thousands of other adopters. Today approximately half a million of RAA’s standardized labels are in use throughout the US, Canada and Europe. In April Terracycle began marketing its Zero Waste Box programto factory managers in a bid to encourage employees to recycle items commonly used on factory floors, including ear plugs and hair nets.

TerraCycle, an international recycling company, and The North Face have been working together to pursue a solution to the common problem of massive amounts of left over polyethylene bags that are used to protect merchandise through distribution and transit. The North Face has engaged 25 of its retail stores in TerraCycle’s The North Face Polybag Brigade to ensure these plastic bags get recycled. Together the two companies have kept 1.5 million plastic polybags, equaling more than 62,000 lbs., of plastic out of U.S. landfills. “We are always looking for ways to reduce our environmental footprint and TerraCycle has been an important partner in helping The North Face address the challenging issue of plastic bag recycling,” said Adam Mott, Director of Sustainability at The North Face. “This partnership is especially vital in locations where municipal recycling does not accept hard-to-recycle plastics, such as polybags, which would otherwise be disposed of in a landfill without the TerraCycle recycling program.” Until this partnership between The North Face and TerraCycle began two years ago, the 25 stores were not able to readily recycle the polyethylene bags. Now, the bags will be recycled into a variety of different products such as plastic lumber, bike racks and pavers. “The volume of polybags that are used every day in shipping to customers and to retail stores is mind-boggling,” said TerraCycle Founder and CEO Tom Szaky. “The fact that The North Face is committed to going the extra step to keep them out of the waste stream is an action that should be applauded and replicated by more manufacturers and retail stores.” Founded in 2001, TerraCycle works with more than 40 major brands in the U.S. and around the world to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It repurposes that waste into new, innovative materials and products that are available online and through major retailers. The waste is collected through TerraCycle’s Brigade programs, which are free fundraisers that pay for every piece of waste collected and returned. For information on how to join a TerraCycle Brigade visit　www.terracycle.com.

No one has been more tuned in to climate change than outdoor apparel company The North Face. Many of its customers are climbing those mountains where the snow pack is shrinking or have seen the effect of drought on hiking trails and wildlife habitat. With that in mind, The North Face for the past two years has been asking 25 of its retail stores to participate in a program with TerraCycle where they make sure that those polyethylene bags used to ship clothing are recycled. And they have been pretty successful. Together the two companies have kept 1.5 million plastic polybags, equaling more than 62,000 pounds of plastic, out of U.S. landfills. The bags are being recycled into a variety of different products such as plastic lumber, bike racks and pavers. The North Face has also been trying to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases its operations emit into the air. In a survey, it found that 58 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions come from its distribution centers. With that in mind, it installed a one-megawatt solar panel at its distribution center in Visalia, Calif., which is now supplying 25 percent of the huge distribution center's energy needs while saving 950 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the air every year.

ONTARIO—Snake River Correctional Institution has joined other correctional institutions across the state in a sustainability effort that is aimed at recycling and raising money for local charities. In the Chip Bag Brigade, inmates collect corn and potato chip bags from their kitchen, housing units and vending machine areas and turn them in to a company called Terracycle, which takes used packaging materials and recycles them into new products such as photo frames, park benches and backpacks. “We accumulate one point per chip bag if we send a box of at least 14 pounds. Each point earns 1 cent toward a charity of our choice, and the SRCI Sustainability Group chose the Harvest House Missions in Ontario for our first recipient,” project leader Kailee Evans said. “We have had a very positive experience and have been able to donate over $300 to Harvest House Missions so far. We have also collected over 500 pounds of chip bags that would normally go in a landfill.” Terracycle allows Snake River Correctional Institution to print UPS shipping labels at no cost to ship the chip bags to the company. “The program not only benefits sustainability efforts, which is awesome, but it helps raise money for charity. Our donation goes to the Harvest House,” said Cathleen Shroyer, a public information specialist with Snake River Correctional Institution. “As with most community outreach programs we are involved in, a big part of why we do it is the spirit of giving back. I used to say it’s important to find avenues for inmates to give back to the community as a way to help rehabilitate them and teach them the importance of doing things for others.” Shroyer said the community outreach efforts had been fairly successful. The emphasis has started to turn giving back into something that the people at the prison do. “It’s become a regular part of our lives,” Shroyer said. The project is organized by staff members, and inmates are responsible for the collection and packaging the shipments. To date, the inmates have collected 43,724 chip bags for a cash value of $418.79. That means $419.79 that will be donated to Harvest House Missions. Shroyer said the program — and others like it — benefit prison inmates and staff alike. “A majority of our inmate population has surpassed the learning stage of why doing things for the community is important, and they are really more focused on taking action with that knowledge,” Shroyer said. “Our staff are equally motivated to do things which are beneficial to our surrounding communities. Understanding how much of a positive affect you can have in a given area, even with a small contribution, is well worth going the extra mile to help anywhere we can.” Zachary Chastaine is a news reporter at The Argus Observer. He can be reached at (541) 823-4815 or by emailing zachc@argusobserver.com. To comment on this story, go to www.argusobserver.com.

Students help school earned more than $3,500 in the TerraCycle and Capri Sun contest. Cumming Elementary School students have just reached the second level of TerraCycle and Capri Sun’s Drink Pouch Brigade milestone contest by collecting more than 18,000 drink pouches. For their accomplishment, the school earned more than $3,500. The Drink Pouch Brigade is a free recycling program that rewards people for collecting and sending their waste to TerraCycle to be recycled or upcycled. The Milestone Program began in September 2013 when Capri Sun added prizes for collecting certain amounts. Now, in addition to the money they earn for each piece of waste collected, participants can win prizes made from recycled drink pouches, such as park benches, recycling bins, a playground, and other fun rewards. "The Milestone Program is meant to inspire individuals and organizations to collect more waste while receiving prizes for their achievements," said TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky in a release. "It is rewarding to see the students and administration get so involved in making this work. It’s an incredible achievement to have kept so many pouches out of the waste stream." Thousands of other schools across the United States participate in the Drink Pouch Brigade. To learn more about the program or to sign up, visitwww.terracycle.com.  The program is free to any interested organization or individual, and all shipping costs are paid. In addition, for each piece of waste received, participants earn money for a charity of their choice.

Recycle Across America has joined with Participant Media and TerraCycle to launch a social action campaign focused on transforming recycling and improving the economics and prevalence of sustainable packaging and manufacturing. A key component of the campaign is expanding the use of standardized recycling labels to help eliminate confusion at the bins and empowering everyone to "recycle right." The campaign aims to double the amount of standardized labels being used by the end of the year to 1 million. For more, click here.   The Recycling Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization closely associated with the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), is currently accepting applications for both the National Scholarship and the Veterans' Stipend Program. The application deadline for both opportunities is July 1. Find more information here.   Lake City, South Carolina-based ICE Recycling has been acquired by Leigh Delaware Holdings, an affiliate of Wellford, South Carolina's Leigh Fibers. Founded in 2008 by Larry T. Gay Jr., ICE reprocesses post-industrial polymers, cardboard, paper and metals. Gay will continue to lead ICE business. Read more on the deal here.

This week’s featured film on The Progressive Film Hour with Mitchell Rabin is The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard.