TerraCycle, a company eliminating the idea of waste by recycling the "non-recyclable," has teamed up with Schneiders' Lunch Mate and Maple Leaf Simply Lunch to bring schools the opportunity to win a share of $3,700 in TerraCycle points.   The top 10 schools that earn the most Lunch Mate points between Sept. 1 and Nov. 31 will be awarded a share of 370,000 TerraCycle bonus points (equivalent to $3,700).   Students, staff and the surrounding community are encouraged to vote for a school of their choice once a day during the contest period.   The Eco Squad and Green Team at Baxter Central Public School have joined the Collection Craze contest. Any proceeds won from the contest will go toward the creation of a butterfly garden connected to the school's “no-mow zone” to enhance student learning.   The first time you vote online, you will need to complete a one-time verification of your email. After this, you can vote daily without needing to verify it. The school is listed under Baxter Central Public School. In order to vote, please visit terracycle.com/en-CA/contests/2019-schneiders-lunch-mate-and-simply-lunch-collection-craze.  

Specialist recycler TerraCycle has launched 2019 Collection Craze recycling challenge in partnership with the Schneiders Lunch Mate and Maple Leaf Simply Lunch brands.   It runs for three months until the event of November and is part of the ongoing Schneiders Lunch Mate Recycling Program which is open to any individual, family, school or community group. Participating schools collect waste from their branded lunch kits including plastic film, content packaging and plastic trays and send them to TerraCycle.   For each piece of packaging 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. The total kitty is US$ 3 700 (EUR 3 350) in redeemable TerraCycle points.   Points mean prizes   During the Collection Craze contest period, students, teachers and their local community are encouraged to vote for their school of choice daily during the promotion timeline on the contest page. Each vote will earn one credit.   The contest will be judged based on the quantity of recycled packaging collected and the number of credits earned during the contest period. The top 10 schools will win a share of the fund in TerraCycle points.   Making a difference   ‘The Collection Craze offers schools a viable way to divert waste from landfills, engage their communities and be rewarded for their effort,’ explains Tom Szaky, TerraCycle founder and ceo. ‘By participating, students gain valuable knowledge about sustainability, how to make a difference within their school and community and how to protect the environment through recycling.’

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.

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.