Brookhaven Partners with Recyclebank to Reward Residents for Being Green

BROOKHAVEN, N.Y., Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko, Councilmen Tim Mazzei and Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld, other Brookhaven officials, environmentalists, and representatives from Recyclebank® joined with residents in Blue Point, N.Y., to announce the arrival of the new rewards-for-recycling program. New York City-based Recyclebank rewards people for taking everyday green actions, such as recycling, with discounts and deals from local and national businesses. Residents who are part of the Brookhaven Recycling Collection Services can earn points each time they recycle and spend those points on rewards from hundreds of local and national businesses, including Bobbique, Blue Point Brewing Company, Mama's Restaurant, Brickhouse Brewery, Monster Mini Golf, Lemon Tree salons, Subway, Outback Steak House and many more. Residents begin earning points for recycling on pick-up day, Wednesday, Aug. 3.

"The Town of Brookhaven has encouraged increased recycling over the past year and has seen positive results so far. We are taking our efforts to the next level by partnering with Recyclebank, which will offer incentives to residents to increase their household recycling," said Supervisor Lesko, "Recycling helps the environment and by increasing recycling efforts both residents and the Town can save money. While earning everyday savings from Recyclebank, residents will have the opportunity to protect the environment, invigorate the local economy and keep their community clean."

"Our partnership with Recyclebank is a win-win for the Town, our residents and the environment," said Councilman Tim Mazzei, who serves as the Town Council Liaison to the Department of Waste Management. "This year we stepped up our efforts to encourage residents to increase their recycling. Now, with the deals and discounts offered by Recyclebank, they have even more of an incentive. I urge all Brookhaven residents to sign up on August 3."

"Recyclebank incentivizes recycling for our residents while protecting the environment.  Recyclebank coming to Brookhaven is the epitome of thinking globally and acting locally where it helps create a more sustainable future by rewarding people for taking everyday green action," said Councilman Fiore-Rosenfeld. "This successful program has helped a number of other large communities dramatically increase their recycling, such as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Delaware and California.  Having served as an intern at the United Nations Environment Programme, I am proud to support Recyclebank, a program that received the 'Champion of the Earth' Award by UNEP as well as Outstanding Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships from the U.S. Conference of Mayors."

In addition to significant environmental benefits, increased recycling also has a positive impact on Town finances through cost savings in disposal costs and revenues from the sale of recyclables. With its debut on Wednesday, Brookhaven becomes the first municipality in the State of New York to deploy the program and joins more than 300 communities across the United States and the U.K. to partner with Recyclebank to encourage and empower residents to lead greener lives.

"At Recyclebank, we believe in the power of individual actions. We've seen how monumental the collective impact can be when members of local communities, government and businesses work together," said Beth Kean-Waddell, northeast vice president at Recyclebank. "We're thrilled to kick off our partnership with the Town of Brookhaven who is committed to improving their community through green actions. Together, we can enable people to take small steps that make a huge impact on their communities, local economies and the planet."

HOW IT WORKS

With the program, residents earn points each time they recycle and visit Recyclebank.com to report what they've recycled. Then, each month, residents who have reported recycling participation earn points based on the cumulative amount town residents have recycled. The more a community recycles, the more Recyclebank Points each member earns.

The program is similar to a frequent flyer program, only residents earn points for being green instead. They can use those points to "shop" at Recyclebank.com for rewards like discounts and deals from local and national businesses. In addition to the more than 50 local businesses that are part of the program, Recyclebank has hundreds of national reward partners, including Ziploc®, AVEENO®, Coca-Cola®, Macy's, McDonald's®, Nestle Purina®, Staples®, Unilever, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dick's Sporting Goods and many others. Unlike frequent flyer programs, points are easy to accumulate and members can begin redeeming almost immediately.

To earn rewards for recycling, residents who are part of the Brookhaven Recycling Collection Services must register for a free account at www.Recyclebank.com and verify their home address. Residents not part of the Brookhaven Recycling Collection Services can still join Recyclebank and earn rewards, too. Sign up at www.Recyclebank.com and click "Earn Points" to learn more ways to earn points for taking everyday green actions.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Earlier this year, the Town started a public information effort to urge residents to increase recycling efforts. The Town launched a new webpage that enables residents to track their collection district's recycling rates, which will be updated quarterly. Residents can go to www.brookhaven.org/recycle and find out if their collection district is an above-average or below-average recycler compared to the rest of the Town by clicking on their school district and then their collection district. This online tracker also sets recycling goals for each collection district based upon their recycling history.

The Town Board unanimously approved a contract with Recyclebank at the March 29, 2011, Town Board Meeting.

ABOUT BROOKHAVEN

The Town of Brookhaven is the largest Town in Suffolk County, Long Island with over 500,000 people and is governed by a Town Board comprised of the Town Supervisor and six Council members representing separate districts. Brookhaven is located about 60 miles east of New York City in the heart of Long Island and stretches from "sound to sea".  To the north, Brookhaven's borders end at Long Island Sound and Brookhaven's southern border ends at the Atlantic Ocean. Brookhaven is known for its great suburban quality of life, beautiful historic suburban environments, busy shopping areas, business centers, world class ocean beaches, and great schools and healthcare. Brookhaven is also home to two major research institutions, Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory. For more information on the Town of Brookhaven, visit www.brookhaven.org.  

ABOUT RECYCLEBANK

Recyclebank® helps create a more sustainable future by rewarding people for taking everyday green actions with discounts and deals from more than 3,000 local and national businesses. Through its online platform and partnerships with municipalities, haulers, small businesses and corporate brands, Recyclebank is empowering individuals to make a collective impact on the environment by increasing household recycling, reducing household energy usage and learning to live greener lives. Recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Programme and for Outstanding Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Recyclebank is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit www.Recyclebank.com.  

MEDIA CONTACTS
Laura Moen | Bateman Group for Recyclebank
(415) 503-1818 | [email protected]

Jack Krieger | Town of Brookhaven Public Information Officer
(631) 451-6595 | [email protected]

SOURCE Recyclebank