Thousands of Events Planned Nationwide to Celebrate America Recycles Day

Visit AmericaRecyclesDay.org to Find an Event Near You!

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "I Recycle" is again the theme of Keep America Beautiful's 2011 celebration of America Recycles Day (ARD), which takes place officially on November 15. Millions of Americans have pledged to increase their recycling habits at home and at work over the 14-year history of ARD, a nationally-recognized initiative dedicated to encouraging people to recycle more at home, at work, and on the go.

"Recycling not only protects the environment, it strengthens the community," said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful, Inc. "The simple act of recycling creates the impetus for innovation in industry and fosters green jobs. Recycling can save communities money through more efficient waste management, and significantly reduces energy costs and demands on our natural resources. Ultimately, recycling improves a community's cohesion and impacts the local quality of life."

Event organizers will proudly declare "I Recycle" at events taking place from now until the end of the month, all designed to educate, motivate and inspire individuals to recycle more while encouraging their friends and families to do the same. How can you get involved? Visit americarecyclesday.org and click on "Join an Event" to access the national database of thousands of events. Simply enter your zip code to find your closest happenings, and then plan to attend and support!

America Recycles Day is a program of national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful, and is supported by many national and local nonprofits as well as sponsoring businesses and corporations. In one example, National Sponsor PepsiCo is using the day to highlight its popular Dream Machine recycling initiative, with a team of spotters that will reward individuals for recycling in the Dream Machine bins in downtown Washington, D.C.  The Dream Machine program aims to help increase the U.S. beverage container recycling rate and, for all the bottles and cans collected through the Dream Machine program, PepsiCo will provide support to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV).

"On America Recycles Day, we hope that more Americans will commit to recycling every day of the year," said Jeremy Cage, senior vice president and head of the Dream Machine Recycling Initiative, PepsiCo. "We're proud to collaborate with Keep America Beautiful to bring Dream Machines to communities across the U.S. Together, we are working to make it convenient and rewarding to recycle bottles and cans on-the-go."

Waste Management is a company that is helping to solve the "garbage problem." WM does that by investing in the most innovative technologies to find ways to reuse the recyclable resources that most residents and businesses normally throw into a trash bin. Waste Management is redefining the waste industry with these innovative recycling technologies. With 10 million tons of materials currently managed for recycling, Waste Management is now more than halfway to its goal of managing more than 20 million tons each year. Waste Management processed enough material in 2010 to fill a football field 2.11 miles high.

"As one of the nation's largest residential recycling services provider, we're always focused on how to help communities and businesses recycle more," said Pat DeRueda, president of Waste Management Recycling Services. "Waste Management extracts the value from the waste stream. Where the average person sees plastics, food waste and other materials, Waste Management sees new products, transportation fuels and renewable energy. We are proud to partner with Keep America Beautiful and America Recycles Day to educate people everywhere to recycle every day."

Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation are also among the national sponsors providing resources and supporting events. The company's recycling website offers a host of resources – including a free Aluminate iPhone app – to help individuals recycle more.

"We are proud to once again sponsor America Recycles Day," said Paula Davis, president, Alcoa Foundation. "Communities across the country are rallying together to learn more about how they can reduce their waste. If all Americans recycled just one more can per week, we could reach our 75 percent recycling goal in the U.S. and save enough energy to power almost 300,000 average U.S. homes for a full year. Every step counts."

America's leading companies and organizations support recycling through sponsorships and partnerships with America Recycles Day 2011: Alcoa, Inc.; American Chemistry Council; Anheuser-Busch; Earth911.com; Disney's Friends for Change; The Glad Products Company; Johnson & Johnson; LG Electronics U.S.A.; Nestle Waters North America; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; PepsiCo; and Waste Management.

About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of over 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. To join America Recycles Day, visit http://americarecyclesday.org. To learn more about Keep America Beautiful, visit www.kab.org.

CONTACTS
Robert Wallace/ Larry Kaufman
Tel: 203.659.3016 / 203.659.3014
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Web site: www.kab.org

SOURCE Keep America Beautiful, Inc.