7th annual mixed paper drive hosted in conjunction with America Recycles Day
— To help celebrate America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, Keep Akron Beautiful (KAB), in conjunction with River Valley Paper Company, is hosting the 7th annual mixed paper drive competition in 23 Akron Public Schools and seven private schools in the Akron area.
During this month-long competition, now through Nov. 10, residents and local businesses may help make one of these schools a local and national winner by taking their magazines, phone books, paperboard, catalogs, junk mail, office paper, newspaper and cardboard to a recycle bin.
Last year, St. Mary School was recognized nationally and crowned the Ohio state champion of Keep America Beautiful’s Recycle Bowl. The national effort led to 25 million pounds of paper being recycled.
Currently, bins are located at the following Akron Public School Locations: Betty Jane CLC, Buchtel CLC, Case Elementary School, East CLC, Ellet High School, Findley CLC, Firestone Park Elementary School, Forest Hill CLC, Hatton CLC, Helen Arnold CLC, Hyre CLC, Innes CLC, Jennings CLC, Judith A. Resnik CLC, Kenmore/ Garfield High School, Leggett CLC, McEbright CLC, Miller South, North High School, Robinson CLC, Sam-Salem CLC, Seiberling CLC, and Voris CLC. The following private school locations are also included in our competition: Chapel Hill Christian School, Emmanuel Christian Academy, Hoban High School, Old Trail School, Our Lady of the Elms, St. Mary School and St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
The objective of the paper drive is to create a competition among high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. In order to increase participation, each school will have an incentive to participate. The winning elementary school will receive a $250 cash prize and a school wide pizza party in December, while the winning middle and high schools will each receive a $500 cash prize.
Keep Akron Beautiful also will award the school with the most pounds of paper collected overall with a $500 cash prize. Another $250 cash prize will be given to a school that has improved the most from 2016 to 2017. This award will be deemed “Most Improved.”
In addition to all of the local awards, all participating schools are also competing on a national level in the Recycle Bowl competition. Due to the success of Keep Akron Beautiful’s mixed recycle paper drive five years ago, Keep America Beautiful used KAB’s program as the template for their national competition. Along with the prizes listed above, all 30 schools have the chance to win a recycled-content bench in the national competition.
The paper drive was designed to prove that Akron’s school staff and students, parents, community members and local businesses can help save trees, which purge the atmosphere of greenhouse gases, by giving their trash a second life. The receptacles are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Filling up the collection bins will not only help the school win the paper drive, but it also raises money for the school to use for clubs, their recycling efforts or team uniforms.
For info, visit www.keepakronbeautiful.org.
