Vadim Kozlovsky | ShutterStock
The Carton Council, Denton, Texas, has announced its 2023 Community Education Award program to incentivize and improve recycling education in communities across the U.S.
The program's primary goal is to improve carton inclusion on community websites and ensure cartons are included in community education efforts. One of the main ways the program seeks to do this is by moving more communities to update their website to accurately reflect what food and beverage cartons are and that they are accepted in their program and to foster improved resident education of carton recycling overall.
“Food and beverage carton recycling is catching up to other mainstream commodities, but it continues to be important to educate residents,” says Larine Urbina, vice president of communications for the Carton Council. “This program was created based on our research which reinforces that consumers look first to their local community websites for information about what they can and cannot recycle. Websites and consistent messaging about what can and cannot be recycled is important to improving recycling behavior.”
Any entity responsible for educating its residents about its local recycling program is eligible if food and beverage cartons are included in its recycling efforts.
The Carton Council says it will award $2,000 each to participating communities that demonstrate proactive recycling education efforts featuring food and beverage cartons. Interested entities must sign up by Earth Day, April 22. The council says the program has a limit of 25 participants. Those in the program will have access to resources and webinars and will have until Dec. 1 to showcase their efforts.
All submissions will be reviewed, with points given based on criteria that includes:
demonstrated communication improvement;
utilization of the Carton Council best practices toolkit;
community participation in a contest; and
execution of activities.
In addition to the $2,000 award, each participant will automatically be considered for a contest within the grant program. The first-place winner will receive an additional $3,000, the second-place winner will get an additional $2,000 and the third-place winner will receive an additional $1,000. These will be awarded based on how well the participants demonstrate improvement in their communications, utilization of the Carton Council best practices toolkit and overall participation.
After signing up, participants will receive ongoing information to help support their communications and marketing efforts throughout the year. They will also receive invitations to webinars and other educational opportunities. The council says that while the program focuses on food and beverage cartons, it recognizes the importance of education to promote recycling in general.
Submissions will be due Dec 1. For more information about how communities can participate, click here.
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