Communities Get Green for Going Green With Paper Retriever

HOUSTON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Paper Retriever, a community paper-recycling program, today announced the results of the month-long Nationwide Paper Drive, an initiative aimed at helping nonprofit organizations raise money through paper recycling.

In total, 8,582 tons of paper were recycled through the paper drive, which took place during the month of April to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The nationwide paper drive also raised more than $150,000 for nonprofit organizations who participate in the Paper Retriever program.

The impact of recycling though Paper Retriever expands beyond the green- and-yellow recycling bins and beyond the month of April. The tonnage recycled through the Nationwide Paper Drive saved over 60,000 gallons of water, over 25,700 cubic yards of landfill space, 17,164 barrels of oil, and 35,187,676 kilowatt-hours of energy–enough to power more than 4,000 average American homes for one year.

"This year, rather than focusing our efforts on a single day, we decided to celebrate Earth Day for an entire month," said Sylvain Longval, vice president of recycling, North America, for AbitibiBowater. "We wanted to work with Paper Retriever partners across the country on a program that would really make an impact. We're very excited about the amount of paper our partners were able to recycle, but we're more than thrilled that those efforts have resulted in a nearly $400,000 payout to nonprofit partners of the Paper Retriever program."

Paper Retriever is a simple recycling program that directly benefits the community as well as the environment. Schools, churches, and other nonprofit organizations in cities across the country place distinctive green- and-yellow Paper Retriever bins in highly visible areas outside their organizations where members of the community and the organization itself can donate their recyclable paper. The nonprofit organizations are then paid based on the tonnage that their bin collects; those funds can be used for textbooks, playground repair, even school field trips or other programs.

As part of the Nationwide Paper Drive, Paper Retriever also provided an additional incentive to their partners–a bonus for the Paper Retriever partner with the highest recycling total nationwide. That $1,000 monetary bonus was awarded to Sunlake's Sheriff's Posse in Phoenix, AZ for recycling more than 41 tons during the month of April.

Paper Retriever operates in the following cities:  

Community members who'd like to donate to Paper Retriever partners can visit www.paperretriever.com to locate the most convenient bin, and to learn more about what types of paper can be recycled through Paper Retriever.  

About Paper Retriever

Paper Retriever is a simple paper-recycling program that directly benefits the community as well as the environment. Schools, churches, and other nonprofit organizations house green-and-yellow Paper Retriever bins for members of the community to fill with recyclable paper goods. The nonprofit organizations are then paid for the amount of paper they collect. There are over 18,000 Paper Retriever locations and over 26,000 Paper Retriever bins hosted in 23 major metropolitan areas across the United States. In 2009, materials recycled through Paper Retriever generated more than $3.8 million for over 15,000 nonprofit organizations. Paper Retriever is a subsidiary program of AbitibiBowater. For more information, visit www.paperretriever.com or head to www.facebook.com/paperretriever.

SOURCE Paper Retriever

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