Walmart & TerraCycle Award $125K in School Grants to NJ Schools

Top Waste Collecting Schools in New Jersey receive school grants for their efforts

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Feb 09, 2011, 09:20 ET

TRENTON, N.J., Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Walmart Foundation and TerraCycle are proud to announce the winners of the Trash to Cash Collection Contest, which is paying New Jersey public schools $125,000 in school grants! The contest was free, and open to all New Jersey public schools. The schools that raised the most money through TerraCycle's Brigade programs have been awarded one of the six grants ranging from $50,000 to $5,000 dollars. The contest began October 1st and ran until December 15th. Combined 448 schools in New Jersey helped divert over 1.6 million pieces of packaging in less than 3 months.

TerraCycle and Walmart are proud to announce the winning schools:

1 – $50,000 East Amwell Township Public School in Ringoes

2 – $30,000 Countryside Elementary School in Mount Laurel

3 – $20,000 Waterford Elementary School in Atco

4 – $10,000 Allenwood Parent Teacher Group in Manasquan

5 – $10,000 Woodland Ave School Green Team in Morristown

6 – $5,000 Avon Elementary School in Avon by the Sea

Walmart Foundation partnered with TerraCycle in order to encourage more schools to get involved in the Brigade program, a socially and environmentally beneficial fundraising and educational initiative that pays schools to recycle. The hope was that by adding the additional incentive of schools grants, schools would collect more waste, diverting as much non-recyclable material as possible from landfill.

"We are extremely pleased with the level of participation in the Trash to Cash Collection Contest. During a period of just over two months, TerraCycle and Walmart successfully diverted over 1.6 million pieces of waste with the help of New Jersey Brigade participants increasing collections by almost 200% during the contest," said Jennifer Hoehn, Senior Manager of Public Affairs for Walmart. "Walmart is proud to support New Jersey schools through the additional grants, while also encouraging the schools to become more environmentally responsible through the TerraCycle Brigades."

The TerraCycle Brigade programs are free, nation-wide fundraisers that pay schools to collect a range of non-recyclable products and packaging including Elmer's glue bottles, Colgate Toothpaste tubes, Capri Sun drink pouches, in total more than 35 commonly discarded materials. For each piece of 'waste' returned, TerraCycle pays two cents to the school or a charity of the collector's choice. All it takes to sign up for a Brigade is visit to www.terracycle.net. TerraCycle even pays all shipping charges.

The Brigade programs have also paid over $1.75 million dollars to schools and non-profits. To help bolster the educational aspect of the programs, TerraCycle also provides a non-branded Sustainability Curriculum that adheres to all national requirements. The Curriculum is offered for free at www.terracycle.net.