The Million Cans Recycling Contest kicked off for the first time with eight elementary schools across the U.S. Each school was paired up with a local scrapyard.
From November to May, those eight schools recycled over 1.3 million cans. The Million Cans Recycling Contest originally was launched by Recycling is Like Magic, a team of three individuals who wanted to encourage sustainability and recycling. The team, consisting of Jessica Alexanderson, Brad W. Rudover and Shaziya M. Jaffer, wrote a book called “The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans.” In the book, a little girl named Ellie loves unicorns. She discovers that she can earn money if she recycles aluminum cans at her local scrapyard.
Encouraged by this, she decides to recycle 1 million cans so she can buy a unicorn. Her friends all want a unicorn too, so they join her in her quest for 1 million cans. The entire school gets involved, and soon the goal of 1 million cans is within sight. Recycling is Like Magic turned this story into a reality—minus the unicorn. The Million Cans Recycling Contest will enter its third year in the fall of 2025. Recycling is Like Magic has expanded into The Recycling Society, a nonprofit founded by Alexanderson and based in the state of Washington. The Recycling Society officially launched this year on Earth Day, April 22. As a nonprofit, the organization has enhanced funding opportunities.
“Our goal is to improve the aluminum can recycling rates in this country,” Alexanderson says. “Unfortunately, they’re going down. The recycling rates are only at 43 percent, and it’s a solvable problem. We’re trying to solve the problem by teaching little kids to never throw cans in the garbage and by making it super fun and easy for them.” The Million Cans Recycling Contest takes place in elementary schools and focuses on third graders. Students from any grade can donate cans, but the third graders lead the charge.
When an elementary school joins the contest, the third graders all receive a copy of “The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans.” After collecting cans, the school calls a partnering local scrapyard, which picks up the cans and weighs them. Depending on the scrapyard, the school can then earn anywhere from 35 to 95 cents per pound of cans. The scrapyard also sends The Recycling Society a copy of the scale ticket so that it can record how many cans the school recycled.
News Courtesy : Recycling Today.