To help celebrate America Recycles Day Nov. 15, Keep Akron Beautiful (KAB), in conjunction with the River Valley Paper Company, is hosting the 3rd annual mixed paper drive competition in 24 Akron Public Schools and eight private schools in the Akron area.

During this month-long competition through Nov. 15, community residents and local businesses can 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.

Currently, bins are located at the following Akron Public School Locations: Helen Arnold CLC, Betty Jane CLC, Case Elementary School, Firestone Park Elementary School, Forest Hill CLC, Glover CLC, Seiberling Elementary School, David Hill CLC, Leggett CLC, Judith Resnick CLC, McEbright CLC, Sam Salem CLC, Voris CLC, Findley CLC, East 7-8 CLC, Miller South School of the Visual & Performing Arts, Hyre CLC, Innes CLC, Mason CLC, Litchfield Middle School, Kenmore High School, North High School, Ellet High School, and Buchtel High School. The following private school locations are also included in our competition: Chapel Hill Christian School, Discovery Montessori School, Hoban High School, Imagine School, Old Trail School, Our Lady of the Elms, Saint Mary School and The Edge Academy.

To increase participation, the top elementary, middle and high school to recycle the most paper per pound, per student will win a prize. The winning elementary school will win a school-wide pizza party and a $250 cash prize, while the winning middle and high schools will each win a $500 cash prize and a field trip tour of the River Valley Paper Company plant for 50 students and faculty.

New this year: we will be awarding the school with the most pounds of paper collected OVERALL with a $250 cash prize. Another $250 cash prize will be given to a school that has improved the most from 2012 to 2013. This award will be deemed "Most Improved." A poster contest is taking place for the second year, and the winning student will receive a $50 American Express Gift Card and will be featured in our 2014 local marketing. The teacher who submits the poster will also receive a $50 American Express Gift Card. 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 two years ago, Keep America Beautiful used KAB's program as the template for their national competition. Along with the prizes listed above, all 32 schools have the chance to win an additional $1,000, $750 or $500 through the national Recycle Bowl Competition.

This paper drive was designed to prove that Akron's school staff and students, parents, community members and local businesses can help save trees, which help purge the atmosphere of greenhouse gases, by giving their trash a second life. The receptacles are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 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 more information on the mixed paper drive, contact Jacqui Flaherty at Keep Akron Beautiful, (330) 375-2116

Courtesy of the Akronist

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