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Recyclebank's Bucks

Wouldn’t it be cool to turn a binful of empty cans, bottles, and old newspapers into a monthly credit at your local Starbucks?

Consumers in a growing number of municipalities can do just that, through a new program known as Recyclebank that allows them to earn coupons from local retail shops by recycling garbage out of their homes.

Recyclebank was launched by two Philadelphia natives who thought they could motivate people to recycle more if they paid them for it. They were right. Recycling is up in the two Philly neighborhoods that were involved in the pilot project and the city is now considering expanding the program. Recyclebank has also sold its program to several municipalities in the mid-Atlantic and New England regions.

By encouraging more recycling of household waste, this project helps reduce the amount of garbage sent to landfills, and it reduces carbon dioxide emissions by reducing garbage incineration and reducing the need to create more plastic, paper, and glass. It also helps conserve resources and slow global warming by cutting emissions harmful to the earth’s atmosphere.

For example, the Environmental Protection Agency reports that recycling household waste can reduce the typical home’s carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 850 pounds per year. According to the University of Massachusetts, recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.

For more information on this story, click here or  visit www.recyclebank.com.

To learn more about the benefits of recycling, click here.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org