Using Recycling to Raise School Funds
Alternatives to Traditional Fundraising to Increase School Budget
Aug 18, 2009
Green is the new gold when it comes to raising funds through recycling efforts. Recycling fundraisers are very attractive because they cost the contributor nothing except their trash and leave donors feeling good about adding to the school budget and making the planet a little greener. Green fundraising possibilities include traditional recyclables such as paper, cans, and cardboard, and not so traditional items such as printer cartridges, cell phones, and drink pouches.
Recycling Fundraiser Benefits
Recycling programs benefit the school, the community, and the environment. Schools that commit to recycling offer their students and greater community the opportunity to participate in creating a cleaner environment and become a part of the renewable lifecycle. In communities where recycling programs are not a part of trash services, the school’s fundraising efforts can also promote awareness and participation in harvesting trash to create renewable and reusable products.
Recycling communities cut landfill use and the consumption of other resources such as electricity and water. Students and parents are not ask to sell anything and often only need to contribute time to manage the return and rebate processes of the program. Donors are not required to purchase anything. They are only asked to take a little time to collect and deliver the requested recyclable materials.
Recycling Programs
The school community can benefit both monetarily and environmentally from upcycling as a fundraiser. Upcycling is the process of creating products from disposable materials such as chip bags or cookie wrappers. Upcycled Lay’s© potato chip bags can be converted into folders, pencil bags, and other useful products that are resold in the community and purchased by students as school supplies perpetuating the renewable lifecycle. The program pays $.02 per approved bag.
How about a drink pouch to wash down your chips? Terracycle.net will pay $.02 for every drink pouch returned to them. Postage and packaging are paid. Simply collect the drink pouches sans straws, place in the provided mailers, and send. Funds are paid out twice a year in January and June.
Funding Factory provides the opportunity to earn cash or points for recycling laser and ink printer cartridges and cell phones. Simply collect ink cartridges, laser cartridges, or cell phones from the approved list, pack according to the packing instructions provided, and ship using a prepaid label via UPS. This company holds funds in an account until the school requests a check or uses points to purchase a variety of items through their extensive catalog, such as basketball goals, Lego Educational Sets, or audio and visual equipment. The Funding Factory holds various contests throughout the year for chances to win additional points or prizes such as AMC movie tickets or gift cards.
Traditional paper, cardboard, and plastic recycling companies, such as Abititi, place commercial dumpsters at the school site to collect materials year round. The company is responsible for hauling materials collected. These programs are low maintenance and easy to manage. They typically cut a check to the school several times throughout the year. Some companies track statistics of how many trees saved, homes energized, etc. base upon end of year tonnage collected. These stats are a fun way to connect with supporters and convey the concrete outcomes of the program.
Economical and low maintenance school recycling fundraising programs are attractive. These programs benefit the students, parents, and school community by offering no hassle fundraising while contributing to the school budget and the environmental wellness of the world.
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