Recycling & Waste Reduction District of Porter County Briefs: America Recycles Day Contests, Prescription Take-Back Day

recycling-waste-reduction-district-of-porter-countyBoone Grove Compost Site Extends Hours
The Recycling & Waste Reduction District of Porter County will continue extended hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 23 and 24, at the Boone Grove Compost Site, 546 S. 400 W., to help residents impacted by Saturday's storm.

Residents can bring branches and other organic debris from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Porter County School Video Contest Deadline Oct. 24
Show the world that Porter County thinks recycling is COOL! The Recycling & Waste Reduction District of Porter County and Metro Recycling present a video contest for America Recycles Day (ARD) 2014!

Porter County school teachers, volunteers and staff are invited to create a one-minute original video to promote recycling in Porter County! Videos can be musical, educational, entertaining, but they all must convey how important, hip, and great recycling is!

The video and entry materials must be completed by noon, Friday, Oct. 24. All appropriate entries will be posted on the District's website, www.ItMeansTheWorld.org, for public vote between Nov. 1 and 10. The video with the most votes will win a new bench made out of 1,550 milk jugs for their school or class!

Details and guidelines.

Download the flyer.

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
Saturday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

At this time, these local law enforcement agencies are participating:

Porter County Sheriff Department, 2755 State Rd. 49, Valparaiso
Valparaiso Police Department, 355 Washington St.
Portage Police Department, 2693 Irving St.

Check this link for additions or to find a site near you!

International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) poster contest
Be Loyal to Your Soil: Compost!
The US Composting Council (USCC) announces the annual Call for Entries for the annual International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) poster contest, based on this year's theme, Be Loyal to Your Soil: Compost!

The contest runs September 1 through November 15, and is open to anyone who wishes to share their artistic interpretation of the theme. The winning poster will serve as the 2015 International Compost Awareness Week promotional media piece and be distributed to more than 800 US Composting Council members, state recycling offices and non-profit organizations nationwide.

Find out more!

High School Video Competition!
As a part of America Recycles Day (ARD), the Indiana Recycling Coalition (IRC) is hosting a recycling video contest. This year's theme is "I Want to be Recycled."

The IRC is looking for Indiana high school students (grades 9 through 12) to produce 30-second videos to help educate Hoosiers on the environmental impacts of recycling.

This year's theme focuses on the value of recycled goods and what they can become if they are recycled rather than thrown in the trash. Participating schools will have the opportunity to receive cash prizes for their work.

Find out more!

KAB School Recycle-Bowl Competition
Registration is under way for the Keep America Beautiful Recycle-Bowl Competition! The contest is broken up into three division categories:

School Division (Statewide Competitions and National Title). Compete in this division if your school will be tracking only the recyclable materials it generates from within the school and the school may not solicit materials from the general public, home, businesses, groups, or organizations. Each state and the District of Columbia will have one winning school based on the weight of recyclable material collected per capita (students + teachers).
Community Division (National competition only). Compete in this category if your school collects recyclable material not only from the school but from individuals, groups and organizations in its surrounding community, and may solicit and accept recyclable donations from parent's homes or businesses, individuals, groups and organizations. The Abitibi Paper Retriever, SP Recycling or the Pepsi Recycle Rally are examples of a community recycling program. These schools will track the weight of their recyclables and divide it by their school's per capita (defined under the Tracking and Reporting section) to compete nationally against other similarly categorized schools (rather than in the state champion category) that are eligible to win the title.
District Division (National competition only). Whole school districts that are unable to break out recycling data for each individual school can compete nationally against other school districts. Each district will track the weight of its recyclables and divide it by the total number of students, teachers and administrators. This category only includes recyclables generated by the district. Only districts that report official weights (defined under the Tracking and Reporting section) are eligible to win the title and compete against other similarly categorized districts.

Sign up and put Porter County on the map!