Vernon Hills School Helps Recycle 2.5+ Million Pouches

From TerraCycle and Entenmann’s Little Bites: Through a free, national recycling program partnership with TerraCycle, sponsored by Entenmann’s Little Bites®, Hawthorn Elementary School South has helped the nationwide collection reach the milestone of 2.5 million snack pouches diverted from the waste stream. Along with keeping the pouches out of landfills, collectors earn points that can be redeemed for cash donations to the non-profit or school of the collector’s choice. Through the efforts of collectors like Hawthorn’s student body, donations have just passed $40,000.

“We appreciate the ease of the program and the rewards are a wonderful perk for our school. This year, we have a committee of children, ‘The Courage Committee’ that have goals to plant trees on our campus and have the courage committee to the help the earth with the $600.00 we have earned in your program,” said Jill Martin, the school’s principal. “Becoming a top collector was easy for us. We feed 770 children each day and at the end of each lunch period, the children put their designated brigade items in our collection bins. We pride ourselves on collecting four different brigade items and at the end of each week, Sally prints the labels and sends in the items. Our students really enjoy participating in the program and knowing they are helping to make a difference in their own future.”

TerraCycle is an international recycling company that finds innovative solutions for materials not typically accepted at municipal recycling facilities. Through free recycling programs, participants collect waste and ship using a pre-paid shipping label to TerraCycle for processing. TerraCycle recycles the waste into plastic that can be used for products such as park benches, recycling bins and playgrounds.

“The sustainability of our future and environment are so important for the children of generations to come. Entenmann’s Little Bites feels honored and proud to stand next to TerraCycle in such an important global issue.” – Kim Bremer, Category Director

The Entenmann’s Little Bites® Pouch Recycling Program is open to any individual, school or organization interested in reducing local landfill waste. To learn more about TerraCycle, please visit www.terracycle.com.

Images via TerraCycle and Entenmann’s Little Bites