Recyclebank Green Your School Year Challenge Launches

Earlier this year, Recyclebank and Google released a study explaining how online contests, rewards and interactive content can engage people around social and environmental issues, and influence off-line behavior change.

Recyclebank is a master at that. The company’s success is based on rewarding people with free shopping coupons based on the amount they recycle at home. This small difference has radically raised municipal recycling rates to as high as 90% in towns around the US.

Now, Recyclebank is challenging families nationwide to make environmentally responsible decisions as kids head back to school.

The Green Your School Year Challenge runs through the end of September in three stages: back-to-school school shopping, the first day of school and after school activities.

Through each stage of the challenge, participants take interactive quizzes, make pledges and learn relevant eco-friendly tips. For each challenge completed, pledged or referred to a friend, participants earn points towards their overall score. The points can also be redeemed for discounts from local retailers.

The Challenge’s highest scorers and those who have referred the most friends have a chance to win more than 100 prizes, including a grand prize package featuring a $2,500 Macy’s gift card, a $2,500 Bodhi electric bicycle, a $2,500 local grocer gift card from Ziploc and a NOOK Color eReader.

"As the school year goes into full swing for families across America, we urge everyone to examine their daily school year activities and consider how they impact the environment," says Jonathan Hsu, CEO at Recyclebank. "Whether it’s packing a waste-free lunch, buying sustainably packaged school supplies or recycling your old computer, it’s the perfect time to get the entire family thinking green as, collectively, we can make a measurable difference on our planet."