Alcoa Foundation and DoSomething.org Partner on '50 Cans,? Largest Youth-led Aluminum Can Recycling Drive
Every 50 Cans Recycled Gets Teens that Much Closer to a $5,000
Scholarship
Starting today, Alcoa Foundation and DoSomething.org, the largest U.S.
organization for teens and social change, will run the biggest
youth-led aluminum can recycling drive in the country, targeting
high school students. The goal of the drive is to activate a minimum of
40,000 young people across the U.S. to participate in the campaign,
which runs from today through December 18, 2012. It is part of Alcoa
Foundation′s 2012 Clinton Global Initiative commitment, in which the
organization will grant a minimum of $2 million over 2012 and 2013 to
fund new, innovative recycling programs throughout the United States
that educate and activate students of all ages, incentivize behavior
change, and increase access to recycling programs.
Aluminum is infinitely recyclable, but not everyone knows this -
especially teens. Many schools have recycling programs that encourage
students to recycle, but they don′t talk about why recycling aluminum is
important or have fun and valuable incentives for teens to participate.
'50 Cans? will use an innovative model to educate and encourage teens
nationally to recycle aluminum cans that otherwise would be thrown in
the trash. It is estimated that more than $800 million worth of aluminum
is buried in landfills each year. That′s not only a boatload of valuable
aluminum; it′s also a lot of wasted energy. Recycling just one can
provides enough energy to listen to a whole album on your iPod, with six
cans you can watch all eight of the Harry Potter movies and with 100 you
can keep your bedroom light on for two whole weeks.
Using the web, social media, and text messaging, teens who run drives
will get the chance to win a $5,000 scholarship. Every 50 cans collected
means one more ticket into the scholarship lottery! Participants will
also get additional opportunities to win the scholarship by sharing
statistics about aluminum recycling with friends via text.
'Alcoa Foundation is excited to partner with DoSomething.org to educate,
empower and motivate teens to recycle and initiate recycling programs in
their towns and schools,? says Paula Davis, president, Alcoa Foundation.
'To increase recycling rates, Alcoa focuses on building awareness,
providing greater access to infrastructure and offering incentives that
inspire behavior change. DoSomething.org is a great partner to mobilize
young people and help us achieve these objectives creatively for maximum
community impact.'
'DoSomething.org encourages young people to take action around the
issues they care about, and we know one of those issues is the
environment,? notes Alyssa Ruderman, DoSomething.org campaign lead for
'50 Cans.? 'Cans are everywhere ? the lunchroom, the movie theatre, the
mall ?everywhere that teens are. We′re excited to partner with Alcoa in
challenging our members to make an impact by collecting and recycling in
their communities.?
About Alcoa Foundation
Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the
U.S., with assets of approximately US$446 million. Founded more than 50
years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than US$550 million since
1952. In 2011, Alcoa Foundation contributed more than US$20 million to
nonprofit organizations throughout the world, building innovative
partnerships, engaging its people to improve the environment and
educating tomorrow′s leaders. The work of Alcoa Foundation is further
enhanced by Alcoa′s thousands of employee volunteers who share their
energy, passion and purpose to make a difference in the communities
where Alcoa operates. Through the company′s signature Month of Service
program, in 2011, a record 56 percent of Alcoa employees took part in
more than 1,200 events across 24 countries, reaching 81,000 children,
serving 9,000 meals, planting 34,000 trees and supporting 1,800
nonprofit organizations. More information can be found at ?www.alcoafoundation.com.
About Alcoa
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) is the world′s leading producer of primary and
fabricated aluminum, as well as the world′s largest miner of bauxite and
refiner of alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum
industry, Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the
aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial
transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets over the
past 120 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are flat-rolled
products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa ? wheels,
fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building
systems in addition to its expertise in other light metals such as
titanium and nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral
part of Alcoa′s operating practices and the product design and
engineering it provides to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow
Jones Sustainability Index for 11 consecutive years and approximately 75
percent of all of the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in
active use today. Alcoa employs approximately 61,000 people in 31
countries across the world. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.
About DoSomething.org
We love teens. They are creative, active, wired... and frustrated that
our world is so messed up. DoSomething.org harnesses that awesome energy
and unleashes it on causes teens care about. Almost every week, we
launch a new national campaign. The call to action is always something
that has a real impact and doesn't require money, an adult, or a car.
With a goal of 5 million active members by 2015, DoSomething.org is one
of the largest organizations in the US for teens and social change. Join
us at www.DoSomething.org.
Alcoa Foundation
Suzanne Van de Raadt, 212-836-2661