Best Blue Bin on the Block Contest

Do you recycle with abandon? Do you know everything that goes in the blue bin and remind your friends and family on a regular basis? If so, OCRRA has a treat for you - the Best Blue Bin on the Block Contest is back!

OCRRA likes to recycle, so we resurrected this much loved contest as a way to thank great recyclers and to commemorate 20 years of recycling in Onondaga County.

CONTEST DETAILS: 

• Duration: From August 1 to November 30, 2010 OCRRA will travel the county in search of stellar households blue bins (businesses are not eligible).
• Judging Criteria: Contents in your bin must follow OCRRA’s recycling guidelines.
  
  Remember, #5 plastic containers are now recyclable in your blue bin, along with all the usual suspects including cardboard, newspaper, magazines, catalogs, junk mail, office paper, all plastic bottles, metal cans, milk and juice cartons, aseptic drink boxes, clean aluminum foil, etc.
  
  As a reminder, these things DO NOT belong in your blue bin - plastic bags, chains, wood, plastic containers that aren’t bottles or aren’t #5 containers, syringes, etc.
• Prizes: Each month, (August, September, October, and November), 25 winners will be selected and awarded a $10 gift card to Byrne Dairy. Thanks to Byrne Dairy for generously donating all 100 of these gift cards.
  
  In December, five runners-up and two grand prize winners will be randomly selected from all of the stellar blue bins observed.

The first runner-up will receive a gift certificate for "Dinner for Two" at Rachel's at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel ($75 value); the second runner up will receive 4 tickets to a Syracuse Crunch Hockey game ($68 value - valid at any home game during the 2010-2011 season); the third runner up will receive a “Sunday Brunch for Two” certificate from the Regatta Bar & Grill at the Double Tree Hotel in East Syracuse; the fourth and fifth runners-up will each receive a $50 gift certificate to Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse in Liverpool.

The two grand prize winners will each receive an eco-friendly, SONY VAIO Notebook (Model #: VPCW212AX/WI, valued at $500).

The SONY VAIO Notebook boasts the following green features:

• Made of recycled CDs (23%);
• Carrying case is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles;
• Energy Star Qualified;
• Ranked ‘Gold Level’ on the EPA’s electronic rating system (EPEAT)
• SONY also has a take-back program with a local outlet, for when you want to recycle the VAIO at the end of its lifespan! (NewTech Recycling, 110 Hiawatha Place, Syracuse)
  

RockTenn, a local cardboard recycling company, generously purchased both of the grand prize computers, and Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse provided the gift certificates to their restaurant.

Robert Carpenter, Fiber Procurement Manager at RockTenn, stated: “We applaud our community’s outstanding commitment to recycling, and are pleased to support the 20th Anniversary of OCRRA’s recycling program and the Best Blue Bin on the Block Contest.  RockTenn’s recycling facility in Solvay, and its team of 250 people, recycles approximately 800,000 tons of corrugated cardboard and paper every year to produce paper that will be used to produce corrugated boxes, and it all happens right here in Onondaga County. The process hinges upon strong community and individual recycling practices at school, at home and at work. ”

Contact OCRRA if you have any questions about what can and cannot go in your blue bin. Happy recycling!