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Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders

Recycle.

Empower.

Lead.

The Recycling Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to teaching kids that they should never throw aluminum cans in the trash. Through our Million Cans Recycling Contest, students learn that aluminum is recyclable forever—and it has real value. Best of all, schools keep 100% of the money they earn from the cans they collect and recycle!
Meet the team

Our Mission

Our mission is to teach students how recycling works and show how they can help.
Children deeply want to help make our world a better place, but are not often given the opportunity to do so.

Through our Million Cans Recycling Contest, students are given the platform to become recycling superheroes — at their school and in their community.

What We Do

As the leader in recycling education in the United States, we empower communities by providing schools with the tools, knowledge, and partnerships they need to turn sustainability into action. Through hands-on learning, real-world connections, and impactful initiatives, we inspire the next generation to protect our planet—one recycled item at a time.

Inspiring Young Minds with Storybooks

We donate engaging, recycling-themed storybooks to elementary students that spark curiosity and eco-friendly habits from an early age.
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Schools + Scrapyards = A Winning Team

Schools love how easy and fun it is to recycle with local scrapyards! Students make a real impact and teachers enjoy the seamless process. See what schools are saying!
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Find Drop-Off Locations across the USA

Use our interactive map to find participating schools and scrapyards where you can drop off cans. Every recycled can helps support schools. Start making a difference today!
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Our Achievements

Across the nation, our initiative sparks an environmental revolution in schools and communities alike. We inspire young minds through hands-on education and real-world recycling challenges, transforming everyday actions into extraordinary change. Join us as we turn waste into a brighter, greener future.

States

Schools

Books Distributed

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Cans Recycled

♻️ State-by-State Impact

We start with the states that have the lowest recycling rates—because that’s where we can make the biggest difference. Every can counts, and by focusing our efforts where the need is greatest, we’re helping build momentum for a cleaner, greener future.
🗺️ State ♻️ Cans Recycled
Kentucky1,226,510
Texas476,370
Indiana369,430
Mississippi354,470
Pennsylvania341,190
Alabama124,605
South Carolina46,200
West Virginia99,460
Missouri67,900
Louisiana49,455
Washington26,460
Illinois1,435
♻️ TOTAL 2,976,645
Recycling Education delivered to schools through a non-profit

Our winning formula

Education + Convenience + Competition + Incentive = Increased Recycling Rate

Education

Capturing the imagination of children through engaging stories involving unicorns will lead them to believe that recycling is like magic! This is the spark that moves them into action much like the characters in the award winning book, The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans. The story explains that a problem exists that they can help solve. Aluminum cans (used beverage containers) are not being recycled and are often found in parks, schools, and in the trash. The book explains how recycling works and that simply picking up discarded cans helps the planet.

Convenience

Schools participating in the Millions Cans Recycling Contest receive a roll-off bin from a local recycling center (scrapyard) which is typically positioned in the school parking lot for ease of access to students, teachers, and parents. One of the main deterrents to recycling is a lack of convenient drop-off locations. Most recycling centers are located on the outskirts of town making it challenging for on the go families to recycle their beverage containers.

Competition

School spirit can be displayed in a variety of ways. One of the most common methods is by competing in sports with other schools. Winning is a good feeling and often brings out the best in each participant. Friendly competition with other schools in various States motivates students to collect as many cans as possible. While collecting the most cans is certainly a motivation, we have added cash prizes for schools that recycle the most cans. The entire school and community come together to become the can champion.

Incentive

Even though prizes are only awarded to winning schools, aluminum cans are a valuable commodity. Schools in deposit states redeem their cans for the posted value in their State while schools in non-deposit States are paid by the pound for their cans. 35 cans equal 1 pound. At the end of the competition, the recycler connected with each school sends a check for the total amount of cans collected. In some cases, this equates to thousands of dollars which is a significant amount of unexpected funding. Some schools have used these funds to improve playgrounds, purchase gym equipment, and even buy new bleachers.

Increased Recycling Rate

Our program targets States with low recycling rates - see map below. 1.3 million cans were collected during the 2023-2024 school year. As the program expands across States and into more schools, this amount will begin to alter the recycling rate within each State and the entire country.

Behavioral Change

Enacting behavioural change is the primary objective behind our recycling contest. Throwing used beverage containers in the trash is a learned behavior that must be eliminated. Changing the behavior of adults is extremely difficult as they have formed bad habits over their lifetime. Teaching children about the importance of recycling and how their choices affect the planet will set the right habits for the remainder of their lives. Each student participating in our recycling contest is required to make a pledge. “I promise to never throw a can in the trash for the rest of my life.” Armed with their newfound knowledge, these children will hold their parents, relatives, and friends accountable which will lead to even more lifetime recyclers.
Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders

Donate today to produce behavioral change in your community.

Recycling is confusing and accurate information is difficult to find. This leads to recyclable materials being disposed of in the garbage. Due to this problem, our landfills continue to grow out of control with items that should have been recycled. The Recycling Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to solving this problem with our proven formula.
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The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans

This inspiring children’s book tells the story of a young girl who set out to make a difference—one can at a time. Her journey to recycle one million cans has captured hearts and sparked change in classrooms and communities across the USA. Students everywhere are taking action, launching their own recycling projects, and proving that no one is too small to make a big impact. 🌎♻️

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Get Involved

Does your school want to participate in our recycling contest?

Millions of cans have already been collected and recycled by hundreds of students across the country. 
Join us in making a differnce today!
Contact us today

Recycling Superheroes!

Finding purpose can be a lifelong journey. Becoming a recycling superhero is something that any child can become regardless of their age. Being good at something instills confidence which lends itself to a variety of life opportunities.
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Recycling Education for all!

The Recycling Society partners with elementary schools across the country to create sustainable recycling programs that make a difference in the lives of children and the communities they live in. 

Students

We teach children how to recycle with engaging storybooks that spark their imagination. Through the use of donations, every student receives their very own copy of The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans. This award winning book is the catalyst for change. 

Teachers

We provide the resources necessary for teachers to roll out a sustainable recycling program. Teachers are connected with local recycling centers that provide roll-off bin service to store and collect used beverage containers. When the bin is full, it is weighed and the total number of recycled cans are reported to the teachers so they can share with their students. 

Community

Engaging local businesses and civil servants to help the school achieve their recycling goals builds stronger communities that can rally around something positive. 

42 schools and counting. Our recycling program continues to grow each year. Focusing on the States with the lowest recycling rates is our priority. We will continue to donate resources to more schools in each of these States in an effort to bring them inline with the national average

Let's work together

We’d love to hear from you!
  • 114 W Magnolia St, Suite # 400-107
    Bellingham, WA 98225
  • Phone: 425.440.1701
  • E-Mail: Jess@Recyclingsociety.org
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The Recycling Society’s application to be tax exempt under IRC 501(c)(3) is pending.

Donations to The Recycling Society may qualify as deductions on your business or personal tax returns. Please consult your tax advisor. EIN Assigned:33-2569312

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