Dominican College has been awarded a grant as part of a national recycling bin access program made possible by Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and The Coca-Cola Foundation. The College will use the 70 donated bins to ensure that all locations on campus have multiple recycling stations and that recycling efforts are highly visible.
In its 9th year, the Coca-Cola/KAB Recycling Bin Grant Program is providing nearly 4,500 recycling bins to colleges and universities, nonprofits, and local governments, with 35 percent of the total to be used by students in collegiate residence halls.
According to Rachel B. Lerner Colucci, M.Ed, Assistant Dean for Student Development, “As a campus community we are focused on creating a culture of sustainability and are committed to recycling as one way to work toward that goal. Our students want to leave a smaller footprint on the earth. The addition of the KAB bins will ensure that each of our residence halls and student centers reflects our commitment and supports our efforts.”
Coca-Cola has expanded its investment in the bin grant program to include two-year community colleges, with 15 recycling bin grants going to two-year colleges and 28 grants going to traditional four-year colleges and universities nation-wide.
At Dominican College, Chancellor for External Affairs, Sr. Kathleen Sullivan has been working with faculty, staff, and students to bring greater awareness to issues of sustainability. This grant directly supports her efforts and those of Dominican College students to help make the College a greener campus. Said Sister Sullivan, “We are delighted to have been selected and to have our commitment to recycling recognized.”
“Through this program and our more than 50-year partnership with Keep America Beautiful, we are helping to ensure that communities understand the importance of recycling,” said Lori George Billingsley, vice president, community relations, Coca-Cola North America. “Community recycling not only impacts the environment today, but it helps build sustainable communities for the future.”
“By providing recycling bins to communities, organizations, and universities, we can make a difference in increasing recycling in the U.S. and help overcome a main barrier of recycling – convenience,” said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president, recycling, Keep America Beautiful. “We are truly grateful for Coca-Cola’s continued support and commitment to recycling, and the Recycling Bin Grant Program.”
Recipients were chosen by Keep America Beautiful based on criteria including the extent of their need, recycling experience, and their ability to sustain the program in the future. Special outreach was made to colleges and universities through a partnership with the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC), a membership organization serving campus recycling managers.
The Coca-Cola/KAB Recycling Bin Grant Program awards recycling bins directly to recipients and leverages volume buying discounts. Since 2007, the program has placed more than 35,000 recycling bins in over 500 communities across the U.S. A full list of the spring 2014 Recycling Bin Grant recipients and further information about the grant program is available at http://bingrant.org.
About Dominican College
The aim of Dominican College is to promote educational excellence, leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the individual and concern for the community. Committed to building its programs upon a strong liberal arts foundation, the College maintains a student-centered climate and offers an array of degree opportunities in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Business, and the professions on the graduate and undergraduate levels. Dominican College is dedicated to the principle that its educational programs and services must be both challenging and supportive, distinguished both by high standards and by attention to the needs and potential of the individual student.
About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a national network of community-based affiliates, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visit kab.org, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.
About The Coca-Cola Foundation
Since its inception, The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded more than $660 million to support global sustainable community initiatives, including water stewardship women’s empowerment and well-being. For more information about The Coca-Cola Foundation, please go to www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/foundation_coke.html.
About the College & University Recycling Coalition
The College & University Recycling Coalition (CURC) is a membership-based nonprofit organization made up of campus-based recycling and sustainability professionals seeking to exchange technical knowledge and best practices on recycling and waste reduction programs between institutions of higher learning. Originally formed in 1992, CURC became a technical council of the National Recycling Coalition in 1995 before branching off as an independent organization in 2009. Today, CURC counts nearly 900 members and is led by a board of directors made up of recycling and sustainability program managers from universities across the United States. Among other initiatives, CURC supports collegiate recycling programs through a free webinar series, annual workshops, a quarterly e-newsletter, the development of best-practices manuals and toolkits. For more information, go to www.curc3r.org.