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Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! The legislative session has begun, planning is in full swing for several projects in 2015 and our June conference agenda is filling up with cutting edge recycling program, policy and industry topics.
I am very excited to let you know about a new focus of the IRC. After 6 years of rapid growth - opening an office in Indy, building our organization from one part-time employee to 4 full-time employees (plus our regular slew of talented graduate student interns) - we are ready to grow our impact in a new way. This year we are taking on a new project: increased access to recycling in Indianapolis.
As a state-wide organization, we have intentionally focused on state-wide initiatives including our legislative work, annual conference, state-wide programs such as recycling bin grants, and our Indiana recycling jobs study. We will continue this work and will continue to grow our state-wide impact.
Now, with additional resources provided by Indianapolis-based funders, we will also be able to help Indiana's capital city. Several funders and community partners have approached us to do this much-needed work in the community. We are now prepared to take the plunge.
We look forward to sharing details of this work via this newsletter and social media in the months ahead. In the meantime, stay tuned for notices about our important legislative agenda. We will be working to update and fully fund Indiana's dedicated recycling grant fund. If our request is successful, more Hoosiers will have convenient access to recycling. As recycling rates rise, Indiana manufacturers will also have access to
much-needed recycling feedstock, creating new green jobs as well as promoting resource and energy conservation.
Sustainably yours,
Carey
Carey Hamilton
Executive Director
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In 2013, Eli Lilly donated over 9,000 recycling bins to the IRC, spurring the creation of the Bins for Schools program.
This new program gave us the resources needed to grant recycling bins to schools across Indiana. The Bins for Schools program has enabled schools to teach students of all ages about the importance of waste management and sustainability.
Thanks to Lilly's generous donation, the IRC was able to donate nearly 8,000 bins to 165 schools, reaching over 110,000 students across the State of Indiana.
The remaining recycling bins were donated to Teachers' Treasures in Indianapolis. Teachers' Treasures is a 501(c)3 organization that provides free, donated materials to teachers in need since 2000. CLICK HERE to visit their website.
We look forward to continuing to support K-12 recycling education through the
Hoosier State.
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The IRC is excited to once again promote this university recycling competition. This friendly competition serves as
a benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction to their campuses.
Starting January 18th, colleges and universities across
the U.S. and Canada will compete over an 8-week period, reporting the amount of trash and recycling collected
each week.
Participating schools are ranked in various categories: who recycles the most per capita, who has the best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste, and who generates the least amount of combined trash and recycling.
Last year, Purdue University-West Lafayette campus lead the Grand Champion competition in Indiana. So far, 6 Indiana colleges and universities are signed up to compete for the RecycleMania title. Who will claim the RecycleMania title? Winners will be announced in April; stay tuned!
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Sustainability is a priority at Monarch Beverage. We are continually exploring ways to conserve water, reduce company waste, and lower energy consumption. In an effort to become a more environmentally-friendly company, we participate in a number of initiatives.
We recycle. When products go out of date, Monarch Beverage recycles them 100%. All unsalable beer and wine is transported from the Monarch Beverage facility to Kremer Family Farmers. At Kremer, the beer and wine goes through an extractor that converts the alcohol into methane. The leftover product is combined with other products and used for animal feed. The bottles and cans are then recycled.
We conserve. The Monarch Beverage facility was created with the environment in mind. Among a variety of design elements targeting sustainability and energy conservation Monarch's new facility incorporates daylight views in over 70% of the office space as well as providing natural lighting through windows in the warehouse. Monarch has incorporated florescent lighting in the new warehouse, added motion sensors to the lighting, installed a white reflective thermoplastic polyolefin roof, and an HVAC system that exceeds all of the 2012 ASHRAE requirements. Employees are encouraged to use the recycling bins conveniently located throughout the building.
We reduce. At Monarch Beverage, we believe having greener, cleaner Hoosier communities matter. In 2011, we began converting our fleet to CNG and built an
on-site compressed natural gas fueling station. The conversion displaces 1MM gallons of diesel and reduces CO2 emissions by 1,500 tons annually.
Monarch Beverage also collaborates with great organizations like the IRC to support recycling and other environmental initiatives across Indiana. As an Indiana, family-owned company, we feel it is our responsibility to increase sustainability efforts in the communities that we serve and help educate Hoosiers on the importance of recycling and adopting eco-friendly practices.
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The Center for a New American Dream conducted a national survey last year on attitudes about wealth, sharing, materialism, and more. What they found suggests some important shifts in America's consumption patterns and a strong foundation for a more sustainable approach. This webinar will explore these survey results and how they compare to similar polling on issues of well-being, climate change, and consumption.
DATE: Tuesday, January 27, 2014 TIME: 12:30 - 2 PM EST COST: FREE
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Speakers will discuss new findings and recommendations on the most effective infrastructure for increasing recycling in the workplace based on Keep America Beautiful's recent research in partnership with Action Research and Pepsi . Participants will walk away with new expertise and tips to implement in their own offices or share with local businesses.
DATE: Wednesday February 4, 2015 TIME: 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST COST: FREE
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708 E. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202�
317-632-5915
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