Green Cup Recycle Challenge Instructions

Mark Your Calendar

National Recycle Challenge
November 4-27, 2013
Registration opening soon

Princeton Day School "Poetry Pals"

It's Easy! Here is How It Works...

Green Cup Action Levels

Recycling Heroes = 90-100 points
Recycling Steward = 70-89 points
Recycling Ally = Fewer than 70 points

Questions about the Challenge? Like to be a sponsor? recycle@greencupchallenge.net

Register, Survey Bins, Send in Data

1. Registration - Check back for dates

2. Bins - Pick the locations for the bins in your survey. There can be more than one bin per location.  You do not need to survey all the bins in your school just pick a representative sample. Try to use 20 or more bins. Try half trash and half recycling bins.

3. Survey Day - You can take your survey any day of the week. Enter your results no later than 3:00 PM on Fridays.

4. Check Trash Bins

• Ignore empty trash bins - they do not count as "correct" or "incorrect"

• The trash bin will be scored as "correct" if it does not contain recyclable items

• If the trash bin contains one or more recyclable item it is scored as "incorrect"

5. Check Recycling Bins

• Ignore empty recycling bins - they do not count as "correct" or "incorrect"

• The recycling bin will be scored as "correct" if it does not contain any trash items

• If the recycling bin contains one or more trash items, it is scored as "incorrect"

6. Calculate Data - Download these handy Instructions and Worksheet. Print out the worksheet for easy data collection and use the spreadsheet to make the calculations.

For each location, enter the number of bins in the appropriate columns. Below is a short example of the worksheet.

The worksheet will automatically calculate the "Percent Correct" for each type of bin. It will also calculate the "Percent Correct for All Bins". This is the number you will submit for each week. For the final results, percentages will be converted to points.

If you are calculating by hand, divide the number of bins (trash and recycling) that contain only the correct items by the total number of bins counted. Multiply by 100 to get the percent of bins that contain the correct items.

7. Submit Weekly Data - Complete this survey once per week for the 4 weeks of the Fall Recycling Challenge. Click the correct week below to submit your data by Friday at 3:00 PM.

If you miss a week due to a school break or other reason, you may complete two surveys in another week to make up for it.

8. Earn waste reduction Bonus Points. Complete the waste reduction survey once during the challenge. You earn bonus points for programs that were implemented both before and during the Green Cup Recycle Challenge. Here is the Bonus Point List...

March 7, 2013