October 22 , 2009
CONTACT: Carlton Carroll
(202) 463-2587, direct
(202) 212-9361, mobile
carlton_carroll@afandpa.org

 

AF&PA AND SCHOLASTIC unveil new educational paper rECYCLING
materials for classrooms

WASHINGTON – With the new school year underway, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) and Scholastic today unveiled an updated version of their Recycling Starts with You! educational program.  Distributed nationwide in print  to 100,000 teachers/classrooms and more than 2.5 million students, this program includes a mini-poster featuring standards-based math, science, and language arts lessons about paper recycling for third- through sixth-grade students.

The new resources are also available online at www.scholastic.com/recycling and at www.paperrecycles.org, along with how-to guides, statistics, and interactive features for educators and students.  Also available online is information on the annual AF&PA Recycling Awards, which recognize outstanding school, office, and business paper recycling programs with monetary prizes and national recognition.

“Improving awareness and education has been vital to our successfully increasing paper recovery by almost 80 percent since 1990.  We are pleased to provide materials that empower students to take action that has tremendous benefits for our schools, communities, and environment,” said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman.

In 2008, a record-high 57.4 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling.  Efforts to educate the next generation of recyclers will hopefully guarantee the continuation of one of America’s great environmental success stories.

Since 2006, AF&PA and Scholastic have partnered to help more than 400,000 educators and 10 million students and their families improve their environmental and recycling literacy.  To download the new materials and find recycling resources, visit www.paperrecycles.org or www.scholastic.com/recycling.

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AF&PA is the national trade association of the forest, paper, and wood products industry. AF&PA represents companies and related associations that engage in or represent the manufacture of pulp, paper, paperboard, and wood products. The forest products industry accounts for approximately 6 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing output, employs more than one million people, and ranks among the top 10 manufacturing employers in 42 states with an estimated payroll exceeding $50 billion. Visit AF&PA online at www.afandpa.org.