Recycle Rally Getting Started Guide: How to Start a School Recycling Program

 

The Recycle Rally Getting Started Guide helps you make the most of your account, set achievable goals, and motivate your school community.

 

Important note before you start:
Before signing up for Recycle Rally, you should have already verified that your school has a way to recycle plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Whether you have a recycling hauler scheduled to pick up your recyclables or a plan to transport them to a local recycling center, you’re ready to begin! If not, check out our Recycling Service Toolkit for more details.

 

Setting Up Your Recycle Rally Program

 

First, login to your online account.

It’s easy! If your application to participate in Recycle Rally has been accepted, then your online account has already been set up. Use your email address as your user name and click ‘forgot password’ to set up a new password. See more details here.

 

You’ll land on your personalized dashboard view once you log in.

 

 

Reward Points

Earn reward points and redeem them for supplies, gift cards, and more! Learn How to Earn Points and View Rewards.

 

How to Report

Learn how to track your recycling totals.

 

Impact Tracker

See your progress through fun illustrations using your customized Impact Tracker.

 

Contests and Leaderboard

Use Your School’s Leaderboard to conduct contests, or use our National Leaderboard to see how you stack up against others across the nation. Find them here.

 

Advancement Plan

Strive to become a Gold Recycle Rally School by taking steps at your own pace to build a comprehensive recycling campaign within your school.

 

Library

Don’t forget you can always access our vast array of resources, videos, tools, and more through our Resource Library.

 

Determine Your Priorities

 

Goals

Consider which resources and activities would meet your school’s needs and interests. Do not overwhelm yourself or feel obligated to try to take advantage of all of the tools right away.

 

Depending on how long you have been recycling, how many people will be involved in your recycling efforts, local infrastructure and awareness levels, etc., your goals may be very different from other schools.

 

Don’t Know Where to Start?

• Consider setting your sights on an exciting prize in our Rewards Catalog and work toward it.
• Work toward Bronze Status through our Recycling Advancement Plan.
• Figure out which aspects of Recycle Rally will fit best into your personal and school calendar.

Time and Effort

The average Recycle Rally Leader spends two to six hours per month managing the program. This time is spent overseeing the recycling collection process, tallying and entering totals into the website, and engaging students through events, activities, resources, and promotional campaigns.

 

To minimize time, enlist a team!

• Start small. We recommend at least one student and one adult assistant to help share duties and maximize effectiveness. Reference our Building a Team Playbook for tips.
• When you’re ready, launch a Green Team of students to help take it to the next level.
• If you’re having trouble obtaining buy-in from your administrators, check here for tips.

Be Realistic—We’re Flexible

Your level of involvement may vary throughout the year, and that’s OK! You may enjoy more Recycle Rally benefits or make a bigger impact when you invest more time, but we understand the need for a break. For example, we encourage you to get into the habit of logging your recycling activity once a week, but if there’s a school break or standardized testing, go ahead and take a break from Recycle Rally and jump back in when you’re ready.

 

Tips

• Develop a routine to track your recycling. For help, see How to Establish a School Recycling Routine.
• If you use a digital calendar, set up a recurring meeting to remind yourself to log your recycling totals into your online account.

Lead the Way and Initiate Change

 

As a Rally Leader, you should plan to coordinate the following:

• Make sure you have enough recycling bins to get started. See How to Get More Recycling Bins for help.
• Make sure your recycling bins are located in the most effective places. See our Bin Placement Guide for the best locations.
• Manage your school’s online account by editing your profile and goals at any time.
• Be sure to keep your contact information current.

Tips

• Keep an eye out for a few emails per month from Recycle Rally with useful tips, important updates, prize notifications, and special promotions.
• Plan to forward relevant messages to those who may be interested. Or better yet, add those people to your account as Rally Supporters so they join our distribution list.

Get the Word Out

• Clearly communicate goals and the actions you are asking people to take. Our Getting the Word Out Guide can help.
• Distribute Recycle Rally Resources to your team as you see fit. Hang the posters from your welcome kit or use printables from the Resource Library to call attention to recycling.
• Implement best practices and set the tone for continuous improvement in your school. Look at our Inspiring and Improving Toolkit for ideas.
• Strive to achieve Gold Status in your Recycling Advancement Plan and let your school lead by example.
• Call extra attention to recycling bins by transforming them into a game or activity. See Games to Make Recycling Fun for many suggestions.

Congratulations! You’re a Recycle Rally School!

Have questions that aren’t covered in the Recycle Rally Getting Started Guide? Feel free to contact us by email at Support@PepsiCoRecycling.com or phone at (888) 875-6555.