Procter & Gamble’s Future Friendly has partnered with RecycleBank in rewarding residents of Cincinnati, P&G’s hometown, for their green actions. The initiative comes as part of the city’s enhanced recycling program launched this week with a view to engage about 25% of local people in recycling movement. The four-phase rollout of new recycling carts began in September—the citywide implementation will continue through February 2011 and include participation with a range of companies and eco-organizations.
RecycleBank is a national rewards program that is running in the U.S. and UK and motivates people to take greener actions, like household recycling or blogging about green issues, by giving points that are redeemable online for rewards from over 1,500 local and national retailers, restaurants, pharmacies, grocers and more. Registered users can choose to redeem their RecycleBank Points online from hundreds of reward partners. The list of the national ones includes The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald’s, Friskies, Old Navy, eBay, Yoplait and more.
The new partnership allows Cincinnati residents to register their free account at www.RecycleBank.com, they will receive a $5-off reward towards the purchase of any Future Friendly product from the P&G eStore, while supplies last. People are also encouraged to earn points by joining in the conversation on eco themes and inviting others to view the green media content from P&G.
AdАge reports that other companies (Verizon in Philadelphia and Safeway in San Francisco) provide similar rewards to the registered users of RecycleBank program, but Procter & Gamble “is the first to add a nationwide educational and social-media component to its sponsorship.” It was also noted that the Cincinnati program could be expanded to more US cities, and soon P&G may be backing other RecycleBank pilot program that will help people collect points for reducing home energy consumption.
«Saving water, saving energy, and reducing waste are the three tenets of Future Friendly,» P&G Associate Marketing Director Maurice Coffey said. «Supporting the launch of Cincinnati’s enhanced recycling program helps us bring that conservation to our local community, and shows how all of us can take simple steps that collectively add up to a big, positive impact on the environment.»