Did you know?

• 35,000 aluminum cans are produced every minute.
• It takes 500 years for aluminum to break down.
• Recycling your aluminum can requires 95% less energy than that required from making a new one with bauxite ore.
• Every aluminum beverage can has an average of 54.7% recycled content.
• There is no limit to the amount of times aluminum can be recycled.
• Aluminum manufacturers have been making cans lighter. In 1972 it took 22 cans to make a pound. Today, it takes 29 cans to make a pound.
• Recycling is so efficient that it can take as few as 60 days for an aluminum can to be collected, melted down, and made into a new can sitting on a supermarket shelf.
• Recycling one aluminum can save enough energy to run a television for three hours.
• If we recycled all of the aluminum trash that Americans throw away, we can rebuild the entire United States' airline fleet every three months.
• For every ton of water bottles that are recycled, four tons are thrown away.
• The plastic from water bottles can be turned into fibers that make carpet and sweaters. With the amount of bottles being wasted every year, 74 million square feet of carpet and 16 million sweaters could be made.
• Enough water bottles will be thrown in dumps over the next five years to create a two-lane, six-inch deep highway of plastic along the California coast.

Click here to find a recycling center near you.

How does the program work?

When you register for the Cans for Critters program, your school, troop, or group will be e-mailed educational material that will explain the recycling program. Students/Scouts bring recyclable containers to a designated area where monitors record the number of containers and post the totals prominently.

Program runs September through April
Students of all ages have the opportunity to get involved in the Cans for Critters program. You can tie in your recycling program with Earth Day and teach your students the importance of recycling and helping endangered species. In recognition of their work, students will receive a conservation patch for collecting 200 recyclables each; if they collect 1,000 recyclables each they will receive 2 free Zoo or Wild Animal Park passes. In addition, the top 30 recyclers at each school will be invited to the Cans for Critters Jamboree on Friday, April 25, 2008, at the Wild Animal Park.