South Africa’s renowned eco-conscious schools competition, hosted annually by Collect-a-Can, has kicked off on a green note this year.
The can recovery and recycling organisation announced that it has changed the rules of the National Schools Competition to encourage schools to make a longer lasting and positive impact on our beautiful environment.
The annual competition rewards schools for collecting the most used cans, while keeping the environment clean and green. The more cans collected by schools, the higher their chances of winning their share of cash prizes. Schools compete in either category one (501 learners and more) for collecting the most cans per school or category two (500 learners and less) for collecting the most cans per learner.
A total of R240 000 worth of prizes can be won nationally. All qualifying first place regional winners in both categories will walk away with R15 000 each, second place will bag themselves R10 000 each and third place schools will receive R5 000 each.
Over and above the prize money that schools can win, they are also paid per kilogram of steel or aluminium cans delivered to their closest branch.
“This year, instead of qualifying for monthly prizes, schools will work towards a silver, gold or platinum status,” said Zimasa Velaphi, public relations and marketing manager of Collect-a-Can.
“School statuses will be allocated to them based on the amount of cans that they have collected. Schools will move up to the next status as soon as they have collected the minimum amount of cans required to reach the specific status.”
Each time a school moves to the next status, they will be rewarded with a R1 000 cash bonus. Only schools that reached a platinum status will qualify for the national prizes.
Category one schools will reach a platinum status when they have collected 300 001 or more cans (alternatively a minimum of 8 109 kilograms of steel cans or 4 226kg of aluminium cans). Category two schools will reach a platinum status when they have collected 50 001 or more cans per school (alternatively a minimum of 1352kg of steel or 705kg of aluminium cans).
“From this year onwards, schools can enter the competition at any time from the beginning of the year until the last day in October, but the sooner they enter the better.”
“The competition is also restricted to educational institutions only, such as primary or high schools, crèches, boy scouts and girl guides,” adds Velaphi.
Schools can get their entry forms from their closest branch or download it from the Collect-a-Can website, www.collectacan.co.za
“We believe that with these new statuses implemented, schools will be encouraged to collect even more cans to achieve a platinum status. Ultimately, this will aid in having a longer lasting and positive impact on our environment,” concludes Velaphi.
For more information about the Collect-a-Can National Schools Competition, contact the Collect-a-Can head office on 011 466 2939 or visit the website www.collectacan.co.za
