What do these elite athletes have to do with recycling? Everything. Just ask the Anaheim Impact, a boys under-14 soccer team from the Anaheim Soccer Association and the winners of Recycle. Goal., a recycling competition among soccer teams throughout Southern California.

The Impact won by recycling the most material by weight over the course of the 9-week competition. They collected and recycled more than 13,000 pounds of materials to triumph over 24 other teams.

By winning the competition, the Impact attended a Galaxy game and got to high-five the likes of Beckham and Donovan as the players took the field. They also received a gift card and skills clinic conducted by Clint Mathis.

I was lucky enough to attend the clinic, and I was impressed with these young athletes and their dedication to the game.

I’m also impressed that organizations are dedicated to these young athletes and are willing to reward them for their recycling efforts. We all win with competitions like Recycle. Goal. Program sponsors Keep California Beautiful, American Chemistry Council, Dick’s Sporting Goods and AEG/LA Galaxy know that the rewards for recycling will last long after the gift cards are spent and the clinic ends. The rewards for recycling will last a lifetime and lead to cleaner communities and healthier cities.

And the lessons stretch beyond just one team. All of the teams that competed in Recycle. Goal. combined to recycle more than 26,000 pounds of materials, including about 2,600 pounds of plastics.

Congratulations once again to the winners of Recycle. Goal. and to all of the teams that participated. I can’t wait to see this program grow in the future and I hope to be a part of it.

Respectfully,

State Assemblyman Jose Solorio

State Assemblyman Jose Solorio represents the 69th Assembly District, which includes the city of Santa Ana and parts of Anaheim and Garden Grove.

Folks will be setting out on California roadways soon, complete with cars full of snacks and plenty of water to make the trip enjoyable.  And while road trips with a 22 month old and a 3 year old aren’t exactly on my top ten list of favored vacation ideas, I remember some fun times going on car trips with my family as a child so my husband and I will  be hitting the road at least once this summer to travel along the California Coast and make our own family memories.  We won’t be buying a new car for our excursions, but it got me thinking about how plastics—specifically recycled plastics—have been embraced by the auto industry.

Plastics innovations have long appeared under the hood, but recycled plastics are now being used in vehicle interiors.  Ford Motor Co. will be using REPREVE® brand seat fabrics in their 2012 Ford Focus Electric.  The fabric is made from a blend of recycled plastic bottles and post-consumer waste.  Each Ford Focus Electric will use seat fabric made of roughly 22 recycled plastic bottles in each vehicle.  Ford is literally helping drive an increase in recycled PET plastic demand.

Thankfully, each of us can have a part in fostering innovations like REPREVE® as we take the initiative to recycle plastics, whether at home or on the go.  Because we know Californians want to recycle, ACC has placed recycling bins in close to 700 locations statewide.   As for me, I’m thankful I’ll have 700 opportunities to recycle as we motor down the coast this summer so I can model the behavior I want my two little boys to emulate.  Soon enough, they’ll be grown up and making vacation memories of their own.  My hope is that we all begin to treat every day as Earth Day by putting recycling where it goes—in the recycling bin—which will allow them to share the experience of the beautiful California Coast with their own children.  Someday.

Recycle. Goal. is a youth soccer recycling challenge sponsored by the Plastics Industries of the American Chemistry Council, Dick’s Sporting Goods, LA Galaxy and Keep California Beautiful. The program challenges athletes aged 10 – 13 to recycle plastics, glass and aluminum and rewards them for doing so.

Each club is challenged to bring in and recycle items during the school year.  Each quarter the club that recycles the most gets prize money that will benefit the club’s programs. At the end of the challenge a grand prize will be awarded to the club that recycles the most overall.

The local clubs did a phenomenal job, bringing in a total of 310 pounds of recyclable materials, including 105 pounds of plastics.  This quarter’s winner, the Sequoia Boys & Girls Club, alone brought in over 100 pounds of recyclable material.

The enthusiasm shown by the kids at Sequoia demonstrates how necessary programs like the Chapter Challenge are to instill the importance of recycling in today’s youth.  It’s programs like these that educate kids about the importance of recycling and motivates them to protect the environment by doing something that anyone can do – recycle.

I want to thank the American Chemistry Council and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo & Las Virgenes for allowing us to be a part of this great program.

The following is a guest post by Sean Paroski, Field Representative for Senator Tony Strickland.

As part of the partnership, Preserve® launched a free new iPhone app – Gimme 5 – that allows consumers to find the nearest collection site that accepts No. 5 plastics. The new App enables participants to earn rewards for recycling this valuable material. Each time a user deposits his or her No. 5 plastics at participating retail locations, he or she can earn Recyclebank points that can be redeemed for discounts and deals at local and national businesses.

The program covers all No. 5 plastics including many butter tubs, cream cheese and cottage cheese cups, and hummus containers. But the program goes a step further and helps folks find recycling locations for items like Brita filters and Preserve®’s own products including Preserve tableware, Preserve® toothbrushes and razor handles, and Tom’s of Maine® deodorant packaging.

Preserve® has a solid history of recycling food grade plastic packaging to create essential kitchen and bath products, and this latest partnership and the new App will no doubt continue to raise the bar.

Right away I knew this program was special. Small but mighty, the first year of the program yielded impressive results. More than 400 players spanning four clubs and 21 teams collected and recycled nearly 3,200 pounds of items, including 1,700 pounds of plastics.

When it was time to plan for Recycle. Goal. 2011, not only did the Galaxy return as a partner, AEG Entertainment jumped onboard. In addition to offering game tickets to the first- and second-place teams, we added a new incentive: a soccer clinic put on by the Galaxy, featuring club coaches and players.

In September, celebrating the launch of the 2011 competition, I met players from the Anaheim Soccer Association, other program partners and California State Senator Lou Correa. I saw firsthand what makes this program go: teamwork. Everybody plays their part – the partners motivate the players through incentives, and the players work hard to make the program a success.

The 2011 program exceeded all of our expectations. Collectively, the teams recycled more than 26,000 pounds of materials, which is 20,000 more pounds than what was collected and recycled during last year’s inaugural competition. The total amount of recyclables included more than 2,600 pounds of plastics.

Recycle. Goal. is a program that helps protect our environment and inspires these players to learn about how their behavior can make a difference.  I personally look forward to watching this program grow moving forward so we can continue to reach new players and teach them about their role in their community and the importance of recycling.

The following is a guest post by Sabrina Higdon, Director of Partner Sales at AEG.

Senator Ed Hernandez speaks to the importance of the American Chemistry Council’s ‘Read, Write, Recycle!’ program, a recycling education challenge in the San Gabriel Valley.

California State Assemblymember Roger Hernandez (D-San Gabriel) speaks to the importance of the American Chemistry Council’s ‘Read, Write, Recycle!’ program, a recycling education challenge in the San Gabriel Valley.