FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jane Ferry (407) 246-2752
Brie Turek (407) 246-3106

City of Orlando and the Can Man Help Kids
“Can It for the Planet”

Keep Orlando Beautiful Promotes
Aluminum Can Recycling in Orlando Schools

Orlando, FL (January 27, 2006) – Did you know that if you recycle one aluminum beverage can, you save enough electricity to power a computer for three hours? This is one of the facts that local students participating in the Can It for the Planet program are learning. The Can Man (aka young actor Jarred Sharar) will visit Oak Hill Elementary School on Tuesday, January 31 at 1 p.m. to collect over 1,200 aluminum cans that the students have collected by participating in the Can It for the Planet program. More than 100 students will throw their bagged collected cans in the huge basket pulled by the Can Van.

The City of Orlando’s Keep Orlando Beautiful program launched the Can It for the Planet program in November and so far 22 schools are participating. The program includes educational materials given to teachers (lesson plans, video tapes, posters, a recycling bin and bags) and a visit by the Can Man to collect the cans. The Can Man wears a whimsical top hat and a vest made out of 200 aluminum cans. He also brings along his two-can bird that sits atop a litter grabber. A tally is kept of the pounds of collected cans from each school. The contest to see which school collects the most cans ends January 31. In addition to the money that the schools receive for their collected cans, City Beverages has contributed prize money for the top schools that recycle the most ($500 for first place, $300 for second place and $150 for third place). The contest will begin again on February 1 and will end on April 30. Interested schools may participate by contacting Jane Ferry, Keep Orlando Beautiful Coordinator, at 407-246-2752 or jane.ferry@cityoforlando.net.

“Can It for the Planet is a fun and rewarding way for schools to earn money and help the environment simply by recycling aluminum beverage containers,” said Jane Ferry with Keep Orlando Beautiful. “Schools earn money based on how many pounds of aluminum they collect, while providing valuable lessons on conserving precious resources.”

Keep Orlando Beautiful has been selected to receive a $10,000 Keep America Beautiful/Anheuser-Busch Recycling Grant. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., the world’s largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers, has committed a total of $160,000 in funding for the 2005 KAB/Anheuser-Busch Recycling Grants Program. The grants are being distributed to Keep America Beautiful affiliates in 19 communities nationwide for implementation of local, voluntary beverage container recycling programs.

Anheuser-Busch sought out grant proposals for innovative programs and partnerships with the objective of increasing beverage container recycling awareness and collection through voluntary efforts. Keep Orlando Beautiful is using the grant money to implement Can It for the Planet. A full list of the 2005 KAB/Anheuser Busch Recycling Grants Program recipients and descriptions of their respective projects can be found at www.kab.org.

“Anheuser-Busch understands the value of efficient and effective local beverage container recycling,” said Lise Herren, Executive Vice President & COO, Anheuser-Busch Packaging Group, who also serves on the board of directors of Keep America Beautiful. “Education leads to awareness, which leads to action. The KAB/Anheuser-Busch Recycling Grants Program will serve as a perfect catalyzing agent to teach citizens about the importance of beverage container recycling and to get them to act responsibly.”
 

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