From Waste Management

Following six months of competition, Waste Management has announced the winner of its Think Green Recycling Challenge, where communities throughout the Seattle area went head-to-head to see who could put the most items to reuse.

Taking home first place was the neighborhood of Greenwood/Crown Hill, located in North Seattle, which earned both bragging rights and a $40,000 check that will go toward charities and local organizations. Crown Hill Neighbors has announced that eight different grants of $5,000 will be awarded.

"Recycling has been a meaningful way for our neighborhood to come together," said Selena Carsiotis, a Crown Hill resident. "There are so many needs for our community and this donation will surely make a difference. We appreciate WM's support of this project.

In partnership with the City of Seattle, Waste Management created the competition so that neighbors could influence each other to increase recycling and composting. Launched in 2012, the competition ran for six months, during which all 10 communities serviced by Waste Management competed against each other.

By the end of the campaign, customers composted or recycled nearly 36,000 tons of materials -- including aluminum, plastic and food waste -- which is 3,000 tons more than the year before. For tennis fans, that's the same weight as the roof over Wimbledon's Centre Court in London.

At every stage of the competition, the company circulated handouts loaded with information on waste reduction. In addition, each neighborhood could complete numerous outreach activities to receive points that could then be converted into charitable dollars.

Ballard was one of the communities which completed all six activities, resulting in $10,000 being donated toward local nonprofits.

"I believe the WM Think Green Challenge gave people a strong communal experience," said Mike O'Brien, city councilmember for Seattle. "The community interest was inspiring and neighbors in close-knit communities are recycling's best ambassadors."

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