ABCRC Kept Grey Cup Green On and Off the Field

CALGARY , Dec. 9 /CNW/ - According to organisers, this year's Grey Cup Festival was one of the most environmentally friendly in CFL history. Partly because of the partnership between Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation (ABCRC) and the Grey Cup Festival committee.

Consumption levels of single serve beverage containers at festivals like this tend to be very high, and one of the biggest group of non-recyclers are men 18-25. For the past year, ABCRC has been targeting this group with its 'Don't be a Tosser' campaign. Participating in the Grey Cup Festival was another way to reach them and encourage recycling of these same empty beverage containers.

In addition to setting up 115 bins to collect empty beverage containers on the Festival grounds, ABCRC sponsored the Show Us Your Best End Zone Dance Contest. Participants spiked an empty beverage container into a recycling bin then showed their best celebratory dance moves. Hundreds and hundreds of CFL fans took part in the contest and their videos were uploaded to the dontbeatosser.com website.

"The government issued a mandate for the industry to achieve an 85% return rate by the end of 2011 for all empty beverage containers," stated Guy West , President of ABCRC. "Working towards achieving this goal has meant that having an onsite presence at events like the Grey Cup Festival needs to be a key part of our plan."

Over the three day period of the Festival, dontbeatosser.com saw a 900 percent increase in online traffic as people visited the site to view end zone dances and voted for their favourite. From the list, the top ten vote getters were reviewed by CFL all-star and Stampeder Receiver Jeremaine Copeland to pick the winner. Dawson Receveur from Calgary was Copeland's pick.

"It was difficult to pick just one winner as there were a lot of great dances to choose from," said Copeland. "The participant I chose had great energy and lots of enthusiasm, he seemed passionate about the cause. I think anytime we can make recycling a priority, everyone is a winner."

The prize included a 46" HDTV and Cable sports package.

Proceeds raised by returning all the empty beverage containers from the Grey Cup Festival will be going to the Greater Calgary Amateur Football Association. All proceeds from bin service at McMahon Stadium on game day will be going to the VRII Bottle Depot, a non-profit organization.

The contest was part of the "Don't be a Tosser" campaign launched in March 2009 , with TV, radio, newsprint and a heavily-focused social media site, dontbeatosser.com. The campaign is aimed at encouraging 18-25 year olds to recycle their empty beverage containers.

About ABCRC

ABCRC is a provincially incorporated not-for-profit product stewardship corporation. Their mandate is to be the agent for the beverage manufacturers to operate a common collection system for registered containers, to be responsible for recycling beverage containers, to comply with regulation and BCMB by-laws, and to promote the economic and efficient collection of beverage containers.

For further information: Guy West, President - ABCRC, [phone] x233, [email protected]; Cherie Cohen, VP, Communications & Marketing - ABCRC, [phone] x223, [email protected]