SCA Tissue Awards More Than $25,000 in Grants to Celebrate America Recycles Day

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 10, 2009 — SCA Tissue today announced the awarding of environmental education grants totaling more than $25,000 to 13 schools and non-profit organizations in communities where its employees work and live.

The third annual awarding of the environmental grants is part of SCA Tissue’s commemoration of America Recycles Day, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009.  Since the inception of the education grant program in 2007, SCA Tissue has provided nearly $95,000 in funding to 45 schools nationwide.  This year’s individual grants range from $440 to $2,500.

“Commitment to sustainability is important to SCA Tissue, our customers and the communities where we work and live,” said SCA Tissue President Don Lewis.  “We’re proud to help educate the next generation about environmental stewardship through our grants.  It’s a natural extension of our commitment to producing environmentally-friendly products and driving sustainable business practices.”

This year’s grant recipients are:

Wisconsin

• St. Pius X Elementary, Appleton, to purchase materials to build solar-powered cars and solar-powered ovens for the fifth-grade science renewable energy unit.
• Gegan Elementary, Menasha, for its “Kids Saving the Earth” project.  The grant money will fund special guest speakers, help revive the school’s existing butterfly garden and pay for students to visit the Northeast Wisconsin Zoo.  School contact is Mary Doverspike, Jr.
• Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve, Appleton, for its “Case of the Disappearing Ponds” project.  The grant money will be used to purchase supplies and testing equipment for K-8 students from the Fox Valley school districts to do an aquatic research project at the Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve.
• Fox River Academy, Appleton, for its “Solar-Powered Learning: Renewable Energy Education. project.  Grant money will be used to purchase a photovoltaic system that will be integrated into the classroom curriculum on renewable energy education.
• Hortonville Middle School, Hortonville, for its “Environmental Awareness – Student Investigations.”  The grant money will be used to purchase supplies such as UV light, turbidity, sound and conductivity sensors as well as other research tools for the eighth-grade students to use in conducting environmental research projects.

Arizona

• San Francisco de Asis School, Flagstaff, to support a K-8 workshop on water conservation.  The school will hold a water festival to teach students and the community about water.

Alabama

• Harlan Elementary, Florence, to add elements to the school’s existing outdoor classroom. The grant money will fund an investigation table, a pump and filter for the pond, plants and other supplies. 
•  Highland Park Elementary, Muscle Shoals, for creating an outdoor classroom. Grant money will purchase native plants and supplies for a butterfly garden and an outdoor classroom.
  
• Colbert County High School, Leighton, for its “Native Worms” project. Grant money will purchase materials for worm beds, graphing calculators, LED microscope, balances, and other items to help students study native worms.

New York

• North Warren Central School, Chestertown, to purchase permanent bins to collect plastic bottles for recycling.
• Hudson Falls Primary School, Hudson Falls, for its schoolyard garden project.  The grant money will be used to purchase materials to build raised garden beds, a compost tumbler, a wireless weather station, and other gardening supplies.
• Shenendehowa High School, Clifton Park, to increase the school’s recycling program by 25 to 35 percent.  Grant money will be used to purchase recycling stations for the three cafeterias in the high school.
• South Glens Falls High School, South Glens Falls, for the school’s Earth Day 2010 event.  The grant money will fund an electronics-recycling event for the school and community.  It will also purchase trees to give to each student and food and paper products for the event.

SCA Tissue Encourages Reducing Consumption in addition to Recycling

SCA Tissue, which uses only 100 percent recycled paper to manufacture its Tork® products, recycles more than 750,000 tons of recycled paper annually — enough to cover 234 football fields, including end zones, three feet high.

“While recycling is very important, for America Recycles Day this year, we also want to emphasize the critical role reducing our consumption plays in being environmentally responsible,” said Mike Dillon, SCA Tissue Manager, Environmental and Risk Management.

“At some of our mills, we have found ways to reduce our energy consumption by capturing and reusing waste heat,” said.  “This is just one of more than 100 individual projects SCA Tissue has completed throughout our facilities in North America, which have saved huge amounts of electricity and natural gas.”