Some might say that doing Mother Nature right by recycling is reward in and of itself. That may be true, but in states with bottle bills–where you get cash back when you recycle your bottles–getting money for doing the right thing doesn’t hurt. And it’s no wonder that these states have some of the highest recycling participation rates in the United States. Who doesn’t like a cash incentive?

So I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a company like RecycleBank has caught on. RecycleBank rewards its customers for recycling by giving them gift certificates to local businesses based on the amount customers recycle each month. Each person’s recycling bin (on wheels, using the single-sort system) comes with an RFID chip on it. On recycling pick-up day, as the cart is lifted and its contents are dumped into the truck, a special RFID reader notes the amount that came out of the cart and then “credits” the customer’s account accordingly. There are a number of trash haulers near me that participate in RecycleBank (just not mine, sniff sniff), and most are giving out gift certificates to local restaurants and mom-and-pop shops.

I just heard about how the town of Cherry Hill, New Jersey (a Philadelphia suburb) has upped the RecycleBank rewards ante by giving customers gift cards to a local ShopRite. So now, not only are customers getting a cash reward for recycling their bottles and cans, but in these times of rising food prices, they could catch a break on their grocery bills. And I thought I got a good deal by cashing my economic stimulus check at ShopRite and getting 10 percent added to the amount. Imagine if ShopRite and RecycleBank customers in Cherry Hill took advantage of both of these incentives? That would make the economic pinch of grocery shopping hurt just a little less these days.

ADDENDUM
The folks at RecycleBank just wrote to me to let me know that ShopRite isn’t the only food-related store that participates in the company’s rewards program. Here’s what Lisa Pomerantz, marketing and communications director, told me:

“Some of our other grocers in addition to ShopRite are:
ACME
Whole Foods
Harris Teeters
Shaw’s
Fresh Grocer
Great Valu

In addition, these companies participate as well:
Kraft
Stoneyfield Farms
HappyBaby
Green Mountain Coffee
Evian
Coca-Cola
Earthbound Farm Organic
Omaha Steaks
Meat and Seafood.com

And then there are dozens of local farmers markets, restaurants, cheese shops, etc…”

Now that’s food for thought!