Writing Instruments Brigade™

Each year, millions of Writing Instruments are needlessly discarded and end up in landfills. Berol®, Sharpie® and Paper Mate® Brands, have partnered with eco-friendly innovator TerraCycle™ to create a second life for Writing Instruments.

We want you to think about the environment to save used Writing Instruments! Send them to TerraCycle™and we will upcycle or recycle the used Berol®, Sharpie® and Papermate® Writing Instruments into other fun and innovative products.

Participate in The Writing Instruments Brigade™ It is simple and it's completely FREE - all costs and shipping are covered by the programme. If you participate, £0.02 per Writing Instrument will be paid to your school or the non-profit organisation of your choice. It's a great win for your school and the environment! Join the Brigade Today!

Here's how you can sign up:

Please note – in order to participate in this programme you must be a School with either registered charity or exempt charity status. To be confirmed in the programme you must sign up with your full school name as your team name and use a valid school address and email address (ex Team Name: East Amwell Elementary School, not EAES). You will be notified of your acceptance to the Brigade within 48 hours.

1. Select a Writing Instruments Brigade leader to represent your school. That person will be responsible for setting up the Brigade location and reaching out to members and others of their school to join the Writing Instruments Brigade and collect on their behalf.

2. Your Writing Instruments Brigade leader should then click on the "Start Collecting" link below and will begin the registration process.

3. Once you join and confirm your participation for the Writing Instruments Brigade, you will automatically be sent a Starter Kit, containing a collection unit, sample posters and shipping instructions. Please note that if you sign up before September 2010 your Starter Kit will be sent out in September with the start of the new school term.

4. The Brigade leader should set up a collection box (you will receive a collection unit in your starter kit when you join the programme) in a high-traffic area for individuals to drop off their used Berol®, Sharpie® and Papermate®, along with any other brand of Writing Instruments in the collection box.

5. Once the collection box is filled with Berol®, Sharpie® and Papermate® Writing Instruments, the Brigade leader should do the following:

• A. Decant the pens into a box for shipping, the box can be a reused copy paper box or similar - get creative!

• B. Print out the pre-paid collection label through their online account at www.terracycle.co.uk and affix the pre-paid label to the reused collection box.

• C. Drop the collection box and/or bag at the nearest Royal Mail post office location, or at the schools regular pick-up location.

  Once the box and/or bag arrives at TerraCycle™, the Writing Instruments will be counted and credited to the schools account.

6. Once you've sent in your collected Writing Instruments, you can continue to collect and send in more used Writing Instruments. You can also manage your account, request additional shipping labels and more on www.terracycle.co.uk.