Brooklyn-based Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation and Queens-based ReCycle for Education launched "Recycling: To Empower Youth and Save the Planet" on July 9, a five-week recycling campaign that will turn redeemable bottles and cans into college scholarships for Brooklyn students.
The initiative aims to collect 200,000 eligible containers and raise $10,000 to fund four scholarships for graduates of the Asase Yaa School of the Arts during their first year in college.
The campaign runs through Aug. 13, with bottle and can donations accepted Monday-Friday, 8:00am-6:00pm, at the Asase Yaa School of the Arts, 506 MacDonough St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Organizers hope to collect 40,000 redeemable containers each week.
"We've invested 25 years as a nonprofit in fulfilling Asase Yaa's mission to educate, enrich, and help youth achieve excellence in the arts," said K. Osei Williams, executive director of Asase Yaa. "Our recycling fundraising initiative reinforces our greater vision to grant scholarships to youth to further their education, uplift our community and become global citizens."
ReCycle for Education will pay the full 5-cent deposit for eligible beverage containers covered under New York's Bottle Bill, including bottled water, soft drinks, tea, juice, sports drinks, beer and wine coolers.
The initiative combines environmental sustainability with educational investment, giving Brooklyn residents a way to support local students while encouraging recycling.
The partnership brings together two Black-owned nonprofits with longstanding commitments to youth development. Asase Yaa provides arts education and cultural programming, while ReCycle for Education has spent nearly two decades using bottle redemption programs to support educational initiatives. Together, the organizations hope to increase recycling while creating new opportunities for students pursuing a college education.
Brooklyn residents can support the initiative by donating eligible redeemable bottles and cans through Aug. 13. Those who are unable to contribute recyclable containers can instead make a monetary donation to help fund the scholarships before the campaign concludes.
