Donate your junk car

CharityCar, green vehicle disposal and charity car donation company, today announced the launch of its sister site, MrCarJunk.com. Customers have the option to sell their junk cars for cash or donate 100% of the recycler’s value to a charity of their choosing.

Vehicles sold or donated through MyCarJunk.com will be picked up free of charge (in the United States and Canada) and taken directly to an Authorized Treatment Facility where a comprehensive de-pollution process is used on all vehicles to remove and recover hazardous fluids and materials necessary to prepare them for dismantling and recycling. All waste materials from this process are handled and disposed of in accordance with any applicable legislation or Environmental requirements in that area.

David Gold from Standard Auto Wreckers and founder of MrCarJunk.com said: “Our mission is to reduce the amount of waste produced by automobiles that have reached the end of their useful lives and this is made possible by our extensive coverage across North America. Last year, CharityCar.us and CharityCar.ca exceeded $91,000 USD in donations to partner charities, despite the economic conditions. This generosity proves that North Americans are embracing eco-friendly vehicle disposal to benefit the environment and society – we expect MrCarJunk.com to be equally successful.”

Green gift. Leading manufacturer of refuse sacks, bpi.recycled products has donated 18,000 of its eco-friendly Green Sacks® to an international scout camp.

A global gathering of some 6,000 scouts and girls guides has received a massive product donation from one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of refuse sacks.

bpi.recycled products – which operates from sites across the UK including a factory in Heanor, Derbyshire – has supplied 18,000 Green Sacks® completely free of charge for use at this year’s PEAK 2010 camp which runs for a week in late July at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.

Held every five years since the 1970s, the PEAK camp brings together scout troops and girl guide units from right across the world. This year’s event will be attended by young adults from 14 different countries including the UK, America, Ireland, Canada, Norway, Germany, Belgium, India, New Zealand, Denmark, St Lucia, Japan, Russia and China (Hong Kong). A further 2,000 Cubs, Brownies, Rainbows and Beavers from around the UK will also attend as day visitors.

With the theme of ‘One World – Our World’, the event aims to offer those attending a truly international experience. This year it also plans to be as eco-conscious as possible in keeping with the guiding and scouting movement’s desire to inspire young people with a real sense of duty and of responsibility – both to others and to the environment.

As part of PEAK 2010’s green focus, recycling points for plastic, cardboard, paper and cans will be strategically located around the site. Campers are also being encouraged to collect and bring unwanted clothing to the event. Better quality items will be sent to help those living in third world countries whilst the remaining clothing, along with the material collected via the recycling points, will be sold for commercial recycling. All proceeds raised will then be donated to charity.

In addition, Derbyshire County Council will be visiting the camp to stage special educational sessions designed to show campers how they can make greener choices and reduce their waste stream contribution. There will also be a special ‘Earth Zone’ on the campsite showcasing more sustainable living and featuring a greenhouse made out of old soft drinks bottles.

Amongst a list of activities that includes everything from abseiling and archery to go karting and woggle making, there’ll even be the chance for some of the younger visitors to spend the day making new items out of old recycled material.

The donation of 18,000 Green Sacks® by bpi.recycled products continues the eco-conscious theme of the event. Marketed as the toughest, greenest refuse sacks currently available, they are not only made completely from recycled plastic waste that might otherwise have been sent to landfill, but they’re also created from UK waste reprocessed at bpi.recycled products’ own UK facilities.

This gives the Green Sack® range a carbon footprint up to 35% lower than most other 100% recycled polythene refuse sacks which are typically produced in the Far East.

Commenting on the donation, Stephen Orme, Customer Services Director at bpi.recycled products, said: “As part of British Polythene Industries (BPI) plc, bpi.recycled products has a strong commitment to the environment and to being a responsible and community conscious business. We are delighted to be supporting PEAK 2010 as it’s such a worthwhile event and because it allows us to demonstrate the strong green credentials of our products.”

Speaking on behalf of PEAK 2010, Steve Parker, the event’s Site Manager, adds: “We’d like to extend a massive thank you to bpi.recycled products for their kind donation of the Green Sacks. Not only are these refuse sacks perfectly in keeping with the green aims of the event, but their provision completely free of charge has enabled us to save money which can now be spent on additional activities for those attending the event.”

In April, the 155-acre Valhalla Mile property – often dubbed the “Golden Mile” because of its one-mile expanse of undeveloped shoreline – was purchased and transferred to B.C. Parks. In addition to the TD FEF donation, a dedicated group of volunteers and donors from across Canada and internationally helped make the purchase possible.

Located alongside Slocan Lake in southeastern B.C., “the property is a vital movement corridor for grizzly and black bears. Wolverines, cougars and mule deer are among the many species that frequent the land and its shoreline habitat,” explains Lorna Visser, Valhalla Mile Campaign Co-ordinator. “From a cultural perspective, ancient First Nations’ pictographs are located just north of the property and the shoreline was likely a Sinixt fishing and gathering site.”

The Land Conservancy of B.C. and The Valhalla Foundation for Ecology and Social Justice teamed up in a campaign to purchase the land, previously owned by a private land owner, all within the boundaries of Valhalla Provincial Park. This property is a key addition to the park, which encompasses almost 50,000 hectares and protects an entire mountain ecosystem from lakeshore to high alpine.

“Our local TD FEF advisory board is made up of nature enthusiasts from across southeastern B.C., and we all agreed that helping preserve Valhalla Park was something that would be of significant benefit to our entire region,” says Laura Decker, TD Bank Branch Manager and Chapter Coordinator for Southeast B.C. “This project is a great example of what can be accomplished when we come together as a community, and we’re honoured to be a part of it.”