NATIONAL 1727 King Street, Suite 105 RECYCLING Alexandria, VA 22314-2720 COALITION Phone: 703/683-9025 INC. Fax: 703/683-9026

December 14, 2001

Dear State Recycling Organization Leader:

As the national economy dips and state and municipal budgets tighten, recycling is facing renewed challenges to demonstrate that it is a sound investment in our environment's future. To assist our affiliate ROs in meeting this challenge, the National Recycling Coalition has developed two new resources for use in promoting recycling in your state.

The Environmental Benefits Calculator will enable ROs to measure and demonstrate the positive environmental impact recycling is having in your state. Based on material recovery and disposal data inputted by the user, the calculator will provide detailed information on recycling's environmental benefits in four key areas:

• Energy Savings
• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
• Reduction in emissions of air and water pollutants
• Conservation of natural resources

Accompanying the Calculator is a text template for use by state recycling organizations in developing promotional materials highlighting the environmental benefits of recycling. The template contains model narrative for use in describing the environmental benefits of recycling to diverse audiences in various outreach products and materials. The template is designed to be adapted and graphically enhanced for use in RO fact sheets, web pages, brochures and other printed media. The Calculator can be used to generate data on environmental benefits in your state for use in the template. Used together, the environmental benefits calculator (microsoft excel document) and text template (microsoft word document) make a compelling case for the significant environmental benefits of recycling.

At the upcoming Recycling Organization Council Meeting on January 13 at the NRC Congress in Seattle, we will provide a briefing on how to use both the calculator and template. If you have questions in the meantime, please contact Michael Alexander, NRC's Senior Research Associate, at (802) 254-3338, or at MichaelA@nrc-recycle.org. We look forward to seeing you in Seattle!

Thank you,