Plainfield church first non-profit awarded refurbished iPad2 by Will County

Plainfield church first non-profit awarded refurbished iPad2 by Will County

PLAINFIELD – The Plainfield United Methodist Church Green Team is the first non-profit organization to receive a refurbished iPad 2 in Will County’s inaugural America Recycles Day Non-Profit Contest.

The church’s Green Team was established in 2012 and is responsible for a host of activities for the congregation, such as collecting plastic bags for reuse, recycling cell phones and hosting The Really, Really Free Market each August. According to the church’s application, hundreds of people line the street to peruse the thousands of items donated by the community for the community.

     “The contest was actually quite competitive and resulted in many organizations showing us how ‘green’ they already are,” said Marta Keane, Recycling Program Specialist & Green Business Relations Coordinator for the Will County Land Use Department’s Resource Recovery and Energy Division.

Will County Executive Larry Walsh praised the church and the 12 core members of its Green Team.

      “Due to their many ‘green’ activities and the use they identified for the iPad, we are proud to offer them our non-profit America Recycles Day Award,” said Walsh.

The Green Team’s mission “is to educate and encourage ideas about how to live greener, and together act in ways that will lead all to become better stewards of God’s creation,” the application said.           

In the past, the group relied on volunteers to bring cameras and video equipment to document its efforts. Members plan to use the iPad as a computer to record their efforts, as a camera, as a video recorder and as a means to post items to the internet, including to the group’s Facebook Page.  Through these efforts, they hope to build awareness of their efforts and encourage more people to participate in “green” efforts.

Will County has been encouraging businesses and schools to “go green” for many years through its School Earth Flag program and Green Business Star program. Residents have had an opportunity to compete the past several years in an America Recycles Day photo contest. This is the first year that Non-Profit organizations have had an opportunity to compete, said Keane.

The Will County Land Use Department is led by Director Curt Paddock and is under County Executive Walsh’s office.

For additional information about the Land Use Department, go to www.willcountygreen.com.