E Patrol Recycle Rally Kicks-Off in Dallas 6 March 1998
6 March 1998
E Patrol Recycle Rally Kicks-Off in Dallas
DALLAS, March 6 -- The E Patrol Recycle Rally roared into
Dallas today to kick-off a seven-city, 1,600-mile environmental education tour
that will end in Detroit on Saturday, April 18.
The E Patrol Recycle Rally is designed to educate school-age children and
their families about recycling, including collection, manufacture, and the
need to purchase recycled products. E Patrol and Ford Motor Company
are partners in the program.
"Recycling is a great first step, and we hope more people will do it,"
says Andy Acho, Ford's director of Environmental Outreach programs. "However,
simply putting recyclables out at the curb, or taking them to a drop-off
center, is not enough. It's also important to look for -- and to buy --
products that are made from these recycled materials to help close the loop."
In order to encourage kids to recycle, the first 1,000 kids in each city
who present two plastic two-liter soft drink bottles for recycling will each
receive a free E Patrol Recycled Pop Bottle T-shirt. The shirt is made with a
fiber created from recycled plastic pop bottles. In addition, thousands of
kids will get to sign up for a free E Patrol membership card and pledge to
protect the planet.
Area elementary schools that recycle the greatest number of plastic two-
liter bottles during the event will be awarded a special Ford/E Patrol Recycle
Rally Trophy.
The E Patrol Recycle Rally will visit metropolitan zoos and aquariums in
seven cities including: Dallas, Tulsa, Wichita, Kansas City, St. Louis,
Chicago and Detroit.
E Patrol events are Saturday mornings in March and April. The schedule
below lists the dates and times for each city:
* March 7 The Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
* March 14 Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
* March 21 Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
* March 28 Kansas City Zoological Garden 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
* April 4 St. Louis Zoological Park 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
* April 11 Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
* April 18 Detroit Zoological Institute 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
At each location, alternative fuel vehicles from Ford will be on display,
including an electric Ranger and a Ford F-250 pickup powered by compressed
natural gas (CNG). Ford and E Patrol also have created a special interactive
exhibit for children called "Ecar the E Patrol Talking Car."
"We want people to know that Ford both creates a demand for recycled
materials and puts a significant amount of recycled content in every new
vehicle," says Acho. "For example, the same kind of plastic two-liter soda
pop bottles that are used to make the Ford/E Patrol Recycle Rally T-shirt also
are recycled into grille reinforcements, door padding and trunk lining for
Ford and Lincoln-Mercury vehicles."
Associated with these events is a series of 12 new E Patrol environmental
television messages called "E Patrol Members Only!" The syndicated 30-second
vignette series features Michael, Margaret, Hayley and Milton, four eco-savvy
pre-teens, presenting ideas and household action plans for kids who care about
the Earth.
A special E Patrol Recycle Rally Poster and Environmental Curriculum is
available free to elementary teachers and educators in the event cities. The
poster contains a series of environmental worksheets and the E Patrol kids
environmental pledge. Teachers should send their requests to E Patrol
Curriculum, P.O. Box 4018, Olathe, KS 66063.
E Patrol environmental curricula have been used successfully in school
systems across the United States. E Patrol outreach programs include: a
comprehensive, two-year E Patrol curriculum adopted for use by nearly three
million Cub Scouts, E Patrol environmental television vignettes, and an
educational website. E Patrol was created in Kansas City, MO, in 1993 by
PlaNet Productions, Inc. Today the company is headquartered in a true passive
solar facility in suburban Johnson County, Kansas.
SOURCE Ford Motor Company
