Coinstar, Inc. today announced that New York City has won its ‘Coinstar’s Greenest City’ contest. The Big Apple beat out nine other cities to win the title and a $10,000 grant for the New York-based environmental non-profit organization INFORM. The non-profit plans to apply their grant to their “Recycle Your Cell Phone Campaign.” During the month-long contest ending Oct. 15, the New York City area had the highest percentage increase in coin cash-ins at Coinstar Centers compared to a year ago. Consumers put approximately 200 million coins back into circulation.

As part of Coinstar’s Change for our Earth initiative, cities were challenged with reusing idle coin in their city to reduce the need for new coin production. In turn, this lowers environmental impacts associated with primary copper production and preserves natural resources. Coinstar estimates that there is over $10 billion in idle change sitting in U.S. households, with an estimated $687 million in the New York City area.

“This contest proves that individual actions can make a significant impact on improving the environment as demonstrated by the residents of New York City,” said Alex Camara, senior vice president of worldwide coin at Coinstar, Inc. “We are encouraged by the enthusiasm of participants across the country to find creative solutions, like reusing coins, that will lead us to a more environmentally-friendly future.”

INFORM, Inc. will use the $10,000 grant to help raise awareness of their ‘Recycle Your Cell Phone Campaign’ that educates the public about the need to recycle and how to do it responsibly. They also plan on advocating for making wireless telephone service providers responsible for taking back their products at the end of their useful life.

“We are thrilled with the outcome of this contest and to have the opportunity to spread the word about cell phone recycling,” said Virginia Ramsey, President of INFORM. “We’d like to thank the residents of New York City for taking the time to cash in their change for this contest and for helping us win the $10,000 grant.”

The top five cities that competed in ‘Coinstar’s Greenest City’ contest are as follows:

1. New York City, New York
2. Seattle, Washington
3. San Francisco, California
4. Chicago, Illinois
5. Atlanta, Georgia

Coinstar encourages Americans to reuse coin in whatever way best suits their needs, whether it’s donating it to charity, using it for parking meters, putting it toward cash transactions or cashing in at a Coinstar Center.

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