Your properly recycled cardboard boxes could get you an easy $100 this holiday season. The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority has launched a regional contest to reward recyclers.

To participate in Bucks for Boxes, simply recycle your cardboard boxes correctly. The CVWMA crew will do the rest, and one recycler per week will be selected at random to win $100. The contest will run through Jan. 10, so you'll have multiple opportunities to win.

If you need a refresher, to correctly recycle a cardboard box make sure it is clean, dry, and empty. Flatten or break down the box and place it in your curbside container, or drop it off at one of your locality's convenience center.

CVWMA planned the contest in time for the holiday season, so you can dispose of all those gift boxes once you're done making your list and checking it twice.

The contest is only open to residential recyclers, not businesses or workplaces.

Did you know? Our region is good at recycling. In 2022, the regional recycling rate was 57.7%, meaning Central Virginia recycled over half of its solid waste. The statewide rate was 43.1%. Localities are required to have a rate of at least 25%, per Virginia law.

Last fiscal year, curbside recycling was up 34% in Henrico, Hanover, and Goochland. CVWMA distributed 92,000 recycling carts to residences in those three counties in June 2023. County leaders have credited the program with making it easier for residents to recycle more.

In fiscal year 2024, the region's eight localities combined to recycle 58 million pounds of waste at the curb.