GOTCHA — As part of its “Gotcha Campaign,” the JB Green Team awarded a $10 gift card to Charlotte and Bode, who were caught helping their mother, Kerri Meyer, recycle at the solid waste authority’s Cedar One community recycling site July 2. -- Contributed

WINTERSVILLE — Recyclers are being rewarded for following the rules of proper recycling through a campaign by the JB Green Team.

The “Gotcha Campaign” offers $10 Chick-fil-A or Starbucks gift cards to individuals caught recycling correctly at any one of the JB Green Team’s community recycling sites in Jefferson or Belmont counties.

Members of the public have been “very receptive” to the campaign, which began July 1, said Anita Petrella, executive director of the Jefferson Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority, also known as the JB Green Team.

For its campaign, the solid waste authority amassed 100 gift cards, about 60 percent of which had been distributed as of Monday, according to Petrella. Cards are given out by JB Green Team staff or drivers who spot someone recycling correctly, and the recyclers’ names and photos are posted on Facebook if they want.

This is the JB Green Team’s first time in recent years having a campaign in this format, Petrella said, noting it was motivated by a desire to positively reinforce individuals’ good recycling habits.

“Instead of putting out negative publicity about what people should not put in (the bins), we’re trying to honor or praise the ones who do put the right thing in.”

Hallmarks of proper recycling include breaking down cardboard boxes to ensure more material can fit in the bin, Petrella said. Additionally, all co-mingled materials should be dumped loosely into the bin, and recyclers should take their bags home with them, rather than putting the bags inside — Petrella said bags clog JB Green Team’s sorting machinery.

Recyclers should also clean out all co-mingled materials to avoid contaminating a bin’s load, Petrella said. Contaminants — spaghetti sauce that hasn’t been removed from its jar, for example — will make an entire load un-recyclable and cause it to be landfilled instead, which is what the JB Green Team is trying to prevent in the first place.

Other good practices are listed on the JB Green team’s website, jbgreenteam.org.

The Gotcha Campaign is meant to highlight the do-gooders, but the JB Green Team is prepared for those who ignore the rules of recycling.

Petrella said the solid waste authority has surveillance cameras overlooking most of its community recycling sites, and the authority’s goal is to have cameras at all sites.

What’s more, the authority employs a litter enforcement officer who patrols sites and issues citations to those caught littering or dumping un-recyclable materials like styrofoam or garbage in bins.

Petrella said the JB Green Team does not currently have plans to run the “Gotcha Campaign” again in the future. However, gift card distribution for this campaign will continue until the end of July, so individuals still have a chance to get caught red-handed — or green-handed.