National Press Release

RED BANK, N.J., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ was recently recognized by Clean Ocean Action, a leading national and regional voice working to protect waterways using science, law, research, education, and citizen action, as the winner of the business category for the organization's "Flip Your Lid" contest. The contest was initiated in September 2008 as a means to bring an innovative plastic bottle top recycling campaign to New Jersey. According to Clean Ocean Action, over 40,000 people from 200 organizations, businesses and families participated in the region-wide effort, collecting 2,238,053 plastic bottle caps to be recycled by Aveda, a global leader in corporate environmental sustainability.

"We are pleased to have been recognized by Clean Ocean Action as the winner of the business category for this important contest," stated Marc Buro, President of Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey. "Our employee base really rallied around this cause, collecting 10,500 caps! As a New Jersey only company, the overwhelming majority of our employee base reside in the Garden State. Issues impacting the quality of our ocean waters really resonate with our folks," he added.

"Through the 'Flip Your Lids' contest not only have we raised awareness regarding pollution and the harmful effects of plastics in our ocean, we have seen the next generation of ocean advocates begin to work toward protecting their planet. The caps in the contest are just the tip of the iceberg, millions more caps have been recycled and will continue to be recycled in the program," stated Cindy Zipf, Executive Director, Clean Ocean Action.

During the recycling process, if a cap does not pop off a bottle during the compression stage, the entire bottle is discarded as trash. The magnitude of this pollution problem can be devastating. The Flip Your Lid campaign was designed to draw attention to this phenomenon and help inform the public about a more effective way to recycle plastic bottles.

According to Clean Ocean Action, the grand prize in the "Flip Your Lids" contest was awarded to Charles Street School in Palmyra, New Jersey, whose 472 participating students collected over 221,537 plastic caps. A close second with 200,349 caps was the Ranney School in Tinton Falls, NJ, which helped inspire the enthusiasm behind the initiative. Winning schools in other categories included 800 students from the St. Mary's School in New Monmouth with 31,865 caps, 700 students from the Gregory School in Long Branch with 139,177 caps, and 100 students from the Mullica Township Middle School in Elwood, NJ with 46,247 caps.

"The fact that two of the winning schools -- including the grand prize winner -- are from school districts currently partnering with Teachers' Insurance on a Quotes for Cash campaign is a great feeling," said Buro. "This shows us that our Quotes for Cash participating districts share a commitment to community service and environmental awareness that extends well beyond their classrooms," concluded Buro.

The campaign does not end with this contest. To find out how to recycle plastic bottle caps log on to the COA website at www.cleanoceanaction.org. Clean Ocean Action will continue to provide meaningful solutions to reduce plastics in the environment, for example, by promoting reusable bottles and bags, community litter cleanups, and school presentations.

Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey provides auto insurance exclusively to the faculty and staff (active and retired) of New Jersey licensed educational facilities. Studies show that educators as a group are lower risk and have fewer claims, so Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ can offer lower rates than insurance companies who insure everybody. For more information, please visit www.nj-teachers.com.

Since its founding in 1984 the mission of Clean Ocean Action has been to improve the degraded water quality of the waters off the New Jersey/New York coast. The only full-time northeast coalition working exclusively and effectively for a clean ocean, COA strives to identify the sources of pollution and mount an attack on each source by using research, public education, and citizen action to convince public officials to enact and enforce measures which will clean up and protect our ocean. In recognition of its 25th year of working to protect the waterways and shoreline, COA has launched the "Call To Action Campaign": a year-long effort to inspire citizens to take an active part in saving the ocean and the environment. Please visit www.cleanoceanaction.org to obtain a "Call to Action Campaign" booklet. The booklets are available throughout 2009 and outline 125 suggested actions to save our ocean.

SOURCE Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey