Contest Rules & Regulations

2024/2025 Story Contest – Official Contest Rules

Overview of Contest

• The Return-It 2024/2025 Story Contest (the “Contest”) will run from August 30, 2024, to May 31, 2025.
• All participating schools must have access to the internet and a valid, current email account in which to receive correspondence.
• To enter the Contest, schools must be registered in the Encorp Pacific (Canada) Return-It 101 School Program (the “Program”) and may only be registered once per year by a representing Teacher, Principal or PAC member (the “School Representative”) of that school. Students may not register directly.
• Registered schools may use the Teacher's Dashboard to track their fundraising efforts by entering the container counts and deposit refunds they've collected. However, this feature exists purely for the schools' convenience. It is not a requirement of the Contest to report containers collected, nor are returns scored for prizes.

Eligibility

• Participating schools (each, a “Participating School” or “Entrant”) must be a recognized elementary, middle or high school within the province of British Columbia.
• Middle schools and schools with mixed grade ranges (e.g. Elementary-Secondary) have the option of entering the Contest as either Elementary School or High School, but not both. This option appears automatically on the Contest Website (defined below under How to Enter), and this decision cannot be changed once the registration is approved.
• All participating schools agree to abide by these Official Story Contest Rules (“Rules”) and the decisions of Encorp Pacific (Canada) management and its agents, which shall be considered final regarding any question with respect to the Program and the Contest, including what constitutes an eligible entry, extenuating circumstances and all other matters affecting the Program and the Contest.
• The Program and Contest are subject to all applicable provincial and local laws and regulations.
• Encorp Pacific (Canada) management reserves the right to cancel or terminate the Program and/or the Contest at any time without notice, or to amend the Program terms & conditions and/or these Rules and the administration or procedures of the Program and/or Contest in its discretion.

How to Enter

• Following the Contest Criteria and Guidelines, available at www.returnitschool.ca/contestcriteria, Participating Schools must submit their story about their beverage container recycling program online in PDF format only. For details and guidelines regarding format and content of Stories, participating schools must refer to the Contest Criteria and Guidelines. To enter, schools must be registered in the Return-It School Program. Enter by logging in using Username and Password provided and submit story at www.returnitschool.ca/storycontest (the “Contest Website”). Step 1: Select either Elementary or High School Step 2: Agree to Story Contest Rules Step 3: Upload Story in PDF format. Each Participating School’s entry and accompanying Submitted Content (as defined below) are referred to in these Rules as an “Entry”.
• All Entries must be received by May 31, 2025 at 11:59pm (PDT).
• Entries will be evaluated by a panel of judges chosen by Encorp Pacific (Canada) or its agents.

Rules Surrounding Submitted Stories and Photos: Written words, photos/videos, story and any other content (collectively, “Submitted Content”) submitted as part of an Entry must be original content in which the Participating School has all necessary rights to submit as part of its Entry. Entrants may not submit content that has been reproduced from any source without having secured all necessary rights to submit such Submitted Content. Any Submitted Content that the submitting Entrant cannot prove rights to submit may be disqualified. Encorp Pacific (Canada) reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify Submitted Content that is deemed in its sole discretion to contain/display offensive or unlawful content or are otherwise in poor taste or that fail to comply with the requirements of the contest.

By submitting an Entry, each Entrant agrees to have read, and to comply with, these Rules and by the interpretation of these Rules by Encorp Pacific (Canada) and warrants and represents that its Entry is original to the Entrant and that the Entrant has all necessary rights in and to its Entry and all of its components to enter the Entry in the Contest and that all Submitted Content:

(i) does not and will not violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation;

(ii) does not contain any reference to or likeness of any individual person or persons, unless consent has been obtained from all such individuals (or their parent/legal guardian if individual appearing in Submitted Materials is under the age of majority);

(iii) will not give rise to any claims of infringement, invasion of privacy or publicity, or infringe on any rights and/or interests of any third party, or give rise to any claims for payment whatsoever; and

(iv) is not defamatory, trade libelous, pornographic or obscene, and further that it will not contain, depict, include, discuss or involve, without limitation, any nudity, sexual activity, crude, vulgar or offensive language and/or symbols, derogatory characterizations of any ethnic, racial, special needs, gender or religious groups, content that endorses, condones or discusses any illegal, inappropriate, unsafe, or risky activity, behaviour or conduct, personal information of individuals, including without limitation, names and addresses (physical or e-mail), conduct or other activities in violation of these Rules, commercial messages, comparisons or solicitations for products or services, any identifiable third party products and/or trade-marks, brands or logos, URLs or links to any third party websites or any other content that is or could be considered inappropriate, unsuitable or offensive, all as determined by Encorp Pacific (Canada) and/or its agents in their sole and exclusive discretion.

By entering the Contest and submitting an Entry, each Entrant: (i) grants to Encorp Pacific (Canada), in perpetuity, a non-exclusive license to publish, display, reproduce, modify, edit or otherwise use its Entry, in whole or in part, for advertising or promoting the Contest or for any other reason; (ii) waives all moral rights in and to its Submitted Content in favour of the Sponsor; and (iii) agrees to release and hold harmless Encorp Pacific (Canada) and its agents, employees, directors, successors, and assigns (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trade-mark infringement or any other intellectual property related cause of action that relate in any way to the Submitted Content. By submitting an Entry, Entrants acknowledge that their Submitted Content, if used, may be modified or edited and may appear across a number of applications including but not limited to advertising, packaging, website, merchandising and promotional activity. Each Entrant, and not Encorp Pacific (Canada), will be solely responsible for any legal ramifications resulting from any breach of the requirements of these Rules regarding (among other matters) its Submitted Content, including without limitation as to any infringement of intellectual property rights, and agrees to indemnify and save Encorp Pacific (Canada) and its agents harmless from and against all such claims. Encorp Pacific (Canada) reserves the right, in its sole discretion, not to use any Entrant’s Submitted Content.

Prizes

• The top two schools in each contest category (Elementary and High School) will receive a cash prize donation to the school program of their choice (e.g. school team, field trips, charity organization, computer equipment, etc.), subject to final approval by Encorp Pacific (Canada). Winners must inform Encorp Pacific (Canada) in writing of the selected school program prior to receiving the cash prize:

  Elementary Schools	1st Prize . . .	$5,000.00
  Elementary Schools	2nd Prize . . .	$2,500.00
  Secondary Schools	1st Prize . . .	$5,000.00
  Secondary Schools	2nd Prize . . .	$2,500.00

• The total value of cash prizes available is $15,000.

Selection of Winners

• Encorp Pacific (Canada) or its agents will review all contest submissions and choose not more than 10 entries to be presented to a judging panel (the “Judging Panel”). Members of the judging panel will be chosen at the sole discretion of Encorp Pacific.
• The Judging Panel will review the entries selected and choose one (1) winner and one (1) runner up in both the Elementary and Secondary School categories based on adherence to the Contest Criteria and Guidelines and in accordance with the following judging criteria:
  1. Basic Guidelines and Format: 25%
  2. Objectives/Goals & Measurements of Success: 25%
  3. Creativity & Interesting Details: 25%
  4. Impacts: 25%
• All decisions of the Judging Panel are final. The chances of winning depend upon the number of eligible Entries and the decisions of the Judging Panel made in its discretion.
• If a potential winning Participating School cannot be contacted within three (3) business days or does not comply with all Program Terms & Conditions and these Rules, that Participating School will be disqualified from the Contest and the next potential winning Entrant will be declared the winner in that category, until all the prizes are awarded.
• Encorp Pacific (Canada), or its agents, will attempt to contact the potential winning Participating Schools’ School Representative using addresses recorded on the online Program registration forms.
• Once contacted by Encorp Pacific (Canada) or its agents, the School Representative of each potential winning Participating School must, in order to be declared a winner:
  1. Demonstrate compliance with all Program Terms & Conditions and these Rules to the satisfaction of Encorp Pacific (Canada) or its agents;
  2. Sign an Encorp Pacific (Canada) justification and release form, including confirming compliance with Program Terms & Conditions and these Rules and, if required by Encorp Pacific (Canada), correctly answer a mathematical skill-testing question without mechanical or other assistance;
  3. As applicable and as required by Encorp Pacific (Canada) deliver signed publicity release forms, in a form provided by Encorp Pacific (Canada) from all persons (or their parent or guardian if such person in under the age of majority) whose name, voice or image may appear in any Submitted Content submitted by such Participating School.
• By entering the Contest, each Entrant fully and unconditionally agrees to and accept these Rules and the decisions of Encorp Pacific and its agents, which are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest.
• All winners release Encorp Pacific (Canada), the operators of Encorp depots and their respective employees, contractors and agents from any and all liability with respect to any publicity which Encorp Pacific (Canada) may conduct in respect to the awarding of any prize.