Recycling is often the first step for many in discovering sustainable lifestyle choices. Recycling is so important, an individual or a single family can divert massive amounts of waste from landfills and give materials new life. Imagine, what an entire company could do. The single largest day for recycling is right around the corner. America Recycles Day (ARD), a program of Keep America Beautiful (KAB), has several exciting programs you can take part in. I am particularly excited about the Recycling at Work initiative. Recycling at Work offers you a 10-step action plan, discounts on recycling bins and other valuable tools to start and expand your workplace recycling program. All your company has to do is take the pledge at the Recycling at Work website and use their helpful tools and resources.
Last year, 2.1 million participants took part in over 2,000 ARD events across the U.S involving 16,300 local organizations.
Join us this year, November 15th, and become one of the thousands of organizations, schools, colleges and universities, businesses, and government entities that will educate residents about recycling resources in their communities. Registration is officially open so click http://americarecyclesday.org/host-an-event-2 to register all of your 2013 ARD collection, proclamation, pledge drive, college game day tailgate collection, and education events!
Take the I Recycle pledge, online via the QR code, text to pledge, or website from now until November 30 and you will be entered in to a drawing to win one of 10 park benches made from recycled plastic!
Third Annual Recycle-Bowl School Competition
Are you looking for a fun and creative way to increase school recycling participation? Keep America Beautiful’s third-annual “Recycle-Bowl,” is a comprehensive nationwide recycling competition for elementary, middle and high-school students.
Registration is now open to all schools on the Recycle-Bowl website at http://recycle-bowl.org. Be one of the first 1,000 schools to register, and receive a Recycle-Bowl coordinator toolkit!
When:
October 21 – November 15, 2013
Who:
All schools (Public, private and charter schools are eligible.)
What to do:
Track and report how much your school recycles for a chance to win prizes!
What’s new this year? :
National School District Champion – school districts that are unable to break out recycling data for each individual school have the opportunity to win a cash prize.
Waste Reduction Champion – schools that are able to track their trash data along with recycling data. Bragging rights only!
Food Scrap Collection Champion – schools that are able to track the amount of food scraps diverted from disposal. Bragging rights only!
See the State Leaderboard: http://recycle-bowl.org/state-ranking/ to find out how many schools in our state are currently competing or check out the (on last look Georgia had the 2nd highest!) Interactive Map: http://recycle-bowl.org/map/ to see all competing schools.
Recycling@Work
KAB officially launched this September
As part of its Clinton Global Initiative commitment (2012), Keep America Beautiful hosts a program designed to increase recycling in the workplace. Specifically, the initiative invites business, commercial and institutional entities to pledge to increase the recycling of beverage containers, paper and cardboard, electronics and other recyclable materials generated in the workplace through a variety of actions. Entities may volunteer to report on actions taken to increase recycling and the results of those actions. An array of tools and resources, plus discounts on recycling bins, will be available online for pledgees.
Recycling Year Round in Atlanta
Do you need to know where to get a recycling bin? Do you live in an apartment complex and don’t know where to start? Do you want to start a program at your office? Or, do you want to start a recycling program at your restaurant or entertainment venue?
Recycling is easy if you take advantage of these great online resources.
Recycling at Home
- Need a recycling bin at your house?
- Call 404-330-6333
- Email: publicworks@atlantaga.gov
- Want to start a recycling program at your apartment complex?
- Click Here – www.dca.ga.gov/development/EnvironmentalManagement/programs/downloads/MultiFamRecycle2010.pdf
Recycling at Work
- Want to start a Recycling Program at your office?
- Click Here – www.RecyclingatWork.org
Recycling where you dine
- Want to start a recycling program at your restaurant or entertainment venue?
- Click Here -www.zerowastezones.org
Hard to Recycle Items
- Want to recycle, electronics, Styrofoam, paint and other items?
We can all do our part to start recovering more recyclables in Atlanta. Did you know that besides doing the right thing for the environment recycling also promotes jobs and economic growth right here in Georgia? For example, Georgia is the largest user and manufacturer of recycled PET (beverage bottles) in the country. In fact, one third of the PET (#1) plastic bottles recycled in the U.S. are used in Georgia carpet manufacturing. As far as recycling paper and cardboard, Georgia has 16 paper mills using recycled content, nine relying exclusively on recycled fiber. Georgia’s paper industry recycles almost 8% of all paper recycled in the United States.
Novelis, one of the largest aluminum recyclers in the world, recycles huge amounts of aluminum cans in their plant in Greensboro, Georgia.Their North American headquarters is located right here in Atlanta. In addition, Georgia has three manufacturers that use recycled glass to make new products. The recycling industry is alive and strong in Georgia and provides employment to thousands of people.
So, the great thing about recycling in Georgia is that you can be confident and proud that most of your recyclables are being recycled right here. To learn more about “Recycled in Georgia” go to http://www.georgiarecycles.org/georgia-recycles/made-in-georgia. Thanks, and let’s keep on recycling!