Since 1997, organizations and individuals across the United States have come together on November 15 to celebrate America Recycles Day. This is a nationally recognized day dedicated to the promotion of recycling programs. The initiative is dedicated to encouraging people to recycle more at home, at work, and on the go.
Non-profit group Keep America Beautiful leads the event, providing resources and supporting the activities of over 1,500 grassroots event organizers. “Recycling is the easiest thing that any individual can do to reduce his or her carbon footprint, save energy, and protect natural resources,” says Matthew M. McKenna, president & CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “While we celebrate the power of recycling on this special day, it’s something we should all make a conscious effort to do every day of the year.”
Says Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Solid Waste and Emergency Response, “On America Recycles Day, EPA encourages all Americans to consider their role in creating a healthy environment by being responsible consumers. By making smarter choices, consuming less, and reusing and recycling, each of us can contribute to a healthier and more sustainable environment.”
2010 Happenings
More than 2,000 events have been registered in 2010 ranging from electronics recycling events and paper drives to contests and art exhibits. Events can be found at www.americarecyclesday.org, which features a search-by-zip code tool.
Sponsors of America Recycles Day 2010 are:
- Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green
- Waste Management
- Alcoa
- Nestlé Waters North America
- PepsiCo Dream Machine recycling initiative
- Naked Juice
- American Chemistry Council
- Anheuser-Busch
- Earth911.com
Additionally, Keep America Beautiful is partnered with PepsiCo for The Dream Machine recycling initiative, a multi-year collaboration between PepsiCo, Waste Management, and Greenopolis to make thousands of recycling bins and interactive kiosks available in public venues. As part of America Recycles Day 2010, Keep America Beautiful has announced that affiliates in Oak Park, IL, Manatee, FL, and Mansfield, MA have committed to place more than 650 recycling bins in highly trafficked locations throughout each of their communities.
Read about other Sponsor efforts here.
Partners of the America Recycles Day initiative are:
- Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Soles 4 Souls
- Glass Packaging Institute
If anyone desires to pursure office and business recycling further, I would encourage them to contact their local Sierra Club.
Our local Sierra Club offers a free “evaluation”, which is confidential and involves them visiting your business to help brainstorm and offer resources on how to reduce environmental waste.
We’re taking a baby step approach, which started with a office paper recycling policy last year.
During that same time period, we persuaded our office landlord to furnish a “cardboard only” dumpster. After he furnished the cardboard dumpster, other tenants began using it and now it is filled to capacity weekly!
Cardboard that would otherwise be in a landfill, is now being recycled and the landlord reports that the dumpster fee is lower than a standard landfill dumpster fee!