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On November 15, Give Your Garbage Another Life for America Recycles Day

Keep America Beautiful (KAB) is encouraging people to give their garbage another life on America Recycles Day, taking place this year on Friday, Nov. 15.The organization says the average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash in a single day, yet we recycle only 35 percent of the country’s waste. America Recycles Day encourages people to recycle more at home, at work and on the go.

By Jennifer Elks | Published 11 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Keep America Beautiful (KAB) is encouraging people to give their garbage another life on America Recycles Day, taking place this year on Friday, Nov. 15.

The organization says the average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash in a single day, yet we recycle only 35 percent of the country’s waste. America Recycles Day encourages people to recycle more at home, at work and on the go.

“Through our education programs and collection events taking place in communities across the country, Keep America Beautiful, its affiliate network and partners are raising awareness about what is recyclable and what material can become when recycled and given a new life,” said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president, recycling at Keep America Beautiful.

This year, America Recycles Day is sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, Amcor, American Chemistry Council, the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies, Rubbermaid Incorporated, The Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. and Waste Management. In preparation for this year’s event, Keep America Beautiful has presented five action steps:

Take the “I Recycle” pledge today and tell them what you pledge to recycle more. Ten people who make a pledge will win a park bench made from recycled content.
Make your “I Recycle” pledge go even further through the America Recycles Day Thunderclap, which will post a synchronized message of support (a “virtual flashmob”) on the Facebook or Twitter accounts of all KAB supporters at the exact same time on America Recycles Day.
Share the Thunderclap with your followers. The more people who spread the word, the bigger difference.
Visit IWantToBeRecycled.org to find your nearest recycling center and find out which materials can be recycled and what they can become in their new lives.
Post the Recycling 101 infographic, found here.

Keep America Beautiful is providing resources and supporting activities to thousands of grassroots events across the country, including:

On Tues, Nov. 12, Keep America Beautiful will conduct a “Get Caught Recycling” event on the National Mall and in downtown Washington, D.C., with 80 Mars, Incorporated Associate volunteers. Volunteers will “catch” people using the recycling bins placed on the National Mall and around the Downtown DC Business improvement District and invite them to take the “I Recycle” pledge.
Waste Management of Southern California will be joining AEG, Keep California Beautiful and Keep Los Angeles Beautiful to host the L.A. LIVE America Recycles Day collection event at L.A. LIVE on Nov. 15. The event will include a photo-op prior to Los Angeles Lakers Friday Night Live Activation. Also, a “Random Acts of Recycling” video will be featured at Los Angeles Kings home hockey games leading up to Nov. 15. The video will feature event attendees caught recycling at the venue during prior games.
Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, Recyclebank and the Philadelphia Streets Department are hosting a one-day recycling event on Nov. 15 in Rittenhouse Square, one of Philadelphia's most trafficked parks. Various educational and interactive stations will be set up throughout the Square to demonstrate the proper way to recycle in Philadelphia, why recycling is so critical to the environment and the city, and the potential “second life” for any object through recycling and reuse.

In July, KAB launched its I Want to Be Recycled campaign to increase the number of Americans motivated to recycle every day, by showing that recyclable materials can be given another life and become something new if someone chooses to recycle.

Speaking of recycling, as part of a national effort to increase access to carton recycling in the U.S, the Carton Council of North America last week released survey results that indicated overwhelming consumer belief that product companies and their brands play a crucial role in recycling: Of 1,000 adults surveyed across the U.S., 86 percent responded that they expect food and beverage brands to actively help increase the recycling of their packages through messaging and take-back programs.