America Recycles Day Inspires Americans to Take Recycling Pledge
America Recycles Day With Keep America Beautiful
The average American generates 4.6 pounds of trash every day, and less than half of that gets recycled. Keep America Beautiful is dedicated to changing that by celebrating America Recycles Day every November.
Keep America Beautiful (KAB) is a nonprofit organization that helps educate and inspire people to improve and beautify the communities they live in. As part of this effort, KAB and its chapters across the country celebrate America Recycles Day each year on Nov. 15.
America Recycles Day is a nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. On America Recycles Day, event organizers educate neighbors, friends and colleagues about recycling.
In 2019, America Recycles Day is focusing on increasing the national recycling rate, which is currently at just 34%.
To participate, KAB encourages citizens to take the #BeRecycled pledge and take the time to learn about what can be recycled in your community, act by recycling more and purchasing more items that include recycled materials, and share the pledge by encouraging others to participate as well.
Celebrations for America Recycles Day
In honor of the day, Keep America Beautiful chapters around the country plan events to engage communities in recycling activities.
“America Recycles Day is more than a celebration; America Recycles Day is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to the promotion of recycling programs in the United States. It's one day to inform and educate, get our neighbors, friends and community leaders excited about what can be accomplished when we all work together and to make recycling bigger and better.”
Barb Christner, Director of Development | Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful
For example, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is hosting a Litter Summit to celebrate the holiday. Attendees of the event will hear from experts on why people litter and learn strategies to change behaviors.
Keep Noblesville Beautiful, an unofficial chapter of Keep America Beautiful, honors America Recycles Day year-round by hosting a recycling bin at a local grocery store to collect paper and magazines. To date, the organization has recycled more than 475,000 pounds of paper.
Looking for a way to give back?
Here are eight steps to planning a community cleanup!
Learn How to Recycle Better
To celebrate the event at home, take the #BeRecycled Pledge and make recycling correctly a priority. First, look up what is and isn’t accepted in your city’s curbside recycling. Make sure you know exactly what types of plastic, glass and paper are accepted. “Wish-cycling,” or including items that are not recyclable, can actually contaminate everything in your recycling bin, causing it to be sent to the landfill instead of the recycling center. When you do recycle, make sure you clean items thoroughly before placing them in the correct receptacles.
For items that aren’t accepted curbside, check out our city recycling guides for other sustainable options in your area.
After learning about recycling in your area, take further steps to improve your recycling with these resources:
Tips for Recycling Glass
Not all glass is recyclable and not all curbside recycling services accept it. Discover the right types of glass to recycle and where to take your items before you toss everything in the bin.
Items to Keep Out of Your Bin
Trying to recycling items that aren’t recyclable can contaminate your entire bin. Be sure to keep these non-recyclable items out of your bin to make sure all of your other recyclables make it to the right place.
Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags and Bottles
Plastic bags probably aren’t accepted in your recycling bin. Clean plastic bottles probably are but reusing the items before sending them to the correct recycling facilities can be a great option as well.
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