Episode 11
Contributed by Randi Perlman
As our country begins the festive season of celebrations, most of us think of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, and New Year’s Eve, but we can also join together to celebrate America Recycles Day (ARD)! Observed on November 15th each year, and also known as National Recycling Day, ARD is observed all around the United States and is dedicated to promoting recycling across the nation. The day is all about recycling — how to recycle, which recycled products to buy, and how to reduce waste. ARD is the signature recycling program of Keep America Beautiful (KAB), the managing and promoting organization for this heartfelt holiday, and the largest community organization in America.
America Recycles Day wasn’t always a national event. It began as Texas Recycles Day (TRD) in 1994 with an idea from two employees of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality at the time. TRD was supposed to spread information about recycling in the state and encourage more people to recycle their waste. These employees, Kevin Tuerff and Valerie Davis, kept up the observance of TRD for as long as they worked with the Texas Commission. When the two later left their state jobs at the Commission, they proposed the idea of converting Texas Recycles Day to America Recycles Day and brought it to the National Recycling Coalition (NRC), who accepted the proposal and embraced the idea. AMERICA RECYCLES DAY WAS BORN!
The first America Recycles Day was announced in Orlando, Florida during the NRC's 16th Annual Congress & Exposition with a parade for about 2,000 gathered people. Over 40 states participated in America Recycles Day and the NRC and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) co-sponsored a press conference on the event with then Vice-President Al Gore as the honorary chair. Over the years, the NRC has worked on spreading the events throughout the country.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton published and signed a proclamation on America Recycles Day, making it a national observance. In the proclamation, the President promoted the environmental and economic benefits of recycling and emphasized the need for Americans to continue to recycle and to buy recycled products. All but one President who followed him has continued to issue a proclamation for the observance each year.
The NRC continued advertising for ARD, achieving 3,000 events across all 50 states in 2007. In 2009, however, the NRC announced they would file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and ultimately reorganized. Shortly before that, in the summer of 2009, KAB took ownership of the holiday from the struggling NCR and is still the managing entity for ARD today. ARD is the only nationally-recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States.
The EPA has stated that the national recycling rate has increased from less than 7% in the 1960s to the current rate of 32%, in large part due to the work by the Recycling Coalition and the America Recycles Day events. An EPA study found that recycling and reuse activities in the United States accounted for 681,000 jobs and $37.8 billion in wages. Despite these impressive numbers, the EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but only about 34% of it is recycled. This year, for #AmericaRecyclesDay, we can all do our part by encouraging friends and family to #DoBeautifulThings to #KeepAmericaBeautiful…
The recycling efforts of communities (like ours) and businesses throughout the United States have helped with the success and growth of ARD, and we can do even better! To build on this progress, America Recycles Day educates and encourages individuals on how to be more mindful of what they consume, the importance of recycling, and where and how to properly recycle. During America Recycles Day, KAB asks people to take their #BeRecycled Pledge to recycle more and recycle right in their everyday lives to increase recycling rates in the U.S. Contact YOUR local Recycling Center, Valley Community for Recycling Solutions (VCRS), at 907-745-5544 or www.valleyrecyclingak.org , to find out how to RECYCLE RIGHT. Happy AMERICA RECYCLES DAY!
Pick up next month’s edition of The People’s Paper/Make a Scene Magazine for Recycling Repeats Itself, Episode 12