Liz Swafford: America Recycles Day is Nov. 15

Published 11:33 pm Tuesday, November 5, 2013

It may seem a little bit early to be talking about America Recycles Day. After all, the official date for this annual celebration is next Friday, Nov. 15. Thankfully you don’t have to wait until then to recycle.

America Recycles Day is celebrated in all parts of the country during the whole month of November. And, of course, you can recycle at home with the city of Dalton’s curbside recycling program everyday. Even local convenience centers are taking recyclables five or six days a week.

Pledge to recycle

This year, America Recycles Day is all about taking pledges to recycle.

A quick visit to www.americarecyclesday.org shows you where you can recycle and more. There you’ll see the green button “Take the I Recycle Pledge” where you can add your pledge to recycle to the more than 45,000 pledges already counted.

Above the pledge form, it says the national recycling rate has increased to 34.7 percent, but we still can recycle more. When you take the pledge this year, you commit to learning more about the types of materials collected for recycling in our community.

Also, you pledge to reduce your personal waste by recycling more within the next month. You should encourage one family member or friend to take the pledge too.

If you choose to make your pledge public, you’ll see your comment on the sidebar of the page along with many others who have already taken action.

One of the comments says, “We recycle everything we can. Our goal is to have at least twice as many recycled materials than garbage or trash.” Another says, “My family and I have been recycling for many years. We now have curbside collection in our town! I am so happy! I am working on furthering awareness at my school.”

To take the pledge however, you don’t have comment or even leave your name. You can be listed anonymously.

Spreading the idea

Besides taking the pledge, on the official America Recycles Day website you’ll find an online toolkit with ideas to help you spread the word about recycling at work, home and school.

To figure out what to recycle in the first place, download the “Recycling Decoder.” It’s a full color guide that lists the traditional recyclables accepted in most communities.

Then go to the section called “Find Recycling,” where you’ll find where to recycle in Whitfield County.

If you want to host an event at work or school, click on the toolkit, then download a “Go-To Guide.” There’s still plenty of time to prepare if you want to take action.

Local recycling events

While America Recycles Day is celebrated nationally, locally we do have a few activities.

Today, for example, I’ll be reading at the library at 11 a.m. for the weekly children’s program. Also, today is the deadline for entries for the annual America Recycles Day billboard design contest open to middle school students in our community.

The Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority’s recycling center and its “Target Recycling at School” program hosts the contest. The winning design will be featured on two billboards in the community.

Next week, I’ll also be involved in a school assembly at Westwood Elementary School to introduce students to recycling. Later that day, New Hope Middle School will receive an award from their participation in last year’s school recycling contest.

Add some school tours of the landfill and recycling center, and participation in career day to the mix, and celebrating recycling expands throughout the whole month of November.

The amount of activities is comparable only to Earth Day in April.

Liz Swafford is the recycling and education program coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. Learn more about recycling in Whitfield County by visiting www.DWSWA.org or calling (706) 278-5001.