By Rebekah Eastep, Senior Environmental Education Planner
Nationally recognized—and locally celebrated—America Recycles Day on November 15 champions the benefits of recycling. The awareness day is timely for our organization as our askHRgreen.org Environmental Education program has begun implementing a $1.9 million Recycling Education and Outreach grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Announced in June, the EPA grant will significantly expand the askHRgreen.org “Start Smart, Recycle Right” program over a three-year grant period. There are many innovative projects underway through the grant, but we are excited to share an update on the development of two new online recycling resources for Hampton Roads residents. Scheduled to launch later this month, Hampton Roads residents will soon have access to the Waste Wizard online lookup tool and the “Ready, Set, Sort” online game.
The Waste Wizard lookup tool will allow residents to search any item to find out 1) if it’s recyclable or not and 2) how and where to recycle or dispose of it in their community. It will also direct residents to nearby drop-off locations for items like plastic bags, household chemicals, electronics, and yard waste.
The Ready, Set, Sort online game will challenge residents to properly sort a variety of waste materials into the proper disposal streams. The game is specifically designed for Hampton Roads and represents recycling basics that are consistent across all communities. Ready, Set Sort is an engaging, fun way to educate residents (and especially youth) about putting waste in the proper place.
While you wait for these new resources to go live, challenge yourself to implement the Start Smart, Recycle Right method during the month of November. Just follow these tips:
- Reuse, repurpose, or donate items whenever you can.
- Purchase products with recyclable packaging such as eggs or butter in a paper carton rather than plastic or Styrofoam™.
- Brush up on the recycling basics by recycling your paper, plastic bottles, and metal cans.
- Recycle right when you go beyond the basics of recycling. Know what’s accepted for recycling at curbside, what’s trash, and what requires special disposal.