One day to educate and motivate. One day to get our neighbors, friends and colleagues excited about what can be accomplished when we all work together. One day to make recycling bigger and better 365 days a year! Help the County of San Diego and ILACSD celebrate America Recycles Day by joining us for an after-school cleanup in Alpine! We’ll be teaming up with students, parents and teachers from Boulder Oaks Elementary School to clean up the neighborhood. We would love your help in spreading the message about the importance of recycling year-round!
Why is this day so important? Let’s look at the numbers: the average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash a day, and on the whole the United States produces more than 250 million tons of trash a year. San Diegans produce more than the national average, at 5.4 pounds a day! However, only about 35 percent is currently recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Recycling provides many benefits including:
- Conserving natural resources: Recycling conserves trees, water, and minerals – preserving the environment for future generations.
- Reduction of the need for landfills: Recycling allows material to re-enter the marketplace as new products instead of taking up space in landfills.
- Pollution prevention: Recycling avoids greenhouse gas emissions (caused by processing and extraction of raw materials) equivalent to removing more than 34 million cars from the road each year.
- Energy savings: Recycling reduces the need to extract and process raw materials.
- Job creation: Recycling helps create new jobs in the United States for both the recycling industry and manufacturing.
How can you help? Here’s our call to action!
- Sign up to volunteer at our after-school cleanup
- Learn about what is recycled in your community through our website, WasteFreeSD
- Take the “I Recycle” pledge: whether at home or at the office, commit to recycle more and give your garbage another life!
