America Recycles Day: Celebrate a Greener, Cleaner Nation

November 15 is America Recycles Day (ARD), a national celebration to promote recycling in the United States. Since 1997, citizens across the country have gathered annually to celebrate a cleaner, greener America.

The ARD campaign is a program of Keep America Beautiful, the largest volunteer-run community action organization in the country. Several corporate sponsors fund the campaign, which promotes recycling awareness and its environmental and economic benefits.

Anyone can host an ARD event, and everyone can participate: families, neighbors, friends, colleagues, schools, organizations, and community leaders. Campaign organizers ask participants to sign a pledge to recycle more items throughout the year. They also encourage Americans to buy more eco-friendly products made from natural or recycled materials.

Visit the America Recycles Day website and enter your zip code to find ARD events in your area. Then tell us about your celebration in the comments.

Most American cities encourage recycling, composting, and other methods of ensuring safe waste reduction and disposal. Your city probably has a curbside recycling program. Do you participate?

By placing your recyclable materials in a recycle bin instead of the trash can, you can prevent valuable resources from ending up in a landfill. The new products manufactured from the recycled materials decrease America's dependence on her limited natural resources.

Guidelines for curbside recycling differ for each city, so contact your community's waste management department for details. The following guidelines apply for most recycling programs. They are general recycling guidelines for San Antonio, my south Texas city.

Recycling is easy with a curbside recycling program, and it's very effective for managing your home's solid waste. Here is a short list of recycling DOs and DON'Ts for San Antonio. The list presents general guidelines for curbside recycling at your home or office.

• Paper -- Junk mail, catalogs, circulars, newspapers, magazines, phone books, gift wrap
• Cardboard -- Cereal boxes (minus the lining), dry goods packaging, paper towel and toilet tissue cores, broken-down boxes
• Office supplies -- File folders, printer paper, carbon-less paper, calendars, sticky notes
• Glass -- Bottles and jars
• Metals -- Aluminum cans, steel cans, lidded cans, empty aerosol cans
• Plastic -- Items with a "recyclable index" of 1-7

• Branches, bagged leaves
• Batteries, hazardous household waste
• Facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towels
• Plastic bags, plastic packaging, packing peanuts
• Aluminum foil, metal coat hangers
• Wax-coated cardboard containers

These are general guidelines that were created for San Antonio residents. Check with your city for the recycling guidelines in your area.

• ARD contributors. (2011) "Take the Pledge." America Recycles Day. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
• City of San Antonio, Texas. (2011) "Curbside Recycling." San Antonio Solid Waste Management. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
• Keep America Beautiful. (2006) "Who We Are: An Overview." Keep America Beautiful. Retrieved November 3, 2011.

Copyright © 2011. Annette R. Smith. All rights reserved.

Published: November 7, 2011 / Modified: February 25, 2013.

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