The following is a guest post by Brigette Prospal, a student at San Diego State University majoring in Liberal Studies with the goal of becoming an elementary school teacher.
In the summer of 2010 I worked as a paid college intern for the California State Parks educational program, which was co-sponsored by ACC. This program teaches children the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling and how to protect our oceans from marine debris through litter prevention and recycling. I talked about why we recycle which is to reduce waste going into landfills, save animals and their habitats and to conserve raw materials. I also discussed ways to be more sustainable, such as people driving echo friendly cars, changing their light bulbs or turning off the lights, turning down their water heaters or something as simple as reusing or recycling plastic bags. During this experience I learned how much plastic is thrown away rather than recycled. Additionally, I gained valuable skills that I will use when I make the transition from college to the workforce. I also discovered that many recyclables can have a second life. For example, water bottles can become shoes; tires can become turf for playgrounds; and cans can become insulation.
During some of the Jr. Ranger programs, campfire programs and school visits this past summer, I taught the children sign language. I am fluent in American Sign Language, and I had fun incorporating sign language into the recycling and ecology lessons I taught. This internship also gave me the opportunity to work on my public speaking skills. I am no longer afraid to get up in front of a group of people and talk to them and these skills will benefit me in all future pursuits.
During the beach cleanups I had to be very organized and utilize multitasking skills, because having 10 people come up to you at once can be overwhelming. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to brush up on public speaking, create educational materials and learn how to be more organized. Also, learning to recycle and generally be more sustainable (some people like to call it “going green”) has been a great experience for me, and I now apply these methods in my own home. This internship was an invaluable experience, and I look forward to another summer to build on what I’ve learned.
The following is a guest post by Keith Christman, Managing Director of Plastics Markets, American Chemistry Council
The phrase “second life” can refer to the “dream life” that one might have lived, had one’s first life not gotten in the way. For example, a second life might involve making headlines as a world renowned astronaut instead of blogging for the American Chemistry Council (maybe that’s just me)? But that’s not the point– recently, two California companies, Robert Mann Packaging in Salinas and Direct Pack, a SoCal recycling company that focuses on sustainable packaging, teamed up and devised a plan (and received an approval) to make clamshell packaging for strawberries out of recycled water bottles. The new partnership will create jobs and give the water bottle the second life it’s always dreamed of! (For those of you insanely jealous that this opportunity is not yet available to humans, you can always try creating a second life virtually).
But what this news also tells us is that California companies are investing in recycling and the manufacturing of recycled products. In fact, A recent survey of green businesses in California conducted by the Center for Community Innovation found that the green economy is growing about 50 percent faster than the rest of the economy overall.
Recycling currently accounts for 85,000 jobs in California. For every 1000 tons of waste recycled, 5 jobs are created within the state, versus the 2.5 jobs that are created when 1000 tons of waste is distributed to a landfill.
That makes the public-private partnerships we support in California a helpful and necessary component in diverting these valuable plastics away from landfills and into the recycling stream. Over the past 3 years we’ve placed nearly 700 recycling bins along California’s coastline, at rest areas and in parks. In 2010, this effort yielded more than 45 tons of plastic and over 105 tons of other recyclable materials—a steady supply of plastics post-consumer materials helps to spur innovative new products (like strawberry clamshells), which can help boost local jobs and economies – while beautifying the state.
Plus, recycling plastics and other materials helps conserve energy and resources, cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce litter.
The fate of recycled water bottles isn’t etched in stone as fruit packaging; recycled bottles are becoming increasingly popular in the creation of other useful products such as fleece, pet beds, and even Nike’s soccer uniforms as seen in the 2010 World Cup. This innovative new clamshell packaging just adds to the growing list of uses for recycled PET.
Cheers to recycling efforts throughout California for giving the plastic bottle the opportunity to live its second life to the fullest – packed with strawberries! And cheers to Californians who are committed to recycling at home and on the go!
Casting nets during the Plankton & Plastic Surveys of U.S. Ocean Waters
Marine debris is a topic that’s been in the news a lot lately, as researchers continue to learn more about the nature and extent of this problem. Although it’s not currently possible to precisely quantify the amount and exact location of the worst concentrations, we can all agree that litter – including plastics – does not belong in the ocean. Most researchers do agree that most marine debris starts out as land-based litter. Human behavior created the problem and human behavior can solve it. That’s why plastic makers are partnering with governments, academics and NGOs to support plastics recycling and to launch anti-littering education programs. And, we’re especially looking forward to participating in the upcoming 5th International Marine Debris Conference (5IMDC) this spring.
5IMDC presents a tremendous opportunity to deepen our understanding, meet with researchers and other experts, talk about best practices, and find new ways to work together on real solutions. Some of the things we look forward to sharing include successes we’ve had with public-private partnerships in California. For example, for the past three years we have worked in California (including with Keep California Beautiful, California State Parks, Caltrans and the City of Woodland) to place nearly 700 recycle bins throughout the state. Those bins diverted over 45 tons of plastic and over 105 tons of other recyclable materials from the waste stream, and importantly, prevented them from entering the marine environment as litter.
More recently we expanded our efforts with a Los Angeles area after school program provider (LA’s BEST) to continue a recycling education program that teaches kids the importance of reusing and recycling. Over the past two years we’ve reached more than 27,000 children in the Los Angeles area. And, last year, we worked with the Southern California Youth Soccer League, The Los Angeles Galaxy and the Sports Authority on a recycling collection program that engaged 400 young soccer players. Armed with large plastic bags and a quick lesson on what they could collect for recycling, these amazing kids collected and recycled more than 3,156 pounds of items, including 1,695 pounds of plastics, during a 7 week challenge. Many of the organization’s coaches and parents now tell us that the education has taken root and the kids have begun integrating recycling into their daily lives.
These successes show us that, when we work together, we can create change.
All of us can help make a difference by making sure plastic doesn’t get in the ocean in the first place. With thoughtful programs, more on-the-go recycling options, tough litter abatement laws, well-run municipal recycling and waste management systems, and behavioral changes, we can help keep plastics (and other materials) out of our waste stream, off our beaches and away from our oceans. Changing behavior – and making it easier to recycle – are the best ways to help preserve our environment for future generations.
I’m happy to share some great news to kick-off America Recycles Day today. The recycling bins we’ve placed in key spots along California’s coastline are on track to divertover 90,000 lbs (or 45 tons) of plastic from the waste stream this year and over 105 tons of other materials.
These numbers show that our work with partners throughout the State is helping to keep plastics out of the natural environment and getting them into recycling bins where they belong. Many everyday plastics can be recycled in California. By placing recycle bins where more people can use them, we and our partners are helping to preserve the environment for future generations.
Beyond our bin program, we are working to create lasting change by helping to educate California youth about recycling and the environment. The Go H2O! Challenge, a program that encourages students in the LA’s BEST after school program to use reusable, recyclable plastic water bottles to help them drink more water, and Recycle.Goal., a program that encourages youth soccer teams to recycle are making a difference. In its pilot season, just completed, Recycle.Goal. teams collected and recycled 1,695 pounds of plastic and 3,156 pounds of material overall, an average of 81 pounds per team. The winning team, comprising girls ten and under from the Alliance FC (San Bernardino), recycled 197 pounds of plastic and 425 pounds of material overall.
America Recycles Day is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle. The purpose of America Recycles Day is to promote the social, environmental, and economic benefits of recycling and encourage more people to join the movement to protect the environment for future generations. Tell me how you celebrate the day in the comments section below!
ACC recently had the pleasure of spending a Sunday morning with the LA’s BEST community to announce the Go H2O! Challenge. The Challenge, now in its second year, is an exciting way to educate more students and families in Los Angeles about recycling and healthy habits. You can read more about the challenge here. Now that we have officially launched the second year of the program, keep an eye out for more exciting news from the challenge. And don’t forget to Go H2O!
Despite the cloudy day, the LA's BEST community was out in full force.
Recycling tip magnets and stickers were a hit at our GO H2O! booth.
The beach is a fundamental part of California’s identity with millions of residents and vacationers enjoying the coastline each year. In addition to sunscreen and beach mats, those visitors bring with them items such as plastic water bottles that if not recycled or properly discarded can end up as litter. To help make sure that more recycling opportunities exist, the plastic industries of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) decided to partner with Adopt-A-Beach to provide on-the-go recycling on several of our state’s beaches.
Through our partnership we have supported efforts to keep our beaches clean by sponsoring 325 bins in three popular Los Angeles area beach locations: Point Dume, Zuma and Venice beaches. Recently, AAB conducted bin measurements on all three beaches, on a single day, to find out just how much plastic material is being diverted from the waste stream.
And, as you can see nearly 1,000 lbs of plastic material once discarded is now being recycled:
April – 216.50 lbs
June – 335 lbs
July – 294 lbs
This program is an extension of the “Plastics. Too Valuable to Waste. Recycle.SM” campaign, which started in 2007. Working with Keep California Beautiful (KCB) and the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), ACC has placed—and the partnership continues to maintain – nearly 700 recycling bins and signage on various State Parks beaches in San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, San Diego, Monterey and Santa Cruz. And the program continues to expand.
The next time you visit the beach, look for these new recycling bins so that we can all do our part for the environment.
Recently, I came across an article about Tess, a young girl from Minnesota, who started a recycling project called “Gimme 5” to collect rigid (#5) plastics. #5 plastics are typically used to make “rigid containers,” such as yogurt cups and cottage cheese and margarine tubs.
Tess started this project because her local recycling program did not accept these types of containers. She decided to take it upon herself (with the help of her mom) to collect rigid plastics and then take it to a nearby recycling center that held a “special” collection day for #5 plastics.
While Tess’ idea is highly commendable, not everyone takes this kind of initiative. That’s why the American Chemistry Council is working with the Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers and local governments to help encourage local curbside programs to include rigid plastic containers. The good news is more and more cities are taking steps to provide this service. In fact, legislation that ACC supports would bring rigids recycling to New York City, and rigids were just added to the recycling program in 64 communities in Connecticut.
In 2008, a study by Moore Recycling Associates Inc. found that 63 percent of California households could recycle rigid plastics curbside and 28 of the 100 largest U.S cities in the US collected rigid plastics through curbside programs. While these numbers are encouraging, we believe even more can be done and welcome the opportunity to work with all stakeholders to expand recycling opportunities for a variety of different plastic packaging. To learn more, go to www.americanchemistry.com/plastics.
And to stay up to date on plastics recycling follow our recycling twitter handle @Recycle_Plastic at http://twitter.com/recycle_plastic.
The following is a guest post by Brian Ketterer, North Coast Superintendent for California State Parks’ San Diego Coast District.
Every year, I really look forward to Carlsbad’s annual Beach Fest. As the North Coast Superintendent for State Parks’ San Diego Coast District, I participate in a variety of activities to preserve California’s beauty – but nobody throws a party quite like Carlsbad. Their Beach Fest is a great example of how to raise awareness and generate support for coastal preservation and stewardship.
In addition to an organized beach cleanup, the Beach Fest features live music, professional sand sculpting, art demonstrations, lifeguard rescue demonstration, a beach soccer demo, beach volleyball clinic and educational booths with hands-on activities for children. Residents come out and come together for a shared goal – to keep their waterways clean.
Litter affects the beauty of our state and can end up in our waterways. This is a shame, because some of it isn’t even trash. Recyclable materials like plastics shouldn’t end up as litter OR in landfills. That’s why we work with organizations like ACC to remind Californians of the importance of recycling, and how items like plastic bottles can have valuable second lives.
ACC, a two time event sponsor, has a long history of supporting litter abatement and recycling programs. They’ve also helped us to develop an environmental education program for young people in the San Diego area. Their efforts have gone a long way to help Californians understand their role in keeping our beautiful landscapes free of debris.
The Carlsbad Beach Fest is sponsored by California State Parks with support from the Friends of Cardiff, Carlsbad State Beaches, ACC and others.
As I mentioned a few posts ago , we put together “Go H20!” Recycling Festivals at 91 LA’s BEST sites for students to test their recycling knowledge and have some fun celebrating Earth Day. It was a huge hit with over 15,000 students in the Los Angeles area and the kids had a great time practicing their bowling and juggling skills. Take a look at the pictures to see for yourself—the smiles on the faces of the kids is a great testament to the fact that learning combined with fun can make for positive results. If you’re looking for engaging and educational ways to teach your kids about recycling, feel free to try some of the games in this toolkit and host your own Recycling Festivals. Be sure to let us know how they go in the comments section!
Earth Day began on April 22, 1970. In the decades since, this event has spread across the globe with thousands of events in almost 200 countries.
Meanwhile, my organization, Keep California Beautiful, continues to do its part every day by working with a variety of partners to support a wide range of efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle and clean up our communities.
Our strong partnerships are the key to what we do. For example, almost three years ago, KCB teamed up with California State Parks and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) to begin a partnership that placed and continues to maintain more than 500 seasonal and permanent recycling bins at more than 20 key beaches along California’s coast. And the partnerships keep growing. KCB is currently working with Caltrans and ACC to place and maintain recycling bins at some of California’s busiest rest stops. The first batch of recycling bins was installed at the H. Dana Bowers Rest Area/Vista Point near San Francisco.
KCB, Caltrans and ACC are teaming up again today—this time to launch the Great American Cleanup™ in California. While the announcement is taking place in Sacramento, the “Clean Up” is actually a series of beautification projects and other activities taking place throughout California. This is the 40th birthday of Earth Day, and we plan to celebrate it big.
Guest post by Barbara Long, Vice President Government Relations and Special Projects, Aquarium of the Pacific
At Aquarium of the Pacific, we have one major goal: to empower our visitors with the knowledge to make a difference on the most pressing issues affecting our ocean planet. As Southern California’s largest aquarium and the fourth largest aquarium in the nation, we take our goal very seriously.
In fact, our mission is to instill a sense of wonder, respect and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants and ecosystems. We can’t do it alone, especially in this economy, when resources are limited.
Another key part of our mission is to create the first aquarium—and perhaps the first institution in the world—dedicated to conserving and building natural capital (nature and nature’s services) by building social capital (the interactions between and among peoples), which is why it’s so important for us to build and maintain partnerships.
For example, we recently expanded our partnership with the American Chemistry Council (ACC) to provide recycling bins for our visitors. This is an extension of an alliance that began in November, 2008, with the opening of Our Watersheds: Pathway to the Pacific. ACC is a sponsor of this exhibit, which gives aquarium-goers the opportunity to learn more about our local watersheds and what we each can do to protect them.
Recycling is an integral part of protecting these “pathways” because too often readily recyclable materials end up as litter, and these items – plastic, cans, glass, etc.—belong in a recycling bin. The eight new containers are brightly decorated and feature messages and reminders to our visitors about the value of recycling and its effect on conservation.
With 1.5 million annual visitors, including 170,000 school children, we are confident that these receptacles will have a positive and long-lasting effect on our patrons, to not only recycle at the aquarium, but to recycle at home, at school and on the go.
Our partners and sponsors come from all walks of life because, ultimately, we’re all committed to the same thing: protecting the Pacific Ocean and its marine life through a variety of means, including recycling.
The Aquarium and our various partners understand that we must all work together to protect the earth and our oceans, when funds, friends and assistance are tough to come by. We encourage all Californians to do the same. Make sure you’re part of the solution, and help us meet our goal of protecting our oceans and waterways.
Bruce Saito, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, and Xzibit celebrate with the LA Conservation Corps Scholars at the recent event in Los Angeles.
The following is a guest post by Bruce Saito, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps.
As the director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, I am constantly amazed by the work our members do and the organizations that come forward to support them. Recently, I had the honor of celebrating both of these groups: our Corps graduates and our partners.
It was truly an occasion to celebrate – we were awarding 150 scholarships to our most deserving participants in the presence of community leaders and our partners including the American Chemistry Council. In January, we received a $100,000 grant from ACC to help us fund our important program, the LA River Keepers.
In times like these, when headlines remind us daily about bad news for city budgets and public programs, we look to our partners for help. With ACC’s donation and this newly established partnership, we will be able to extend our impact through the LA River Keepers program. Through this program, we work to keep the LA River beautiful by removing litter and debris and promoting environmental education, as well as providing job skills training for area youth. During the past 24 years, the Corps has planted more than 100,000 trees, removed 13 million square feet of graffiti, restored 2,300 acres of natural habitat and recycled 10,000 tons of bottles and cans.
While the River Keepers program does a great job keeping the physical area clean and free of litter, we also work to make a difference beyond the river’s edge. Through our job skills training, we work to instill confidence in our Corps members and inspire them to promote positive change in their lives. We heard from some of our Corps graduates at the event and I was so proud of them and their dedication. I am also very proud of this program for impacting their lives in such a meaningful way. I know that our program, through partnerships with organizations like ACC, will continue to make an impact on our city and our city’s youth for years to come.
For more information about LA Conservation Corps programs, visit www.lacorps.org.
Sherri McCarthy (Manager, Western Region, American Chemistry Council) and Bruce Saito (Executive Director, LA Conservation Corps) look on as Councilman Ed P. Reyes speaks at the 1/28 River Keepers event in LA
It was an honor to stand with Los Angeles City Councilmember Ed Reyes, LA Conservation Corps executive director, Bruce Saito, and the Corps’ River Keepers Program members to announce a grant from the plastics manufacturers represented by ACC.
The contribution by the plastics industries of ACC will help to ensure that the vital LA River Keepers program will be able to continue their work of promoting recycling and keeping the LA River clean, while providing job skills, training, and work experience to an incredible group of young people you would be impressed to meet.
The LA River is challenged, as all urban waterways are, but it is an important and potentially beautiful resource for the city and its residents. I was pleased to be part of an event and a group of individuals dedicated to increasing recycling and keeping this important waterway clean.
LA River Keeper Volunteers hold the check at the 1/28 press event
The Los Angeles Daily News posted an op-ed by Assemblymember Isadore Hall, III about our work with LA’s BEST and the Go H2O Challenge. It’s a great partnership and we echo Assemblymember Hall’s kudos for the work done by LA’s BEST, the parents, kids, and staff to make recycling a big deal in the community. Check it out here!
Assemblyman Hall presents a student with a prize for correctly answering a trivia question. Hall was on hand to congratulate the students for their participation in the ‘Go H20!’ challenge.
I recently had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with the students of the 109th and 112th Street schools in Los Angeles to celebrate the completion of the Go H20! Challenge (you can read about when we launched the challenge here.) We were joined by Assemblyman Isadore Hall, who represents the 52nd district of California. Assemblyman Hall came to congratulate the students for completing the Go H2O! Challenge and encourage them to continue to spread the word about recycling and healthy eating habits.
Although it was the last day before winter break, the students were enthusiastic, engaged, and excited to share their newfound knowledge about recycling and plastics. One group of students even wrote a song – complete with hand motions – about the types of materials that can be recycled.
Assemblyman Hall tested the student’s knowledge by playing a trivia game with them. The lucky student who answered correctly walked away with a crisp $100 bill from the Assemblyman! By the end of the afternoon, it was clear the students were well-versed on the importance of recycling and drinking more water. It was a great way to close out 2009.
You can see the students singing about reducing, reusing and recycling here.
Far left, American Chemistry Council’s Sherri McCarthy, Manager, Western Region State Affairs, and Long Beach City Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske look on as State Senator Alan Lowenthal delivers remarks during a press event announcing the expanded partnership between Aquarium of the Pacific and the American Chemistry Council.
Two years ago, ACC partnered with the Aquarium of the Pacific (AOP) in creating a Watershed Exhibit to show aquarium-goers how seemingly harmless litter makes its way from the land to the sea and the damage it can do. Sadly, much of that litter is recyclable and should be in a recycling bin, not on the ground or in our oceans.
This fall, we’re expanding the partnership by providing AOP with recycling bins to be placed at key areas around the facility, providing folks more places to recycle their plastic bottles. We’re proud of our work with the AOP, and we look forward to additional opportunities to work with them in the future.
Do you have a story about recycling in your community and what you did to improve upon what was in place before? We’re always looking for new ideas to make plastics recycling more convenient and effective.
Visitors to AOP will now get to use these bins to recycle their waste.
The following is a guest post from Catherine Stringer, Vice President, Development & Public Affairs for LA’s BEST.
Two LA's BEST Participants show off their new water bottles.
Every afternoon at LA’s BEST, we give thousands of kids a safe and supervised place to learn and play. Like all educators, we hope that during their time with us we’ll be able to teach them lessons that will stay with them for life. That’s why we are so excited about our new partnership with ACC and the Go H20! Challenge, which asks our kids to choose water (out of a reusable, recyclable bottle) over sugary drinks like soda. A large part of our efforts revolve around teaching kids how to be healthy in all aspects of their lives. Working with ACC gives us an opportunity to emphasize the importance of healthy habits for people and the earth, like drinking more water and recycling more plastics. We want them to know that the choices they make—both big and small— can all add up to a healthier self and community.
The “Three Rs” (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) are an important and effective concept for kids to learn. The Go H20! challenge not only helps teach our kids about recycling, reducing, and reusing but also gives them a chance to take ownership of their recycling habits and promote the importance of the environment among family and friends.
As a nonprofit organization in today’s economy, we have to be vigilant with our resources. At times, this can make providing engaging programs a challenge, which is why we’re grateful to bring the Go H20! Challenge into our classrooms. We’re excited to teach our kids how to have fun, stay healthy and recycle!
After a week-long effort partnering with local organizations to encourage families to recycle (and receive tickets to the Los Angeles Angels game!), everything come to fruition this weekend. Our partners were fantastic! They included: Fiesta Angels, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Anaheim YMCA, Orange County Children’s Therapeutic ARTS Center, and Latino Health Access. We all agreed that recycling and keeping our neighborhoods clean is a community effort.
Today was spent passing out educational materials, talking recycling, and anticipating a great game. It was simple and rewarding. The smiles on the children’s faces were priceless.
Anaheim YMCA raffled off a bike and we all had a great time encouraging people to recycle. Today was more than just a day at the ballpark; it was the beginning of a standing commitment in Anaheim to recycle and keep California clean and beautiful.
ACC is always looking for ideas to increase awareness and to make it easier for communities to recycle. What do you think would work best in your community?
Dianna Poggetto, American River Parkway Foundation; Salim Bana, Hilex Poly; Margo Reid Brown, CIWMB, Christine Flowers-Ewing, Keep California Beautiful; Council Member Steve Cohn, City of Sacramento; Darrell Costello, Roplast; Alta Tura, Sacramento Area Creeks Foundation; Tim Shestek, American Chemistry Council
Yesterday at a Savemart Supermarket in Sacramento, ACC kicked off the second of four launch events as a partner in the “Got Your Bags?” campaign. As a part of our second launch event, partners gathered to celebrate the Sacramento leg of the event with Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn.
At this event we distributed nearly 200 plastic bag holders to supermarket shoppers, making it easier for consumers to store all of their plastic bags in one place for reuse or until they can bring them back to the store for recycling.
In addition to our other campaign partners, we were also joined by Salim Bana of HilexPoly, one of the largest closed-loop plastic bag recycling companies in the United States. Located in North Vernon, Indiana, HilexPoly takes plastic bags, melts them down and turns them into new recycled bags!
We are looking forward to kicking off the campaign in Los Angeles and San Diego with our Southern California partner, Albertsons grocery stores, in late 2009.
I had the pleasure of visiting the League of California Cities Conference this week in San Jose. We had a booth in the exhibition hall where we talked to countless city representatives about their desire to improve upon and expand their recycling programs. We were joined by Christine-Flowers Ewing of Keep California Beautiful, who was there to help promote the “Got Your Bags?” awareness campaign. “Got Your Bags?” is a public outreach and educational program aimed at increasing recycling of plastic bags in California as well as shoppers’ use of reusable bags. You can learn more about “Got Your Bags?” here: http://keepcaliforniabeautiful.com/pdf/GotYourBags.pdf.
After a busy few days in San Jose, one thing was abundantly clear: people want to recycle more. One easy way to recycle more of the plastics you use is to make sure you know all of the plastics that can be recycled in your area. It’s always best to check with your municipality to see what they recycle. Most municipalities post a list of recyclable items on their websites.
Virtually all curbside programs recycle plastic bottles, and grocery stores throughout the State collect plastic bags and wraps. Here is a quick list of all of the things that you can recycle with your plastic bottles and plastic bags (http://www.plasticsinfo.org/s_plasticsinfo/sec_level4_wrap.asp?CID=524&DID=8809).
The partnership has placed 13 permanent recycle bins in parks like the Community & Senior Center Park and Ferns Park. Eleven more will be added to city parks in the coming months. To reach the goal of 40 permanent bins across the city, the partnership is offering Woodland businesses the opportunity to participate by purchasing and sponsoring bins in other parks such as Crawford Park, Freeman Park and Woodside Park.
Our efforts in Woodland highlight a particularly effective public-private partnership involving my organization, American Chemistry Council (ACC). Together with Keep California Beautiful and California State Parks, we recognized a need for more opportunities to recycle at locations away from home. Through this initiative ACC has placed more than 500 recycling bins on California’s beaches and parks and we’ve conducted educational advertising to increase recycling awareness among consumers.
Our partnership promotes the recycling of plastics and helps educate Californians about the importance of recycling through the “Plastics. Too Valuable To Waste. RecycleSM” campaign.
In this tough economic climate, where our state’s social and environmental priorities have to compete with economic challenges, this partnership model works. We need to continue to figure out how to do more with less and how to use creative solutions to provide our citizens the services they need and expect. We encourage more government, business and non-profit entities to try the public-private partnership approach.
Why are America’s plastics producers so committed to recycling? The answer is simple: because plastics are too valuable to waste. And, doing right by the environment is also a good thing for business—the recycling industry is a growing part of the economy in California and across the United States, and these businesses rely on used plastics as a vital raw material.
Businesses in the recycling industry rely on each of us to make sure our used plastic bottles, bags and other containers make it into the recycling bin. By doing our part, each of us helps to give these valuable materials a second life as carpeting, fleece jackets, durable backyard decks, home building products, and new bottles and bags.
What types of plastic can be recycled? Well, the types of plastics that are collected curbside can vary by community, so it’s always a good idea to check with your local municipality. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
Almost ALL curbside programs collect plastic bottles, a category that includes:
Milk jugs
Water, soft drink, juice, and beer bottles
Bottles from shampoo, toiletries, laundry detergent and other household cleaners
Salad dressing, cooking oil, and condiment bottles
Food jars, such as peanut butter and mayonnaise
In addition, 66% of California’s communities collect other plastic containers, such as:
Food containers for yogurt, butter, cottage cheese, deli purchases or washed salad greens
And a few cities, such as Los Angeles, collect plastic foodservice items such as:
Takeout containers, disposable plates and cups, meat trays, and egg cartons
Perhaps one of the fastest growing areas of plastics recycling is plastic bags and product wraps.
Plastic bags and product wraps – a category that includes plastic shopping bags, dry cleaning bags, news paper bags and wraps from bread, paper towels, bathroom tissue, diapers, and cases of beverages – can be recycled at major grocery stores and pharmacies throughout the State of California. Read more here.
So that covers what you can recycle at home and at the grocery store. To help increase away-from-home recycling in California, ACC has forged a number of great partnerships throughout the State that have resulted in the placement and maintenance of hundreds of seasonal and permanent recycling bins at rest stops, beaches and parks around the state.
Look for our recycling bins throughout California and, if you send us a photo of your local bins, we’ll post it here!
“Got Your Bags?” partners include: Chris Peck, CIWMB; Council Member Ash Kalra, City of San Jose; Christine Flowers-Ewing, Keep California Beautiful; Kansen Chu, City of San Jose; Alicia Rockwell, Savemart Supermarkets; Tim Shestek, American Chemistry Council.
California state law (AB 2449) requires grocery stores and pharmacies with more than 10,000 square feet of retail space to provide bins for the collection and recycling of plastic shopping bags. Yet research shows that consumer awareness remains low, and shoppers often forget to bring their bags back to the store. The same holds true for reusable bags. Creating and implementing public education campaigns like this will help reduce waste, litter and marine debris.
Next time you visit the grocery store, don’t forget to bring back your plastic bags for recycling. In the meantime, you can reuse them around the house as to carry lunches or store small items . Remember, plastics are too valuable to waste!
Today, we’re launching a blog that will bring you news and insights from representatives of the plastics industry and others who care about how we use, recycle and otherwise handle plastics we use every day. Why now? Our goal is to encourage a constructive conversation about plastics, California, and recycling – about how, working together, we can keep recyclable plastics out of landfills, and from littering our oceans, waterways, and landscape.
California is one of the most beautiful and ecologically diverse states. It’s also one of the largest, with a GDP larger than most of the world’s countries. So keeping California clean and beautiful is a big job that requires everyone to do their part. That’s why ACC and our partners are working together to increase opportunities for “away from home” recycling – on beaches, in parks and campgrounds, and at rest areas across the state.
We’re very proud of the public-private partnerships we’ve launched to date and of the growing volume of recyclable plastics that are being directed into the recycling stream, and away from our highways and waterways. We’re committed to achieving even more, and we believe the best way to make that happen is to engage the state’s best minds. This is where you come in…we look forward to your ideas.
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