From www.recyclenrv.com :  Recycle isn’t a buzz word anymore.  It’s something that each and every one of us should be focusing on.  Our population continues to grow, resources are dwindling and each of us is discarding more and more trash each year.  As our landfills fill up, it’s vitally important that we find new and more efficient ways of reusing the materials we throw away.  We’re not suggesting you have to convert your home to 100% solar energy and collect rainwater in buckets in order to make a difference, just do the little things and demonstrate to our children the importance of protecting our resources.

So why should we recycle our household goods?  Consider:

• The average American produces more than 4 pounds of garbage a day.
• Recycling glass, instead of creating new bottles and jars, reduces mining waste by 70%, water use by 50%, and air pollution by 20%.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months.
• Recycling one plastic bottle saves that bottle from filling our landfills for up to 1000 years, not to mention that we don’t need to use more petroleum to create the bottle again.
• While glass is made of silica (sand), it can take up valuable space in a landfill and nearly 4000 years to break down.
• Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy it took to make the can in the first place.

There are any number of reasons why recycling household items is important, but whatever the reason it doesn’t take much to make a difference.  If we all take small, simple steps they’ll grow exponentially.

Well, we won the poster contest.  As a reward, we received the opportunity to meet the premier (and still going strong) newscaster in Atlanta — Ms. Monica Kauffman (now Mrs. Monica Pierson).  It’s something I’ll remember forever, and something that began to shape my attitude towards environmental stewardship.

It’s a little hard to admit it… but that was TWENTY YEARS AGO!! Being “green” was not nearly the fad then as it is now, yet as students, we were enthusiastically involved with a cause that mattered…recycling. In fact “green” as an eco-friendly term didn’t exist.  Now, as adults, we are experiencing a deluge of marketing, advertising and information regarding “green” inititives such as Bio-fuels, wind energy, composting………the list could fill a thousand blogs. It’s become a huge business.

But just as stone-washed jeans, baseball cards, and New Kids On The Block all reached the apex of societal intrigue, they faded just as fast. So will the verdant fad of eco-friendliness. However, our basic responsibility to the planet that sustains us will never leave our shoulders. That’s why it’s so vitally important to continue to teach our kids the basics.  While transesterification and algae production might be important to the future of energy, let’s keep it simple for now and bring the same slogan into schools that was brought into my school a generation ago: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.

Based on these three simple ideas, GreeneWorks has created Green Kids — a program that teaches practical ways for young people to make an impact on their local area.  And further, a program that instills a lifelong respect for nature as it shows how intimately we as humans are connected to our one and only source of sustainability. And even further…it’s fun!

Look out for Green Kids programs around the Lake Oconee area, or check out our website for a calendar of events (coming soon!).

www.greeneworksga.com

Now, I’m trying not to belittle your heroic efforts, because I (and most of progressive society) salute you.  Your dedication is truly inspiring, though a little disheartening.  How many people out there feel the same as you, but don’t act because of the burdens of recycling in Greene?—Especially considering that many forward-thinking communities make recycling so much easier.

I’m pleased to announce that GreeneWorks, a new environmental solutions company based in the Lake Oconee area,  will soon begin offering low-cost curbside recycling to residents within several lake-area communities.  With curbside, all you have to do is throw your glass, plastic, aluminum, and steel recyclables in bin.  The only separating necessary is that of corrugated cardboard and newsprint.  Sit it out by your trash can on pickup day, and GreeneWorks will do the rest.

Subscribe to this blog, and stay tuned for more exciting details and other miscellaneous information about recycling around Lake Oconee!