22 Ways to Reconsider Litter and Recycle Right This Earth Day
Are you looking for ways to improve and beautify your community this Earth Day? We invite you to #reconsiderlitter and #RecycleRightGA! We’ve partnered with our friends at the Georgia Recycling Coalition to bring you 22 activities to enjoy on the 22nd. Check out these ideas and learn more about our two campaigns below.
1. Anyone can plog! Run or walk around your neighborhood and pick up any litter that you see. When you get home, sort the trash from the recyclables.
2. Take it one step further and visit one of your favorite parks or trails. Meet a friend or two (just remember to follow social distancing measures) and give it a makeover in honor of the holiday.
3. Learn what items are recyclable (and not recyclable) at your curb and in your community.
4. Leave a thank you note for your recycling and sanitation crew for doing their part to help protect the environment.
5. Participate in the #reconsiderlitter art contest. Gather some items from your home or yard that often become litter (soda cans, glass bottles, aluminum cans, bottle caps, tires, etc.), then use them to create an upcycled piece of art for your yard, balcony, or windowsill. Three lucky winners will win a prize, and all will improve their communities! Read more details and get inspired here.
6. Clean out your closet, extend the life of your unwanted clothes, and get a Gap credit when using Gap X thredUP Clean Out Kit.
7. Reuse your glass jars by trying one of Forge Recycling’s 25 creative ideas.
8. Donate gently used household items like shoes and clothes to charity through the Amazon GiveBackBox program, which includes free shipping labels.
9. Drop off used books at one of the many Better World Book locations.
10. Recycle your cardboard boxes from your online shopping.
11. Learn where to recycle hard to recycle items like batteries, electronics, and paint. Check with your local solid waste or public works department or Keep America Beautiful affiliate for information on your nearest recycler. (Please check for potential pandemic-related changes to operating hours and procedures.)
12. Join the Great American Cleanup! This year, KGBF affiliates across the state will focus on individual/family cleanups and small groups.
13. Train your pet to pick up litter with you. Have you heard about Molly, the beach-cleaning labrador?
14. Become part of a community devoted to protecting Georgia’s environment, and pledge to #reconsiderlitter.
15. Read an environmental-themed book like Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise by Georgia’s own Ray Anderson, or one of the 800+ books listed on Goodreads’ Best Environmental Books.
16. Incorporate Earth Day into virtual learning by using digital education resources from Earth Day.org.
17. Explore The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks in an incredible, immersive virtual-learning opportunity from Google Arts and Culture.
18. Test your knowledge by taking an Earth Day quiz.
19. Plastic bags can litter our streets and clog up recycling machinery. Keep them out of harm’s way by learning how and where to recycle plastic bags or by completing this fun plarn tutorial (yarn made from plastic bags). Need help finding your nearest drop off recycling location for bags? Try this easy to use tool.
20. Learn US EPA’s storage and prep tips to reduce food waste at home, like storing apples and bananas separately to extend their shelf life.
21. Plant flowers in your outdoor space, preferably native options that support our pollinators. Did you know beautifying heavily trafficked areas (pedestrian or motor) helps to prevent litter?
22. Finally, spread the word! Make sure to tell your friends and neighbors to #reconsiderlitter and #RecycleRightGA.
The Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation’s #reconsiderlitter campaign asks Georgians to contemplate the negative effects of litter on our economy, health, and environment, as well as join the fight to reverse them. The Georgia Recycling Coalition’s #RecycleRightGA-Let’s Sort This Out campaign aims to increase recycling, decrease contaminants being placed in curbside recycling, and ensure Georgia manufacturers have the recovered materials they need for their businesses.