November 15 is America Recycles Day, an annual celebration to promote and improve recycling across the country. To celebrate, buildings across the downtown district in Columbus will turn blue and green as part of this annual recognition. This year, the community has even more to celebrate as Franklin County’s rate of recycling has exceeded 50 percent. The following buildings will be participating in the celebration:
- LeVeque Tower
- American Electric Power Headquarters
- Franklin County Government Building
SWACO is proud to celebrate the importance of recycling not just on America Recycles Day, but every day. While Franklin County’s rate of recycling grew to 51 percent last year (2020) and continues to exceed the national average (34 percent), residents and businesses across the region still send nearly a million tons of material each year to the landfill. Over half of that material is divertible, meaning it could have been reused, recycled or even composted. While it’s important to recycle, it’s even more important to recycle right. By taking just a few minutes to recycle the right way, you help reduce pollution, contribute to cleaner water, conserve limited natural resources, support our economy and reduce central Ohio’s reliance on landfills.
Help us celebrate America Recycles Day today – and everyday – by taking small steps to improve your recycling. Here are some ideas to get started:
- Never bag recyclables. One in four homes in Franklin County still bags recyclables, which can cause material to become tangled in equipment at the recycling facility. When this happens, material that could have otherwise been recycled may still end up in the landfill. Always keep your recyclable materials loose in the bins.
- Know where to throw. Not everything in your household can be thrown into your blue recycling cart. Check out our convenient, user-friendly search tool that outlines recycling rules for Franklin County, including how and where to discard common household items and hazardous waste.
- Register for an upcoming webinar. During our monthly webinars, SWACO recycling experts go over the basics of how to recycle correctly, dispel notions and myths and answer your recycling questions. Webinars are free and open to the public.
- Get inspired by community progress. Communities across Franklin County are making huge strides in improving their local rates of recycling. These Recycling Rockstars are taking innovative approaches to addressing a citywide – and nationwide – challenge. For example, the City of Whitehall transitioned to a volume-based trash collection program that provides a citywide incentive to reduce residents’ trash bill by recycling more. Since the program started in 2021, participation in their weekly curbside recycling program increased from 25% to 95%, and the amount of recycling collected has doubled!
Every time you recycle, you’re making an impact. You’re helping hundreds of businesses who depend on recycling, supporting thousands of jobs that those businesses create, keeping these valuable materials circulating throughout our economy and helping to keep central Ohio green. Proper recycling takes only a few minutes, but the impact lasts for years. Together, we can make a difference.