 | America Recycles Day
~ PEPS
» Local Angle: For local recycling information, visit Keep Philadelphia Beautiful.
Nov. 15, 2009 - Celebrating its 12th year, today is America Recycles Day, held each year on Nov. 15 to promote recycling and encourage Americans to buy recycled products.
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| Photo courtesy of America Recycles Day | |
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OVER
2,300 events have been planned for
America Recycles Day by nearly 750 local organizers throughout America. Sponsored by
Keep America Beautiful, Inc. and the
National Recycling Coalition, it's the only nationally recognized day set aside with a focus on recycling.
The initiative is having an impact. According to the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, the amount of energy saved last year alone from combined recycling efforts (aluminum and steel cans, plastic and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging) was equivalent to the amount of gasoline used by almost 11 million cars, or the amount of electricity consumed by 17.8 million Americans in a year.
"Recycling has meaningful implications for energy conservation, natural resources protection, and ultimately reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions," Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., said. "By celebrating America Recycles Day we are spreading the word that we all have a responsibility to support recycling through our daily choices and actions, including purchasing products manufactured from recycled materials."
At the America Recycles Day website, visitors can take a Recycling Pledge to increase their personal recycling activities in the coming year and can also access a
"Conversionator" online tool to calculate the impact of their individual recycling efforts.
"Recycling in the United States is a $236 billion industry, employing 1.1 million workers nationwide in 56,000 businesses. On America Recycles Day, we celebrate the individuals, communities, local governments, and businesses that recycle their waste and continually think of innovative ways to use materials that might otherwise be Word of the Day discarded. Recycling improves our daily lives and helps to protect our planet for the future. Through recycling, we conserve energy, consume less of our precious natural resources, decrease the amount of waste deposited in landfills, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," President Obama said in his presidential proclamation about the day.
