Blue is my favorite color. That is not a shock for those who know me.
My house is full of blue and white details with just a touch yellow as an accent. My office also is full of blue accents.
When we discuss colors for fliers and brochures here at the office for Keep Liberty Beautiful, my first choice always will be blue.
Blue is calming and fresh. It makes me think of the outdoors. It is the most popular color choice for most people.
Blue also signals recycling. Blue bins traditionally are used for recycling in the fascinating world of solid-waste services.
It almost is something that some of us in the industry can take for granted — thinking that everybody knows that a blue bin means you have the opportunity to recycle.
I think some of us have forgotten that not everyone actually knows that. So here is a reminder: When you see a blue bin, it almost always means recycling! Please use it for that only — not for trash!
Our next Recycle It! Fair is scheduled for Saturday, June 4. These quarterly recycling events specifically are for the collection of electronics and household hazardous-waste items.
Our partners for these regular events are Goodwill Industries and Coastal Auto and Recycling.
Goodwill accepts electronics for recycling as well as gently used household appliances, household goods, hardback books and clothing that can be re-used.
Coastal Auto accepts car batteries and used motor oil and antifreeze. They also accept household paint (in sealed cans with no rust), ink and toner cartridges, cell phones, household batteries, fluorescent bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
But what does all of this have to do with you? Why should you recycle?
Well, recycling is a simple way that we, as consumers, can help out the environment, create a profitable market for recycled goods and help preserve natural resources from being depleted.
Many of these particular items that we collect at Recycle It! Fairs leach a higher level of toxins that over time can have a negative effect on our soil and groundwater.
Recycling these items is a much more effective and healthier way to discard them.
Other items like newspapers, magazines, plastic bottles (PET #1 and 2), “tin” cans, aluminum cans and glass can be dropped off for recycling at any of the recycling drop-off locations around the county.
Recycling is good for the planet and good for our community. Here are some benefits of recycling, noted by the Georgia Recycling Coalition:
• Good for our economy: Manufacturing companies rely on recycling programs to provide the raw materials they need to make new products.
• Creates jobs: Recycling in the United States is a $236-billion-a-year industry. More than 56,000 recycling and reuse enterprises employ 1.1 million workers nationwide.
• Reduces waste: The average North American discards 7 1/2 pounds of garbage every day. Most of this garbage goes into to landfills, where it is compacted and buried. Over half of this waste can be recycled.
• Good for the environment: Recycling requires far less energy, uses fewer natural resources and keeps waste from piling up in landfills.
• Saves energy: Recycling offers significant energy savings over manufacturing with virgin materials. Manufacturing with recycled aluminum cans uses 95 percent less energy.
• Preserves landfill space: No one wants to live next door to a landfill. Do you? Recycling preserves existing landfill space.
• Reduces carbon emissions: In 2000, recycling of solid waste prevented the release of 32.9 million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MMTCE, the unit of measure for greenhouse gases) into the air.
• Reduces water pollution: Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials.
• Protects wildlife: Using recycled materials reduces the need to damage forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife.
• Creates new demand: Recycling and buying recycled products creates demand for more recycled products, decreasing waste and helping our economy
This week is a special week for us at Keep Liberty Beautiful.
As we wind down this 2011 Great American Cleanup period, it is hard not to be exceedingly thankful each year for the individuals, businesses, civic groups and other organizations that really are the essence of a community program like this.
You see, although this is a county program, the actual “engine” that makes a program like this perform is the community itself.
I really cannot take much credit for any success of this program because, without volunteers, KLB essentially would be worthless.
To thank our volunteers, we will have a volunteer appreciation for all volunteers who have participated in Keep Liberty beautiful events this year.
You are invited to drop by between 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, at the Old Mills House at 500 Oglethorpe Highway to join us for some food and fun. This is our simple way of saying thanks.
I hope you can join us! You do make a tremendous difference. Thank you for all you do.
For information, call Keep Liberty Beautiful at 880-4888 or email klcb@coastalnow.net.