How Can We Make Every Day Earth Day? (Sponsored)

Here are some family activities you can do to foster environmentalism. Sponsored by Sony.

Very few events are celebrated around the globe, but Earth Day is. This year, it’s come and gone. But we’re here to ask: What can we do to show our love of the earth on that day, and every day? On May 31st, Sony will release After Earth, an action-packed movie that takes place 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity to leave. It’s the kind of scenario that makes you want to donate to Greenpeace, recycle everything, and start biking every where, immediately. So, in honor of Earth Day, Patch has teamed up with Sony to present these ideas for making every day Earth Day. How can we make every day Earth Day? Begin with little things. Easy things. Obvious things. Things we take for granted each day, and use and/or abuse because of …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (5)

Keep Atlanta Beautiful Community Recycling Event Saturday

The monthly recycling event is held the second Saturday of each month in nearby Old Fourth Ward Neighborhood.

Go Green: Recycle Old Electronics, Styrofoam and More Stuff

Keep Atlanta Beautiful will accept a variety of hard-to-recycle items this Saturday.

  If you've been busy purging your closets, or you got some new electronic gadgets for Christmas, you may have a random assortment of old, unwanted stuff that you're not sure what to do with. Saturday, Jan. 12, is your chance to get rid of electronics, small household appliances, old batteries and even some types of Styrofoam. Keep Atlanta Beautiful will have a drop off day in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Document shredding will also be offered, with the first box free and $2 per additional box. Large appliances and hazardous chemicals will not be accepted, but cans of latex paint can be dropped off for a small fee. For complete details on the items that can be recycled, many of them for free, go to the Keep Atlanta…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Blue Recyclable Bins Replace Mini Black Ones

The switch is part of an effort to reduce cost for the city of Atlanta.

  By now, nearly every Atlanta home should have received a 96-gallon blue recycling bin. Those containers replace the smaller, black 18-gallon bins that residents have been using. That's caused confusion from some residents who now have both types of container. The city's public works department says residents may continue to use both as they see fit. If you no longer want both, you can simply place the black bin inside the blue one and the city will recycle it. The larger bins are part of Mayor Kasim Reed's push to reduce the city's costs related to trash. Currently, city residents produce 96,000 tons of trash annually, which costs the city $7 million a year to dispose of in landfills. But Atlanta residents only recycle about 12,000 tons …

• Photos (1)

Textile Recycling Event for 'America Recycles Day'

Thursday's event comes just a few weeks after Mayor Kasim Reed announced that Atlanta had been awarded a $25,000 grant to engage volunteers in the city’s recycling efforts.

  In celebration of America Recycles Day on Thursday, the City of Atlanta Department of Public Works will host a one-day textile recycling event at the front entrance to City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue. See here for other America Recycles Day events in and around Atlanta in coming days. The textile recycling event is for city residents and employees and will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Some of the items accepted include: • Clothing, Shoes, Belts • Bedding (sheets and pillow cases) and Towels • Stuffed Toys • Carpet and Fabric Scraps Other City of Atlanta recycling drop-off locations for: Cardboard (large amounts): • Lakewood Substation, 128 Claire Drive, SE • Liddell Substation, 1540 Northside Drive, NW Electronics: • Hartsfield Facility…

• Photos (1)

Recycling Is Now Free In DeKalb County

The county has eliminated the $30 registration fee, effective Wednesday, Sept. 26.

  DeKalb County is making its recycling service free to residents. Effective Wednesday, Sept. 26, the county is eliminating the $30 registration fee for curbside recycling making it free for DeKalb residents. “We think that by removing the cost barrier and increasing education on how and what to recycle, our citizens will embrace it,” said DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis. The DeKalb Sanitation Division has a waste reduction plan and a goal to reduce landfill disposal of solid waste and increase recycling. The goal is to increase residential recycling from 21 percent today to 40 percent by 2016, or approximately 64,000 residential homes. Recycling is already available in all county buildings, parks, and recreation centers. DeKalb's …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)

Atlanta Residents Will See Major Expansion in Curbside Recycling

The city will distribute 96-gallon recycling carts to replace the current 18-gallon bins, making it easier for residents to send a lot less waste to the landfill.

  Flanked by several blue 96-gallon curbside recycling carts last week, Mayor Kasim Reed announced a major expansion of the Atlanta’s residential recycling program.  Starting October 15, the City of Atlanta will deliver 96-gallon recycling carts to 66,000 households. The citywide distribution of carts is a key component of the City’s sustainability plan, Power to Change, which has a long-term goal of keeping 90 percent of municipal waste out of landfills by 2020. The new 96-gallon recycling carts will replace residents’ current 18-gallon recycling bins, allowing for more recyclables to be collected. About 30,000 of the city's 95,000 households already have carts.   According to city officials, Atlanta residents generate 96,000 tons of …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)