Working Towards A Better World
September 16, 2020
During your next visit to Turpentine Creek, you might notice a new look in the form of our recycling and trash receptacles located throughout the refuge. We are excited to announce that Turpentine Creek received a grant from Keep America Beautiful in aiding our recycling efforts!
TCWR has been working for years to improve our environmental impact through composting, recycling, and our food forests. With the help of Keep America Beautiful we are ramping up our efforts in environmental conservation with a more in depth recycling program.
Through the grant we received a total of 14 containers, 10 of which are 32” round recycle only bins and 4 are source-separated square bins that also include a trash receptacle. Every week, the bins will be emptied and the recycling weighed to input the data in the Keep America Beautiful Database.
We want to encourage visitors to help protect and conserve the environment during their visit to the refuge through our recycling program. Every year plastic generation makes up over 35 million tons in the United States alone. Nearly half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made since 2000 and sadly less than ⅕ of all plastics are recycled globally. This leads to a large number of plastics sitting in our landfills, oceans, forests, and neighborhoods. Not only creating an unsatisfying look but more importantly it is creating a life-threatening situation for wildlife.
According to a study done by the Container Recycling Institute, in 2015 nearly a million plastic bottles were sold every minute around the globe. In the United States alone, that was equivalent to 346 bottles per person. As the global population grows, so does the creation of plastics. The bottles only make up a small portion of all plastics that are created and used every day but every small part makes a big part in helping to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
We encourage our supporters to not only recycle the next time you visit the Refuge, but to also recycle at home. Taking a few extra steps to reduce, reuse, and recycle can help save the world. Thank you for your support in this time of need, every little bit helps. Donate now to help us save lives.