America Recycles Day is November 15th. To celebrate, people all across the country use the day to organize, educate and improve our recycling systems. In San José, we’ve put together some family-friendly recycling activities and resources for residents to explore on our America Recycles Day webpage. 

Why Recycle? 

Why does recycling need a special day? The United States’ recycling rate has hovered in the mid-30 percent range since the mid-1990s although much more could be recycled into new products. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a goal to increase our national recycling rate to 50 percent by 2030. Recycling prevents us from using valuable natural resources, preserves our landfills, saves energy and prevents pollution.  

A common misconception is that recyclables don’t end up getting recycled and just end up in landfills. In San José, recycling collection companies sell the recyclables collected that meet today’s quality standards. In fact, San José has been doing well with a local recycling rate around 75 percent, well above the U.S. average. While we’re doing better than the country overall, we still have room for improvement here, too. America Recycles Day is an opportunity to commit to recycle right and make a difference in the community. 

Recycle right for America Recycles Day! 

With the current standard for high quality recyclables, not only is what we recycle important but how we recycle it is important as well. Here are a few ways to recycle right for America Recycles Day:  

• Unsure of what goes where? Visit sanjoserecycles.org to find out.   
• Be sure to empty and scrape any remaining food or liquid out of items so the rest of your recyclables stay clean (no need to rinse recyclables to conserve water). 

• And last, never use your recycling container for garbage that you cannot fit into your garbage container!  It can contaminate the items in your cart so that they cannot be recycled.    

These three strategies will ensure that your recyclables really do get recycled and help us achieve our recycling goals.   

Visit ESD’s America Recycles Day webpage for videos, webinars, fun activities for all ages like word searches, crosswords and bingo, and more! 

Help us spread the word about America Recycles Day and the importance of recycling right. By committing to recycling right and sharing these resources with others, together we can #keepSJclean. 

Want more recycling and waste-related content? Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, The Loop, for the most current recycling, garbage and waste reduction news: bit.ly/TheLoop_signup