Students Recycle Over Half a Million Pounds

Pictured is Recycling Ben congratulating Dawnville Elementary School students for their recycling efforts that earned them a heavy duty recycling cart last year.

Students at Cedar Ridge Elementary School learned about recycling during a visit from Recycling Ben and Liz Swafford from the Target Recycling at School program.  They discussed why recycling is important, what happens to the items collected for recycling, and what students could recycle at school and at home.

Students at Dug Gap Elementary School learned about trees and paper recycling during a visit from Recycling Ben and Liz Swafford from the Target Recycling at School program.

Third graders from Brookwood Elementary took a tour of the Recycling Center and Landfill managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority.  As part of their visit they learned about trees, an important natural resource, and paper recycling.

DALTON, GA – Students from Whitfield County Public Schools, Dalton Public Schools, and two local private schools collected 627,632 pounds of materials for recycling during the 2010 – 2011 school year with Target Recycling at School. The 314 tons collected is the weight equivalent of 179 compact cars and reflects an increase of 25% over the last school year. If only aluminum cans were collected, students would have recycled the weight equivalent of 21,814,300 cans.

Recyclables collected at the thirty-four participating schools include mixed paper products, and where available, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to create new products. As a result, recycling helps conserve our natural resources. For example, recycling 2,000 pounds of paper can save 60,000 gallons of water.

Target Recycling at School is a free program for schools in Whitfield County, Georgia providing environmental education and collection of recyclables. Each year a School Recycling Contest is held and the top recycling schools are recognized. Every quarter the school with the highest recycling rate receives a custom award that will help improve their recycling program or beautify the campus. At the end of the school year the top three schools for the entire year are announced. Awards are given out at the beginning of the following school year.

For the 2010 – 2011 school year the winners are:

First Place: Pleasant Grove Elementary School

Second Place: New Hope Middle School

Third Place: Fort Hill Complex

Honorable mention goes to the Learning Tree School, and Dug Gap Elementary School, which were part of the top five schools for the year.

Target Recycling at School is a program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. For more information call Recycling and Education Coordinator, Liz Swafford at 706-278-5001 or the Target Recycling at School page on their website.

City of Dalton Curbside Recycling Increases in 2010

DALTON, GA - During 2010 the City of Dalton Curbside Recycling program increased the amount of materials collected for recycling in by 8% compared to 2009. Participating Dalton residents collected 1,088 tons or 2,175,800 pounds from January to December 2010 making it the largest amount collected on record. In fact, it was the second year in a row that over 2 million pounds of recyclables were collected through the Curbside Recycling program. Items accepted for recycling include mixed paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs with the #1 and #2 recycling symbol, aluminum beverage cans, bi-metal food cans, and glass bottles and jars.

On Monday, February 21, 2011, during the City Council meeting at City Hall representatives from the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority (DWSWA) recognized City of Dalton residents and the City of Dalton Public Works Department for their outstanding results. “Recycling reduces waste and pollution, saves energy, conserves our natural resources, and is good for our economy.” said Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for the DWSWA. “One third of plastic bottles with the #1 recycling symbol collected in the US are used in Georgia carpet manufacturing. Fibers created from plastic #1 can be used to make clothing and other items like these shoelaces, which read, ‘I used to be a soda bottle’.” Target Recycling program mascot Recycling Ben distributed the recycled shoelaces to the attendees during the presentation.

Norman Barashick, Executive Director of the DWSWA, presented two awards made with recycled blue glass. Mayor Pennington and Councilwoman Wood accepted the award on behalf of the residents. Public Works Director, Benny Dunn, Operations Manager, Reece Carroll, and Foreman, Tim Cruse accepted the award on behalf of the Public Works Department. The drivers of the Curbside recycling trucks, Dwayne Carvelle, Glen Gambrell, and Derek Bagley, were also recognized for being the ones that get the job done on a daily basis. It’s estimate that together they handle more than 4,000 recycling bins per week.

The City of Dalton’s Curbside Recycling program began in 1991. 2010 marked 19 years of environmental stewardship thru recycling. Today, the City of Dalton provides one of the few curbside recycling programs in Northwest Georgia. In 2003 the Curbside Recycling program began delivering its recyclable materials for processing to the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. The Authority operates a Materials Recovery Facility or recycling center which sorts, processes, and markets the materials. Since that time, the amount of recyclables collected by residents has almost doubled.

If you live in a single family home or duplex of three units or less with in the city limits you may qualify for Curbside Recycling. Call the Public Works Department at 706-278-7077 to participate or to request an additional blue recycling bin. If you have more than one bin, please put the fiber materials, such as paper, cardboard, and newspaper, in one bin and everything else in the other.

For more information about recycling in Whitfield County visit www.DWSWA.org or contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator, at 706-278-5001.

Pleasant Grove Elementary Receives 1st Quarter Recycling Award from Target Recycling

DALTON, GA -  On Friday, January 28, the students and faculty at Pleasant Grove Elementary School received an award for having the highest recycling rate during the first quarter of the 2010 – 2011 school year.  During the months of August, September, and October, Pleasant Grove reached an average recycling rate of 17.1 pounds per student collecting a grand total of 9,110 pounds of recyclables.  Recycling Ben, mascot of the Target Recycling program, presented PeeGee, mascot for the school, a grey heavy-duty cart to help collect recycling bins from classrooms and offices.  Students cheered when PeeGee accepted the award during the school assembly.

Target Recycling is a recycling program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, which includes educational opportunities and recognition of participation to public and private schools in Whitfield County.  Since the Fall of 2008 local schools have hosted Target Recycling Containers where they collect mixed paper products like cardboard, paper, office paper, books, cereal boxes, magazines, and newspapers.  Each quarter of the school year the school with the highest recycling rate receives an award that will help improve the recycling program or beautify their campus.  Awards include items like recycling bins for classrooms or benches made from recycled materials.

To improve the recycling rate at your school, contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator, at 706-278-5001, e-mail: lswafford@dwswa.org.

Recycling Ben's Bins is CLOSED

Thank you for your interest in receiving a free recycling bin through our program Recycling Ben's Bins. There was a limited supply of 100 bins available for this month and we have exhausted the supply. The Recycling Ben's Bins program is now closed and no longer accepting registrations.

Please take a moment to subscribe to the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority's e-mail newsletter to be notified of when another recycling bin giveaway will take place. If you recycle or are interested in recycling at the Convenience Centers download the Recycling Guide for Whitfield County called "Stop Treating Us Like Garbage".

Keep in mind that recycling bins can take many forms, from repurposed trash cans, generic plastic bins, to reusable shopping bags and used cardboard boxes. We encourage you to separate your recyclables and drop them off at a Convenience Center near you. Recycling does make a difference.

Limited Number of Recycling Bins Available

DALTON, GA – Recycling Ben is giving away a limited number of 22-gallon recycling bins to qualifying residents in Whitfield County through a new program called Recycling Ben’s Bins [ Registration for this program is now closed. ]. One hundred recycling bins were obtained through a grant awarded by ALCOA and the Georgia Recycling Coalition (GRC) and for use at one of four Convenience Centers managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. Convenience Center locationsinclude the Old Dixie Landfill & Convenience Center in the south end of the county, Westside in Rocky Face, McGaughey Chapel in Cohutta, and M.L.King Blvd. in Dalton. Each one features a recycling and household garbage drop-off area among other services. 

Those interested in obtaining a free recycling bin through Recycling Ben’s Bins [ Registration for this program is now closed. ] should register online at www.DWSWA.org. Participants should already use a Convenience Center location to drop-off their household garbage or recyclables, have Internet access, a valid email address, and commit to answering a short recycling survey online once a month for one year to help gauge the impact of the grant. Each recycling bin includes a recycling guide, which details the types of materials accepted and how to prepare them for recycling. Those new to recycling are especially encouraged to register to obtain one of the remaining bins.

To register for Recycling Ben’s Bins visit visit www.DWSWA.org. For recycling information contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator, at 706-278-5001 or e-mail: lswafford@dwswa.org.