Looking Good in Blue!
Our team has been working hard to give every resident in the City of St. Louis the tools, knowledge and motivation to make reducing, reusing and recycling a part of their daily routine. Thanks to the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District, Saint Louis City Recycles has reached major milestones in our grant programs — “Buck Up for Recycling” and our city school outreach program — which have connected us with thousands of residents and students across the city. We are excited to share some of the results with you in this month’s blog!
Did you Buck Up For Recycling?
Many St. Louisans did! Our blue in-home recycling bins were literally flying off our shelves during outreach events at city government buildings and neighborhood meetings. Many residents also heard about our bins on Nextdoor (a popular neighborhood based social media platform) and made the trip to our office to pick up bins for themselves, family, friends and neighbors. For future updates, look us up on Nextdoor – Saint Louis City Recycles
Through a post-questionnaire, we found that recycling bins are a helpful tool for residents to improve their recycling habits and ensure it becomes part of a daily routine. Additionally, we provided our helpful “Recycling 101” sheet, “Ultimate Waste Disposal Guide” and refrigerator magnet to make it easy for residents to understand what goes in their blue bin and what does not. You can download and print these resources here.
Some Stats from our Buck Up for Recycling Grant
- The Saint Louis City Recycles Team distributed all 1,100 bins in just 3 months.
- So far, we have received over 2,000 pledges to recycle from residents – join your neighbors here!
- Our “Buck Up” bins were so popular, we’ve provided an additional 850 bins to residents at neighborhood and community events and at our office.
- 80% of the 385 residents who received a bin and took our post-questionnaire stated that the bin has increased the amount they recycle.
- A whopping 97.2% of respondents say that they always or often recycle!
City Schools Outreach Program
The Saint Louis City Recycles team also has been doing outreach and education to schools located within the City of St. Louis in an effort to provide the same knowledge, tools and motivation for our younger residents! We showcased three presentations, each tailored for different age groups, and provided classrooms recycling bins and educational materials to help kick start or improve recycling habits at these schools. The program has proven to be extremely fun and beneficial for students, teachers and our team! Check out the pledge tree below to see a visual representation of these efforts!
In addition to the pledge trees, participating schools weighed their recycling for four weeks and reported back to us. We take these numbers and extrapolate them to give the school an idea of their impact. One participating school recycled 600 pounds per month, which would be around 2.7 tons in a single school year. Recycling that much saves 99 gallons of oil from being produced and helps generate 583 hours worth of electricity. What an impact!
Some More Stats from our School Grant Program
- The team has presented at 25 schools in the City of St. Louis since November.
- We have provided 650 classroom recycling bins and distributed close to 576 educational materials to students.
- To find out more about the presentations we offer and to request a visit from our team, click here!
We here at Saint Louis City Recycles are gearing up for more recycling bin distributions, outreach events and educational presentations! Follow us on social media for updates!
@STLCityRecycles
