by Cassandra Hage
Executive Director, St. Louis Earth Day
St. Louis Earth Day is excited to share some victories accomplished through our Recycling On the Go program this season. We have been actively involved 33 events in the St. Louis area between April and November, totaling 70 event days. Through these events, we reach approximately 700,000 people with recycling and composting education and provide opportunities for event attendees and vendors to recycling and compost their waste. With the dedicated work of Event Recycling Staff and volunteers, we are on track to divert about 40 tons of waste this event season.
One of the new aspects of our program we are most excited about is our partnership the St. Patrick Center’s Veterans GO! Green program. In this program, St. Patrick Center’s clients progress through a one-week training in which they explore employment opportunities and learn skills to help them succeed in careers within the material recycling and reuse industry.
Through this partnership, we were able to providing transitional job opportunities for its participants while providing services for St. Louis’ biggest events. Graduates of the program staffed recycling stations throughout the grounds of the Taste of St. Louis, helping the 300,000 attendees learn more about where their waste was headed and why.
Thanks to the recycling sorting stations, 24660 lbs. of organic material and compostable service ware items were sent to St. Louis Composting and 1480 lbs of recycling was diverted from the landfill. In addition to the partnership with the St. Patrick Center, this success was the result of the collaboration between Entertainment St. Louis (the organizers of the Taste of St. Louis), Regency Contracting (an event-clean up service company), Replenishing the Earth and St. Louis Composting.
Graduates from the St. Patrick Center program were also hired to help with the recycling efforts at Pride Fest, Festival of Nations and the Best of Missouri Market. Thanks to all of our partners, sponsors, granters and service providers for making recycling education, green jobs and waste diversion possible!
Recycling On the Go, a St. Louis Earth Day initiative, reduces the negative environmental impact of events and festivals by reducing and recycling a portion of the waste they generate. St. Louis Earth Day offers a full range of services, including event recycling, composting and comprehensive event sustainability consultation. Funding from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, as well as other sponsors, enables St. Louis Earth Day to provide recycling and composting services at key events in the region.
For more informaiton please visit www.stlouisearthday.org.