America Recycles Day: Stop Guessing, Start Recycling Right | Recycle Across America
- Alexa Green
- Nov 5
- 4 min read
Every year on November 15th, we celebrate America Recycles Day. This national observance, which began in 1997, is a powerful annual reminder of our shared commitment to this planet.
But if you're like most people, that commitment often comes with a knot of anxiety and the question(s): Is this recyclable? Am I doing this right? Is my recycling actually getting recycled?
The truth is for many years, the existing recycling system has let down the American people. So, it's time to talk about the "why" behind the effort, the "what" behind the failure, and the simple "how" we can fix it for good.
The Fundamental Why: Recycling is Climate Action
Before we discuss the problem, let's affirm the value: recycling works. It’s one of the most effective tools we have for climate change mitigation and resource conservation.
Saves Energy: Making products from recycled materials, like aluminum, paper, and glass, almost always uses dramatically less energy than starting from scratch with virgin resources. For example:
Recycling aluminum saves about 95% of the energy needed to make new aluminum.
Recycling one ton of paper saves enough energy to power the average American home for 6 months.
Conserves Resources: It reduces the need for destructive resource extraction (like mining and logging) and lowers landfill waste.
Reduces Emissions: Less energy used in manufacturing means fewer greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere.
Economic Benefits: According to the EPA, in 2020 alone, recycling accounted for:
681,000 jobs
$37.8 billion in wages, and
$5.5 billion in tax revenues.
The Problem: Contamination and Confusion at the Bin and on Packaging
So, if recycling is so vital, why is it so broken? The issue isn't hidden; it's systemic. The EPA lists confusion as the primary challenge facing recycling in America.
Imagine if every time you went to a different city, the traffic signs changed. That’s essentially the confusing state of our recycling infrastructure. This rampant lack of society-wide standardized labels on bins means that people are forced to guess whether an item is recyclable at the bin—a behavior often called "wish-cycling"—that leads directly to the system's biggest flaw: contamination.
Contamination is the poison in the stream. When non-recyclable items (like plastic bags, food waste, or other unacceptable items) are mixed with valuable recyclables, entire batches become unusable and get hauled straight to the landfill. This is where your effort is wasted, fueling the public skepticism about whether recycling works.
The Simple Fix: Introducing Recycle Across America (RAA)
This is where we, at Recycle Across America (RAA), come in. We are a nonprofit dedicated to solving the fundamental design flaw in the system. We realized that no amount of education can fix a confusing structure. Our solution is simple, effective, and already proven: standardized labels for recycling, compost, and trash bins.
Think of them like the standardized traffic signs of waste management. They use a clear, standardized design and language that tells you exactly what belongs in the bin, no matter where you are.
What Standardized Labels for Bins Do:
Eliminate Guessing: They ensure you recycle right, every time, giving you confidence that your effort truly matters.
Reduce Contamination: They dramatically decrease the number of wrong items in the bin, saving millions of tons of materials from the landfill.
Drive Efficiency: They help schools, cities, and businesses save millions of dollars in waste management costs by providing clean, valuable materials to processors.
The society-wide standardized labels are already being adopted by over 9000 K-12 schools, multiple cities, iconic national parks, international airports, and major corporations across the country, proving that clarity is the key to solving the recycling crisis.
This America Recycles Day, help us move beyond the confusion and towards a transparent system where recycling works—everywhere.
Your Action Plan: What You Can Do This America Recycles Day
You don't have to wait for your city to catch up. This America Recycles Day, here are concrete steps you can take today to move from confusion to clarity:
Action 1: Bring Clarity to Your Own Bin
Explore the Labels: Select the Standardized Recycling Labels that work for your recycling program and apply them to your trash, compost, and recycling bins.
Request Them: If you manage waste for an office, school, or organization, this is the simple tool that will instantly reduce contamination and improve compliance.
Action 2: Demand Standardization in Your Community
Download the Toolkit: We’ve created a free recycling guide and implementation toolkit. This includes everything you need to begin using the standardized labels and advocate for their adoption in your local school, business, or municipal government.
Share the Solution: Use your voice! Follow us on instagram and share the toolkit and information about RAA’s proven labels with your local city council or school board. Standardization starts with awareness.
Action 3: Support the National Movement
Donate: Your support helps us bring the standardized recycling labels to more schools, national parks, and communities across the country, freeing up public funds and transforming recycling in America into the reliable, impactful system it was meant to be.
Donate to support Recycle Across America and its mission to end recycling confusion once and for all.
By taking these actions, you are doing more than just recycling; you are fixing the system itself. Join Recycle Across America this November 15th, and let’s move from contamination to true, accountable impact.
