St. Paul, MN, November 14, 2008 - On Nov. 15, the nation will celebrate the easiest way for Americans to be green - recycling. As the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle, America Recycles Day encourages citizens to make a pledge to recycle more at home, at work, and on the go. As a part of a statewide initiative to get Minnesotans to recycle more, St. Louis County, Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) and the Recycle More Minnesota campaign are doing their part by launching an aggressive recycling education campaign to support the statewide goal of increasing Minnesota's recycling rate to 50 percent by 2011. Minnesota's current recycling rate is 42 percent.
Beginning in late November and running through 2009, St. Louis County and WLSSD will launch a series of advertisements that will appear throughout the area on billboards, in grocery stores, movie theaters and on local broadcast and public access television channels. The advertisements are designed to motivate residents to recycle more - whether at the curb or at the many regional drop-off sites.
"With this education campaign, we want to re-emphasize to our residents the importance of recycling and that recyclables should not be thrown in the garbage," said Marianne Bohren, WLSSD Executive Director. "Recycling saves a tremendous amount of energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, creates jobs for Minnesotans, adds $3 billion to Minnesota's economy annually, saves landfill space and helps preserve Minnesota's precious natural resources. Although residents in our area do a good job in recycling, residents in our area threw away more than $1 million in aluminum beverage containers last year. Clearly there's room to 'recycle more'."
Through a partnership between the Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and national recycling education experts Curbside Value Partnership (CVP), the campaign will seek to utilize the Recycle MORE Minnesota campaign's existing educational and advertising materials as well as infuse the campaign with strategic social marketing efforts. Bernick's Pepsi Bottlers is also partnering to provide in-store point-of-purchase displays at area retailers.
"Our ultimate goal is to get more material recycled and get Minnesotans to understand the true value of recycling." said Mark Rust of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. "Most people know that recycling is a good thing but once people understand its value to our economy, energy conservation, and environment, the more likely they are to take a closer look at what they throw out and look for ways to recycle more."
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Western Lake Superior Sanitary District provides award-winning wastewater and solid waste services within a 530 square mile service area and is a nationally recognized leader in pollution prevention. WLSSD is a special purpose political subdivision of the State of Minnesota and provides wastewater services to the cities of Duluth, Cloquet, Carlton, Scanlon, Wrenshall, Hermantown, Proctor, and Thomson; and the rural townships of Silver Brook, Thomson, Twin Lakes, Canosia, Duluth, Grand Lake, Lakewood, Midway, Rice Lake, and Solway. For recycling information in the areas around Duluth contact the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District at 218-722-0761 or on the web at www.wlssd.com .
About Recycle MORE Minnesota: The Recycle MORE Minnesota campaign is a joint effort between the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Recycling Association of Minnesota to help increase awareness about recycling throughout the state. We are working with our partners to promote recycling at home, work and on the go to increase recycling rates in the state to 50 percent by 2011 through educational and social marketing efforts. For more information about Recycle MORE visit our website at www.recyclemoreminnesota.org
