November 15 is America Recycles Day, a national campaign to raise awareness about the environmental and economic benefits of recycling.  The organizers of the campaign ask people to pledge that they will do more recycling and buy more recycled-content products. 

Visit the America Recycles Day web site for listings of community events across Massachusetts, when available.

• Recycling saves money. Massachusetts residents and businesses throw away 1.5 million tons of paper every year. If we recycled half of this paper, we would save nearly $52 million in disposal costs.
  
  
• Recycling means jobs. Across Massachusetts, some 19,000 people are employed at 1,400 recycling businesses and organizations with an annual payroll of $557 million and $3.5 billion in annual sales.
  
  
• Recycling reduces greenhouse gases. Recycling helps Massachusetts residents reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of 2 million metric tons annually. That's like taking 1.6 million passenger cars off the road for a year.
  
  
• Recycling conserves energy. Recycling saved more than 85 trillion BTUs of energy in Massachusetts during 2006 - enough to power 800,000 homes for one year.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) encourages your community, school or organization to sponsor an America Recycles Day event.  It's easy: Any recycling-related event can become an America Recycles Day event by providing information and encouraging people to pledge online. 

Visit the America Recycles Day web site and enter your ZIP Code for a listing of events in your area. 

If your community, school or organization is sponsoring an America Recycles Day event, complete the online registration form so it will be included in the searchable calendar.

To do your part, submit your pledge online:

Online Pledge Form
America Recycles Day web site