An ongoing nationwide shared topic schedule for recycling outreach, backed by a growing curated collection of free resources. 

Each month spotlights one good and one bad item for curbside and regular recycling, aligned with American holidays and seasonal trends in recycling behaviors. 

The Calendar is an ongoing project that will adapt and update with recycling and market trends. Check back for schedule, messaging, and asset updates.

Resources are free to use, customize, and borrow from - just stick to the schedule. 

• use, adapt, remix or borrow from the original assets on this site to post content on the Calendar's topic schedule

• create your own content based on the Calendar's topic schedule

• State and local governments

• Nonprofits and NGO’s 

• Schools and universities

• Advocates, influencers, and community organizers

• Recycling coordinators and educators

• HOA's, apartment, and other community managers

• Recycling haulers and processors

• Manufacturers using recycled content

• Anyone with a social media account who wants to help

By harmonizing recycling education across the US, and meeting residents at the right time for each recyclable, we can make a big impact on increasing recycling participation & decreasing the contamination rate. 

Individuals who want to learn more about recycling in general are welcome to look around. To learn more about recycling in your specific community, contact your local government. 

Plastics are optional.

Accepted plastics vary widely by program, have a high likelihood of contamination, and cause the most confusion, so we're leaving it up to each organization if and how you promote plastic recycling. 

There are promising new technologies for recycling - and even upcycling - plastic waste into valuable new feedstocks, which will greatly increase demand for post-consumer plastics once refined. Great work is also being done by many global and international organizations like the US Plastics Pact and the Recycling Partnership, along with major plastic processors and manufacturers to standardize and simplify packaging and plastic types. 

For now, we recommend deciding which plastics are right for your program to promote based on the specific needs of your community and the re-marketability of the materials. 

If you don't know which plastics your program can handle, contact your recycling provider or your local government. 

Glass is optional.

Like plastics, different types of glass have different compositions and processes for recycling. Currently, glass recycling also requires a high level of purity, is very sensitive to contamination, often breaks during collection, and the logistics of transport cut into the energy and ecological advantages.

New tech is being developed for recycling glass, and many successful glass return and reuse programs already exist. 

For now, we recommend deciding if glass is right for your program to promote based on the specific needs of your community and the re-marketability of the materials. 

If you don't know if your program can handle glass, contact your recycling provider or your local government. 

Plastics &/or glass are important to my program, when should I promote them?

Spotlight plastics and/or glass during "Let's Recycle" months.

• Monthly automatic post reminders with quick-share links

• Spanish-language resources

• Videos, stories, carousel sets  & more

• America Recycles Day (Nov 15) quick planning kit

• Buy Recycled Holidays quick planning kit

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