Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. I’m sure you’ve all heard that call to action. As Keep Rabun Beautiful is enjoying greater success, even becoming an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, it’s time we stepped up our game accordingly. To that end, we should do all we can to not add to one problem, while working to address another.In the very near future, any and all litter pickup events, either large and organized with many volunteers, or quick and impromptu with only a couple of caring citizens, should be thought of as Litter Pickup/Recycling activities. The mindset needs to become “you can’t do one without the other.”As good people work to make their communities a cleaner and more beautiful place to live, without thinking, they add tons of easily recyclable materials to our landfills. In addition, to accomplish this, hundreds, thousands, even millions of plastic bags are used nationwide (adding to a problem while fixing another).To address this, we’ve acquired some tough, reusable, litter bags, and introduce a new methodology. We ordered one of three different types, and after a thorough field test, agreed the one pictured here worked the best. More have been ordered, and we anticipate needing many more. These bags have a great feature of being spring loaded, so the top stays open at all times, and stand on their own when put on the ground. Also, have two comfortable handles, and collapse to just two inches thick for storage. Fantastic!During the test of the bags, we also worked in tandem (see photos), so trash was sorted from recyclables as we went. At the end of the pickup, one person’s bag contained only recyclables (yellow bag), the other only trash!The trash got dumped directly from the bag into the dumpster (contrary to signs, no bagging is required), and the cans/plastic bottles/glass were sorted into the proper bins (which took less than 5 minutes). Bag lives on to serve another day, and the recycling problem is easily solved!The bags are made of durable tarp-like material, and can be used dozens of times before replacement is necessary! This serves to virtually eliminate the waste of many, many plastic bags with every pick up event. Problem also solved!Let us know what you think.Jim Reaves
Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation Keep America Beautiful #doBeautifulthings