Recycling Education
or Email our Staff
Staff are looking to provide an engaging, hands-on presentation to students in Genesee County about the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling! If you are interested in having this fun activity at your school, please fill out this survey here or contact our staff at (810) 762-7744.
- If all morning newspapers in the U.S. were recycled for one day, approximately 41,000 trees would be saved and 6 million tons of waste would never end up in the landfill.
- Recycled paper production uses 58% less water compared to virgin paper production.
- Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy, and 7,000 gallons of water.
- Plastics can take up to 400 years to break down in a landfill.
- It takes 5 PETE bottles (water bottles) to make 1 square foot of polyester carpet, an extra large t-shirt or filling for a ski jacket.
- Recycling 1 pound of steel saves enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for over 26 hours
- Select a Recycling Coordinator
- Determine the Waste Stream
- Select a Waste Hauler/Recycler
- Inform Your Team of Volunteers of Their Responsibilities During Event
- Set Up by Making Sure That Recycling Receptacles are Clearly Marked
- Educate Event Participants Using Clear Signage and Directions
- Evaluate
One of the largest contracts a community manages is for waste and recycling collection. These services are critical for communities to:
- Maintain a neat and tidy appearance
- Ensure the proper handling and disposal of materials
- Provide the opportunity to divert waste through recycling and yard waste composting.
The cost of waste hauler services across Genesee County varies widely despite there being no large differences in the services that are provided to each community. Since waste and recycling services is one of the largest contracts that a community manages in terms of cost and recycling is becoming more of a necessity for residents, it is important for local officials to consider working with other communities to achieve potential cost savings and enhanced waste services. The link below includes recommendations for local officials to consider that can optimize waste services in your community as well as documents that provide insight on how Genesee County residents feel about recycling throughout the county.
Contracting for Waste and Recycling Services Info for Local Officials
To ensure that residents in your community have the most accurate waste and recycling information, local officials should make sure their community's website includes the following:
- Garbage, recycling, yard waste and bulk item pickup schedules
- What items can and cannot be recycled curbside
- What to do with items that cannot be disposed of curbside such as household hazardous waste
- Who to contact if there are questions about what items can be thrown away or recycled