Textile recycling event for 'America Recycles Day'

In celebration of America Recycles Day on Thursday, Nov. 15, the City of Atlanta Department of Public Works will host a one-day textile recycling event at the front entrance to City Hall, located at 55 Trinity Avenue.

See here for other America Recycles Day events scheduled for in and around Midtown in the coming days.

The Department of Public Works event is for city residents and employees and will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Some of the items accepted include:

• Clothing, Shoes, Belts

• Bedding (sheets and pillow cases) and Towels

• Stuffed Toys

• Carpet and Fabric Scraps

Other City of Atlanta recycling drop-off locations for:

Cardboard (large amounts):

• Lakewood Substation, 128 Claire Drive, SE

• Liddell Substation, 1540 Northside Drive, NW

Electronics:

• Hartsfield Facility, 2175 James Jackson Parkway NW, 404-794-2422. Residents may drop off electronic appliances such as televisions, microwaves, computers, monitors, and fluorescent bulbs.

Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. You must be a city resident and show proof of residency. Other resources include: www.CARTLANTA.ORG, www.earth911.com, and www.dca.state.ga.us.

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Do you have a question or concern for Public Works?

The Customer Service Center (CSC) is your first source to report concerns in the public right of way (i.e. potholes, trash pickup, street lights, traffic signals, metal plates, etc.) and/or provide feedback on services.

You may contact the CSC directly at 404-330-6333 or via email to: publicworks@atlantaga.gov. The CSC is available Monday - Friday, 8:15 a.m. - 5 p.m. For emergencies after normal business hours, please call 404-227-3520.

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Thursday's downtown recycling event comes just a few weeks after Mayor Kasim Reed announced that the City had been awarded a $25,000 grant to engage volunteers in the city’s recycling initiative. The grant came from Cities of Service, a bipartisan coalition of mayors committed to using service as a strategy, with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies. 

Atlanta is one of 18 U.S. cities to be awarded a grant to support mayors who are harnessing the power of volunteers in a strategic way to address priority problems in their communities.

“As mayor, I see civic engagement and volunteerism as an integral part of our city’s rich and diverse heritage,” said Mayor Reed in a news release. “This generous grant leverages the power of our citizens to strategically and measurably increase the tonnage of recyclable waste diverted from our landfills, which will help Atlanta become a more sustainable city.”

The Cities of Service model focuses on “impact volunteering” – volunteer strategies that target community needs, use best practices, and set clear outcomes and measures to gauge progress. Dozens of cities across the nation have adopted the model since its introduction in 2009.

Using this approach, New York City has coated more than 4 million square feet of rooftops to reduce carbon emissions by 745 metric tons, Nashville has upgraded more than 240 homes to increase energy efficiency and help the city recover from historic floods, and Pittsburgh has removed 20,000 pounds of litter to revitalize its neighborhoods.

Atlanta’s $25,000 grant will go towards educating and mobilizing a community-wide volunteer team that will work with at least 6,500 citizens to improve their recycling habits, increase the percentage of households recycling and reduce the tonnage of valuable recyclables that would otherwise end up in landfills.

More than 60 mayors competed for this initial round of grants. Grants ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 will also support volunteer initiatives in Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Md.; Birmingham, Ala.; Duluth, Minn.; Fall River, Mass.; Flint, Mich.; Indianapolis; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Little Rock, Ark.; Nashville, Tenn.; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Pierre, S.D.; Pittsburgh; Providence, R.I.; and Richmond, Calif.

Backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Cities of Service Impact Volunteering Fund is a $2 million fund. Nearly $1 million is being granted through this initial round, with an additional $1 million available for deployment in 2013. Grantee cities were selected based on the quality of their initiatives, potential for impact and implementation plans, among other criteria.