Joint Base Langley-Eustis –
America Recycles Day, a national program which began in 1997 by Keep America Beautiful, is celebrated every November 15 and encourages Americans to recycle and buy recycled products.
This day promotes environmental, social and economic benefits of recycling. It encourages Americans to create a better natural environment for everyone to enjoy. ARD also raises awareness in local communities to the many benefits of recycling.
Recycling reduces the amount of waste going to crowded landfills, while conserving natural resources and saving money. In 2012, Joint Base Langley-Eustis diverted roughly 1,650 tons of recyclables--including cardboard, mixed and shredded paper, scrap metal, toner cartridges, single-stream recyclables and mattresses. Both installations provide recycling containers at facilities to collect single-stream recycling for weekly pickup. Single-stream recycling refers to a system in which all paper fibers, plastics, metals and other containers are mixed in a collection truck, instead of being sorted by the resident into separate commodities and handled separately throughout the collection process.
To celebrate America Recycles Day, Fort Eustis sponsored several events: the "Cash for Cans" Aluminum Recycling Contest, a display and an opportunity to sign a written commitment, vowing to recycle more often, known as "Take the Pledge".
Activities, tenants and staff divisions formed teams to compete in the Aluminum Can Recycling contest. Recycled glass plaques will be awarded to top recyclers and each team keeps the proceeds from recycling the cans for their unit/activity fund.
A display in the Family Support Division building showcased items made from recyclable materials or items that can be recycled from the Fort Eustis Commissary. Volunteers filled out "Take the Pledge" cards to reduce the amount of waste they generate and recycle more. This included six written pledges and many online pledges at
http://americarecyclesday.org/pledge/. At Langley, the pollution prevention manager dressed up as "CHUCK-IT," the Air Force recycling mascot, to teach children about the importance of recycling and reducing waste. CHUCK-IT interacted with the children by reading them a story about recycling, having the children separate recycling and trash and helping them create a craft with recyclables they brought from home. All the children received a certificate for participating and a recycling coloring book to take home.
To help make recycling more convenient for the JBLE populace, both installations feature recycling centers. Langley has a scrap metal yard behind the Legal Office, next to Building 330, which collects scrap metal, reusable pallets and toner cartridges. The yard is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. Fort Eustis has a Solid Waste Recycling Center that accepts all recyclables collected throughout the base. The SWRC is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. All other single-stream recyclables are collected at each installation in 90-gallon recycling totes.
For more information about the JBLE recycling program, please contact Emma Watterson at
emma.m.watterson.ctr@mail.mil or 878-4123x308, Karen Harvey at
karen.l.harvey-harris.ctr@mail.mil or 878-4123x227 for Fort Eustis or Michael V. Mallozzi at
michael.mallozzi@langley.af.mil or 764-1141 for Langley.