Recycling Interns Make a Big Impact

You may have noticed two of our trusty recycling interns helping Bart the Cart share his message of reducing recycling contamination over the summer. From early June to late August, Shelby and Jennifer audited over 1,300 curbside carts, presented to 9 different summer camp groups, attended 9 community events and much more!

 “These two recycling interns worked non-stop to enthusiastically share their message and they made a significant impact in helping our campaign” said Dan Martin, Superintendent of Public Works for the City of Lake Forest.

During the intern’s curbside cart auditing, they discovered that the top three recycling contaminants were plastic bags/wraps, unclean and unrinsed recyclables and Styrofoam. Crunching the numbers further, they learned that Lake Forests current recycling contamination rate is trending down — from 25% to 17.8%!

“Yup!” said Bart the Cart, the Rethink Recycling Campaign mascot. “That’s a huge win for me, you and Lake Forest!”

Learn more about Rethink Recycling and Bart the Cart.

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