News

August Email Newsletter
Live Thrive News and Announcements
Live Thrive’s New Video!
Check out our newest video that explains everything you need to know about Live Thrive’s Zero Waste Center aka CHaRM! https://youtu.be/Qc2rKPCTL0w

CHaRM Mentioned in Axios Atlanta Newsletter
Thanks to Axios Atlanta for including CHaRM in today’s email newsletter. To read the whole article, click here. We’re item #3!

A CHaRM’ing Evening
A CHaRM’ing Evening will bring together influential Atlantans, Atlanta-based corporations and Live Thrive supporters for an evening of delicious food, fun and live music by Yacht Rock Revue.
Our goal is to raise $250,000. The funds raised at A CHaRM’ing Evening will go to directly support Live Thrive, its educational initiatives and the operational costs to run CHaRM, Atlanta’s only permanent drop-off facility for materials too harmful or bulky for the curb.
To date, CHaRM has diverted more than 100 million TONS of chemicals, paints, electronics, glass and tires from metro-Atlanta’s water system and landfills.
Tickets go on sale in early August.

Live Thrive and CHaRM Receive State Farm Century of Good Grant
We were over the moon to learn Live Thrive and CHaRM had been named one of the recipients of State Farm’s 100th anniversary Century of Good grants given to community-based organizations throughout the country. As one of six grantees, Live Thrive was awarded $500,000 to support our efforts to divert household hazardous waste and other materials from landfills.
The $2 million Century of Good grant program ladders up to State Farm’s corporate commitment to build stronger and more resilient communities in support of a more sustainable future. This grant investment provides the recipient organizations with the opportunity to continue supporting projects focused on a range of community-specific environmental priorities like air quality, energy efficiency, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling and land preservation.
“We are incredibly grateful for this generous gift and recognition of the impact that Live Thrive has achieved to date. This additional funding will allow us to continue our mission of public environmental education, which is a crucial element in increasing awareness about the importance of proper materials management, ultimately affecting climate change. Additionally, this grant will enable the expansion of our Zero Waste Centers and the services that Live Thrive currently provides to the community.” – Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, Founder and Executive Director, Live Thrive.
We offer congratulations to our fellow Century of Good grant recipients:
- City of Bloomington Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department (Bloomington, Ill.) is working to provide current and future generations a sense of community, preserved green spaces, and diverse programs. Century of Good grant funding will be leveraged for revitalization projects at O’Neil Park, including native planting.
- Town of Normal Parks & Recreation Department (Normal, Ill.) provides citizens and visitors with a clean, safe, environmentally pleasant community. Century of Good grant funding will be used to support revitalization projects at Carden Park and the Constitution Trail.
- Ecology Action Center (Normal, Ill.) serves as a central resource for environmental education, outreach and assistance. To improve air quality, reduce carbon sequestration and provide watershed protection, the EAC launched a tree planting program in 2021. Its goal is to plant 100,000 new trees in McLean County over the next 10 years. Century of Good grant funding will be used to support community tree planting.
- Trust for Public Land (Dallas) helps communities raise money, conduct research, protect land and design/renovate parks, playgrounds, trails and gardens. It’s working to expand park and trail access to underserved neighborhoods while improving health, education and equitable development in Southern Dallas.
- The Office of Sustainability (Tempe, Ariz.) is mitigating the negative effects of extreme heat. Collaborating with local school districts, first responders and businesses, Tempe is planning to address stormwater retention, plant native trees and outfit public buildings with renewable energy.
This generous grant comes at the perfect time as Live Thrive and CHaRM are expanding our footprint and working toward opening a second location. Thank you so much to the team at State Farm for recognizing the impact we have had and will continue to have in our community. https://st8.fm/CenturyOfGood

Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, Live Thrive/CHaRM Featured in Recent Saporta Report

World Turtle Day
TODAY IS WORLD TURTLE DAY!
World Turtle Day was created in 2000 by the American Tortoise Rescue to help celebrate and protect turtles, tortoises and their habitats that are dwindling around the world (according to Wikipedia). Encourage others to take action to help our world turtles live and thrive!
According to World Wildlife.org, research suggests that 52% of the world’s turtles have eaten plastic waste. The reasons are simple: a floating plastic bag can look like a lot of jellyfish, algae, or other species that make up a large component of the sea turtles’ diets. So today (and every day!), let’s work together to keep plastics and other harmful materials out of our waterways and landfills. For more information about items that we accept at CHaRM, go to https://www.livethrive.org/charm/items-we-accept/.

Circularity Event 2022
Thank you to GreenBiz.com for inviting our executive director and founder, Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe to speak at this year’s #Circularity22 event!
Peggy was part of the Atlanta Spotlight: Advancing Circularity Through Local Community Efforts panel discussion. This session spotlighted Atlanta-based organizations developing creative circular solutions and empowering local communities. Peggy was in good company with folks from Rubicon, Bearings Bike Works and City of Atlanta Planning.
Circularity 22 (May 17-19 in Atlanta, GA), the leading convening of professionals building the circular economy, is a solutions-oriented expo bringing together a community of visionaries and practitioners to move beyond individual action, catalyze systems change and accelerate the circular economy. Circlularity/GreenBiz
Live Thrive is an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization working since 2010 to create a community that cares about a healthy and sustainable environment. Stay up to date on Live Thrive news and announcements by signing up for our quarterly email newsletter!

Waste Expo 2022


Earth Day Newsletter!
In case you didn’t get this month’s newsletter in your inbox, click here for a peek at some of the exciting things that are going on at Live Thrive’s CHaRM! AND if you aren’t subscribed to receive these updates, click here to sign up!