News
Happy Birthday to CHaRM!
We can hardly believe CHaRM opened 7 years ago today! In the last 7 years, we’ve reused/recycled/reengineered millions of pounds of materials!
We could not have made it without community support, hard-working staff, dedicated volunteers and board members!
CHaRM Corporate Challenge Underway!
In 2021, Live Thrive launched another major recycling initiative, the CHaRM Corporate Challenge. Working with Atlanta-based corporations, this challenge offers the opportunity for each company to have their employees drop off recycling at CHaRM from April 1-16, 2022. The purpose of this initiative is to create a collaborative effort to sustainably manage materials. The development of this community will result in creating a healthier environment and water system in metro Atlanta.
Participating companies will contribute to CHaRM’s overall 1 Million Pound Pledge to the Earth, which will culminate on Earth Day, April 22, 2022.
Current Corporate Challenge partners include Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, Alston & Bird, Chick-fil-A, Inc., Community & Council Realty Group, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, EY, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Highland Mortgage, Interface, Monarch Private Capital, Novelis, Printpack, The Home Depot Foundation, UPS and Waste Management. Click here for more details.
Live Thrive Director and Founder to Present at 2022 Waste Expo
We are excited that our Executive Director and Founder, Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe has been invited to speak at this year’s Waste Expo. Peggy will be part of a panel that will be discussing how to navigate the challenges of hard-to-manage materials and packaging.
WasteExpo brings the latest innovations to the solid waste industry. From vehicles to robotics to recycling equipment and technology, WasteExpo has been delivering the latest and greatest for decades. WasteExpo is the leading event of its kind in North America. The event takes place in Las Vegas, May 9-12, 2022. For more info click here.
New DeKalb CHaRM in the News!
Live Thrive Recognized in Inspire Atlanta Column in AJC
Live Thrive’s December Newsletter
Click here to view our latest email newsletter. It’s full of recycling tips, holiday hours and other important updates. There’s also still time to make an end-of-the-year donation to Live Thrive!
CHaRM Corporate Challenge
We are thrilled to report the results of this year’s CHaRM Corporate Challenge. Leading up to America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, each corporate partner hosted a dedicated day for its employees to recycle any items free of charge. The two weeks of intense recycling resulted in more than 100,000 pounds of waste diverted from waterways and landfills thanks to CHaRM visitors and especially the local Atlanta corporate community including Accenture, Chick-fil-A, Cox Enterprises, Delta and Georgia-Pacific.
The CHaRM Corporate Challenge is Live Thrive’s newest recycling initiative in which the center works with major Atlanta-based corporations, giving their employees the opportunity to host a dedicated recycling day at CHaRM. The initiative unites and educates participants about how managing materials waste affects climate change and the health of the city’s environment and water supply.
“We were thrilled to have our Atlanta corporate community partners on board to recognize America Recycles Day with a special Corporate Challenge,” said Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, executive director, Live Thrive. “Education and involvement are the keys to making the changes we need to so that we can meet the climate goals established by the United Nations.”
The more specific goal established by CHaRM for its Corporate Challenge initiative is to help fulfill local corporations’ sustainable efforts while simultaneously collecting 100,000 pounds – or 50 tons – of materials during each of these drives, which will be held multiple times each year.
With the November challenge, CHaRM is well on its way to reaching that goal. Atlanta’s first permanent facility for the recycling of materials too harmful to place at the curb, CHaRM accepts a wider range of items than typical curbside recycling. In 2020 alone, CHaRM recycled 2.7 million pounds of materials.
Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe on WABE
Thank you to Emil Moffatt with WABE for interviewing our Executive Director and Founder, Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe! Click here to hear the whole story.
The Residential Role
On Atlanta’s southside, a steady line of cars streams into the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials — or CHaRM for short. It’s open to the public as well as businesses and universities. A fee is charged to recycle certain items.
Peggy Whitlow Radcliff has been running CHaRM for nearly seven years. She’s the executive director and founder of the nonprofit Live Thrive Inc.
“It’s amazing what has been done to take some of these materials that are so undesirable and they can be made into useful products,” said Radcliffe.
CHaRM can recycle some 40 types of material from electronics to tires to chemicals to paint and glass.
They turn it all over to processors — all of whom are listed on the facility’s website.
“One of the most important things I think about making recycling work is transparency,” said Radcliffe. “When you drop something off with me, where does it go and what do they do with it? Do you really recycle it, or does it get thrown away?”
That approach appears to be working. When CHaRM opened in 2015, Ratcliffe says they served 5,000 customers. This year, that number has grown to 47,000. The center is planning a second facility in DeKalb County.
Atlanta’s professional sports teams are playing a role in recycling too, with the Hawks, Atlanta United, Falcons and Braves all taking steps toward having zero-waste venues.
https://wabe.org/on-national-recycling-day-sizing-up-atlantas-efforts-to-reduce-waste/
Partnership with Hefty Energy Bags in Atlanta (not curbside program, bags must come to CHaRM)
Live Thrive Managing Program Partner for #DoYouRecycle? Challenge
We are excited to announce that Live Thrive will serve as the managing program partner for the #DoYouRecycle? Challenge. The DYR Challenge provides multi-family properties with the tools and guidance needed to deliver and track recycling access and education to all residents through various community partnerships. The intention of the DYR Challenge is to educate and engage residents of 40,000 Atlanta multi-family homes to improve recycling outcomes, which will reduce the waste to landfill.
The challenge launched today by:
Managing Partners: The Recycling Partnership and Live Thrive
Program Partners: Atlanta Housing, Livable Buckhead
For more information, click here.