News
Recycle Your Holiday Cooking Oil and Grease at CHaRM
The holiday season is almost here—and after all that delicious cooking, frying, and feasting, you might find yourself with leftover oil and grease. Whether you’re deep-frying a turkey or clearing out expired oil from your pantry, CHaRM is here to help you recycle it responsibly.
When you drop off your used cooking oil and grease at CHaRM, it’s collected by Southern Green Industries, who transform it into biodiesel—a cleaner, renewable fuel that directly replaces petroleum diesel. You can even check out a step-by-step of their process on the Southern Green website to see how your simple action contributes to a sustainable energy cycle.
Here’s how it works when you arrive at CHaRM:
You’ll pour your oil and grease directly into the collection container on site.
The container you bring it in will need to be cleaned at home before recycling, so we recommend using a glass or metal container to make cleanup easier.
Keep your oil and grease out of your pipes and out of the landfill this holiday season—bring it to CHaRM instead!
Corporate + Community Challenge in RoughDraft Atlanta
We’re excited to share that Live Thrive’s Corporate + Community Challenge was recently featured in Rough Draft Atlanta! The article highlights how the program unites Atlanta businesses and community groups to divert materials from landfills and waterways through our CHaRM locations.
Corporate + Community Challenge on ANF in Interview with Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe
Thanks so much to our friends at Atlanta News First for interviewing our executive director, Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe about the kick off of Live Thrive’s 2025-26 Corporate + Community Challenge!
Click here to watch.
Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe included in Simply Buckhead
Thank you to Simply Buckhead for including our Executive Director, Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe in this article!
Click here to read the full article.
Give Your Pumpkins a Second Life
Halloween has come and gone, and if your pumpkins are starting to fade, don’t toss them in the trash — compost them at CHaRM!
Make your appointment today to bring your pumpkins and other organic materials to the either of our CHaRM locations, where they’ll be composted by our partner, CompostNow.
While you’re here, take a look at our full list of compostable materials and other items that are collected during the holidays.
How it works:
Compostables are accepted for $0.75 per pound. Simply weigh your items at the weigh stations before placing them in the compost carts.
Where your compost goes:
Through CompostNow’s Compost Give Back and Garden Partner Program, the finished compost is delivered to local gardens and farms, which closes the nutrient loop and helps rebuild local soil.
It’s a small action with a big local impact. Give your pumpkins and other compostables another life. Schedule your appointment to visit CHaRM today.
Atlanta News First Interview with Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe
This week, Live Thrive’s Executive Director and Founder, Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, was featured on Atlanta News First with Brooks Baptiste to talk about sustainability at the Mayor’s 5K on the 5th Runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Now in its 11th year, the race is one of Atlanta’s most unique running events, offering participants the rare opportunity to run directly on the airport runway. The annual event benefits the Mayor’s Youth Scholarship Program and United Way of Greater Atlanta, while also spotlighting sustainability efforts across the city. The event’s focus on youth aligns with Live Thrive’s mission to educate the next generation about sustainability and the environment, inspiring lifelong habits that benefit our community. Live Thrive is the official recycling partner for this year’s race. The team will be onsite managing plastic and cardboard recycling and collecting shoes for a second usable life, helping keep harmful materials out of Atlanta’s landfills and waterways. Runners are encouraged to bring shoes to donate on race day. We’re proud to see Peggy representing Live Thrive and CHaRM in this conversation and showing how events like the Mayor’s 5K can make a positive environmental impact.
Live Thrive’s CHaRM DeKalb Celebrates First Anniversary to the Tune of 2 Million Pounds Already Recycled, Reused or Reengineered
ATLANTA (May 21, 2025) – This summer, Live Thrive’s CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) DeKalb celebrates its first anniversary. For a 1-year-old location, CHaRM DeKalb has a lot of big statistics under its conveyor belt, including 2 million pounds of materials recycled, reused or reengineered in its first 12 months of operation.
“Since the day we opened CHaRM DeKalb, we have welcomed a steady stream of local residents excited by the chance to be good environmental stewards,” said Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, Live Thrive executive director and founder. “We wanted this to be more than a recycling center and instead serve the community by providing sustainability education, as well as being a generally inspiring place to visit. Based on the excellent feedback we’ve had, student successes and the regular clientele we see, I think we have achieved that goal.”
The success of the location has come thanks in large part to its solid foundation. CHaRM Atlanta, the city’s first permanent drop-off facility for items too harmful to place in curbside recycling, marks 10 years in operation this year. Live Thrive, the nonprofit responsible for both locations, celebrates its 15th anniversary.
In the years since Live Thrive was formed, tens of thousands of metro Atlanta residents and businesses have benefited from the organization’s numerous sustainable efforts focused on diverting waste, education and community partnerships.
Since opening its gates last summer, CHaRM DeKalb, currently accepting materials just two days per week, has welcomed 21,000 visitors who have come to drop off materials like chemicals, paint, mattresses, Styrofoam, electronics, tires, musical instruments and so much more. CHaRM’s goal is to reuse first, putting back as much as possible into the circular economy. CHaRM achieves this with the help of many community partners, including Atlanta Furniture Bank, CompostNow, Gift of Music Foundation, Recycle for Good and Atlanta Toolbank.
The impact of Live Thrive and its CHaRM locations stretches far beyond recycling. One of the organization’s major efforts has been education – both civic and scholastic. Since 2023, Live Thrive’s STE(A)M Certification Grant Program has provided financial support to Atlanta schools to allow them access to the resources they need to start and finish their journey to certification. More than a dozen metro Atlanta schools have benefitted from this program.
With its expanded offerings to enhance the community, such as the State Farm Learning Garden and a Compost Kitchen in partnership with soil health nonprofit CompostNow, CHaRM DeKalb welcomes school groups and community organizations to deepen their understanding of sustainability and how they can improve their environment and well-being.
Twenty DeKalb County schools have already visited CHaRM DeKalb, bringing some 650 students to learn about making eco-friendly choices. In addition, Live Thrive has brought in-school programming to STEM nights and organized collection contests at six DeKalb schools, reaching roughly 400 students. And eight DeKalb schools participated in this year’s Material Collection Contest, which is half of the total number of participating schools.
Even before opening, CHaRM DeKalb was the site of the annual Live Thrive Kids Day Earth Day event. Free to attend, Kids Day brings together other local nonprofit organizations, environmental groups, recycling partners and corporate partners, who provide interactive and educational activities for kids and their families. Offerings have included a petting zoo and reptile encounters, crafts and building projects, upcycling, composting games and bee education, all combining eco-friendly instruction with child-friendly entertainment.
Kids Day has taken place at CHaRM DeKalb since 2023, growing from 400 attendees in its first year to 500 in 2024 and 600 attendees this year! The 2025 event, held April 26, welcomed more than 20 activity partners, such as Avondale Arts Alliance, Food Well Alliance, Georgia State Bio Bus, Georgia Tech Solar Racing and Wylde Center, among others.
This year may be CHaRM DeKalb’s Paper Anniversary, and the facility has certainly lived up to that association by taking in 55,886 pounds of paper recycling and another 20,000 pounds collected during shredding events (next Shredding Event coming up May 24!). But its overall impact has already far surpassed its age.
About Live Thrive
Live Thrive is a 501 (c) 3 that works to create a community that cares about a healthy and sustainable environment. Through education, community events and partnerships, Live Thrive empowers people, organizations, institutions, neighborhoods, businesses and corporations to make positive choices for their environment. Since its 2010 inception, Live Thrive and its premier program CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) have been recognized by Keep Georgia Beautiful, Georgia Water Coalition, Southface, Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC), the Atlanta Metro Chamber, US Green Building Council, Georgia Natural Gas, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Magazine and Fulton County Citizens Commission, among others. www.livethrive.org
Atlanta’s only permanent facilities for the recycling of materials too harmful to place at the curb, Live Thrive’s two CHaRM locations encourage reuse while diverting thousands of tons of household hazardous waste and other hard-to-recycle items from local homes, water supplies and landfills. In June 2024, Live Thrive opened CHaRM DeKalb, offering area residents a second option for recycling and reuse. In 2024 alone, Live Thrive’s CHaRM Atlanta and CHaRM DeKalb reused/recycled/reengineered more than 1,912,393 pounds of paint and chemicals, 560,000 pounds of cardboard and much more for a total in excess of 5.7 million pounds of materials.
CHaRM Atlanta is located at 1110 Hill Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30315.
CHaRM DeKalb is located at 1225 Columbia Drive, Decatur, Georgia 30032.
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CHaRM on Cover of Atlanta Intown!
🌍 Guess who made the cover of Atlanta Intown’s Sustainability Issue? That’s right — we did! 💚
We’re kicking off Earth Month with a bang! Huge thanks to the team at @atlintownpaper for spending time with us at CHaRM DeKalb and for the fantastic article highlighting our work.
Check out the full story 👉 https://issuu.com/reporter_newspapers/docs/atlanta_intown_-_april_2025
Live Thrive Executive Director Interviewed on The Weather Channel
Big thanks to our friends at The Weather Channel for interviewing our Executive Director and Founder, Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, last weekend! Peggy shared expert tips on how to properly dispose of holiday wrapping, creative wrapping ideas, tips and so much more.
CLICK HERE to watch the full segment and make your holidays a little greener!
Tree Planting @ CHaRM DeKalb | Thanks to Atlanta Hawks and Smurfit Westrock
Sixty Volunteers Planted 50 Trees Today in Continuation of the Partnership Launched at Start of Year
ATLANTA – Thursday morning, the Hawks and State Farm Arena, in partnership with Smurfit Westrock, a leading provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions, planted 50 trees in the community as part of the Rock the Rim campaign.
The Hawks and Smurfit Westrock committed to planting a tree for each dunk made during the 2023-24 season, resulting in a total of 445 trees to be planted in the community. In addition to today’s event, trees will be planted at Candler Park, Clear Creek, Connally Nature Preserve, Proctor Creek, and Wooddall Creek. READ ON.