Thanksgiving is next week and – although the world is certainly a tumultuous place – we have so much to be thankful for. We live in a beautiful place on a bountiful planet and most of us here in Sedona have everything we need.
We sometimes forget to be grateful for such simple and basic things, but clean water, clean air, food, and shelter are among the things we appreciate and need the most. We are also blessed with local nonprofit organizations that work to protect each of these things and provide them to those who are in need.
Sedona Recycles is one such organization that works to provide a clean, safe, world now and in the future. It is easy to take it for granted, but Sedona is unbelievably lucky to have Sedona Recycles. Pretty much every community has a food bank and an animal shelter, but very few places have a local recycling center, and there is only a handful that we know of that are like Sedona Recycles.
So what makes us so great? Sedona Recycles is a nonprofit organization with an educational mission. We exist to teach people about responsible resource recovery and to provide opportunities to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We are not a big (or small) business just trying to make a buck off of your trash. We are trying to make the world a better place so that everyone on Earth can continue to enjoy those basic needs forevermore.
How do we do that? First, we teach the public about the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. This can be quite a challenge. Sedona has a lot of turnover and other businesses that handle waste are often teaching the public the complete opposite! It is not an easy job, but we have been at it for almost 30 years, teaching people of all ages how precious our planet’s resources are and why the Three Rs are so beneficial to conserving those resources and keeping our planet safe and habitable.
Second, we accept an astoundingly broad variety of items for reuse and recycling, more than any other recycling center in Arizona! That’s right, you can recycle a wider variety of materials at Sedona Recycles than anywhere else in the state. That is definitely something to be thankful for!
Not only do we accept all these materials, we make sure that they are properly recycled. We don’t just hope for the best, we make sure that all your recyclables are becoming the highest quality materials in their next life. This means that almost everything we accept is recycled in the US, and that it is not getting downcycled into something that can only be landfilled at the end of its life.
Third, Sedona Recycles does all of this because it is the right thing to do. We are not trying to get more business or more money or look like we are doing something good. Every single person on our staff is here because they care and they truly believe that recycling has a huge impact. Recycling reduces energy consumption, water use, pollution, and depletion of resources and we know how important each of these factors is for the health of our planet.
We hope that you are just as grateful for Sedona Recycles as we are. And we hope that you will tell all your friends what a unique and remarkable place Sedona Recycles is. Not enough people in Sedona realize how lucky we all are to have it.
If you are feeling thankful for Sedona Recycles this holiday season, please spread the word. It is our dream that everyone in Sedona would realize the importance of the recycling work we do and take the short trip down Shelby Dr. to sort their recyclables each week. Don’t do it for us; do it for yourself and for the planet you are thankful to call home.
And if you are feeling especially generous, please consider making a donation to support Sedona Recycles and the work we do for the planet 365 days a year. We are in the middle of our annual 90 Gifts in 90 Days fundraiser and we hope that everyone can pitch in to show their thanks for Sedona Recycles and the resources we work to conserve.
For more information about the work we do, or to make a gift to support Sedona Recycles, visit www.sedonarecycles.org or contact us at (928) 204-1185.
Meghan Kincheloe, Sedona Recycles
Sedona Red Rock News
November 16, 2016