Chattanooga Earth Day roundup at VW helps residents recycle hard-to-dispose items

Cars lined up in Chattanooga as residents dropped off everything from mattresses to electronics during an Earth Day recycling roundup aimed at keeping hard-to-recycle items out of landfills.

The event, held at Volkswagen, accepted “20 different materials,” including mattresses, Styrofoam, scrap metal and electronics. Organizers said the goal was to divert items that often end up trashed because people are unsure how to dispose of them properly.

Chattanooga Earth Day roundup at VW helps residents recycle hard-to-dispose items

“We have a really good turnout so far. We’re at 60 cars here just in the first hour, which is really phenomenal,

Jeffrey Barrie, CEO of Tennessee Environmental Council, said.

Barrie emphasized that the effort is about more than a single day of recycling, pointing to widespread litter and growing pressure on landfill space. He said the Tennessee River is “one of the most polluted,” and warned that “we have a landfill crisis,” adding that “half of Tennessee’s landfills are going to be reaching capacity within our lifetimes.”

The message, he said, is to reduce what gets used and recycle products at the end of their life to keep materials in circulation. “But by recycling them, they’re going back into the economy, creating a circular economy,” Barrie added.

To build on that momentum, our own Clean Current challenge is promoting a cleanup challenge: pick up three pieces of litter a day in May.

“I love the idea of three pieces of litter a day in May,” Barrie said. “That little bit you think about, that’s 100 pieces of litter per person times…if you had 1000 people, that’s 100,000 pieces of litter that are not going to go into the streams and into the Tennessee River, because those small actions add up.”

Clean Currents Challenge for May!

Barrie said litter can be found almost anywhere — in neighborhoods, parks and along roads — and that small efforts can quickly multiply when more people join in.

“The challenge is on the next time you go out your front door, be aware. Look for opportunities to help clean up our environment and pick up that three pieces of litter a day in May,” he said.

They called it a small commitment that could make a big difference for Tennessee’s environment.

Chattanooga Earth Day roundup at VW helps residents recycle hard-to-dispose items