ANNUAL REPORT Download [PDF]

For the past 12 years, our recycling program has provided local, county, state and national parks, business and schools with valuable recycling services and public education. It's also provided young people with an opportunity to earn high school diplomas. The specific objectives of the program are:

• Collect recyclables from more than 400 sites within Marin and Sonoma parklands.
• Educate the public, including schools and businesses, about waste-reduction practices.
• Construct recycling bins from recycled materials, and make them available to park agencies and municipalities.
• Provide recycling collection, education, and consultation at special events, such as the Marin County Fair and the Bioneers Annual Conference.
• Introduce recycling education curricula to schoolchildren.

Corpsmember crews collect recyclables weekly at over 400 collection points throughout Marin and Sonoma Counties. They also educate thousands of residents about the 4 R's—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover. Thanks to their leadership and initiative the North Bay is meeting state-mandated and municipal water reduction goals.

Picking up where the government leaves off

This program would not be possible without support from the California Department of Conservation's Department of Recycling, Division of Recycling (DOR). DOR administers the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (Act) enacted in 1986. The primary goal of the Act is to achieve and maintain high recycling rates for each beverage container type included in the program. According to state statistics:

“Californians bought 21.9 billion carbonated and non-carbonated drinks in aluminum, glass, plastic and bi-metal containers last year. More than 14.7 billion of those containers were recycled, saving natural resources, conserving energy and extending the life of our landfills.”

There are currently 12 local, non-profit conservation corps in the state of California; all of them contributing to the effort of collecting as much recyclable material as humanly possible to make the environment, safer, cleaner and healthier for this and future generations. In 2008, collectively, local conservation corps collected over 15 million bottles and cans. Through this and other activities, local corps have diverted more than four million pounds of material from California landfills; conserving scarce natural resources and saving energy.

Our North Bay communities rely on the leadership and initiative of CCNB's Community Recycling corpsmembers to help achieve state-mandated and municipal waste-reduction goals.

Recycling 101

Corpsmembers help teachers by making presentations and engaging students in project-based learning activities. Teachers gain access to project ideas, project materials and environmental-science curricula through For Earth's Sake, a resource library operated by corpsmembers. The library distributes both environmental curricula and reusable materials collected from local businesses.

Governor Schwarzenegger says "hasta la vista, baby" to recycling [PDF]

Download Community Recycling Program Fact Sheet [PDF]

For more information on the Community Recycling Program, please contact CCNB's Recycling and AmeriCorps Program Manager Will Becker at (415) 454-4554 ext. 270 in Marin County or Director of Sonoma Programs Gary Miltimore at (707)303-3069 ext. 399 in Sonoma County.