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Today, April 22nd, marks the 45th anniversary of Earth Day! Do you remember what you were doing when Earth Day began in 1970? Earth Day in 1970 "capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center", stated Earth Day.org. Fast forward 45 years and what you have today, is a global movement recognizing the importance of Mother Nature, the fight for a clean environment and showing respect for the conservation of our planet. Earth Day is a wonderful time to celebrate our beloved planet and raise awareness of the need to respect, protect and love it. Not only is it celebrated in the United States, it's now become one of the most nationally recognized events in the world.

Michael Alexander, President of Recycle Away, attended the The National Facilities Management and Technology Conference in Baltimore, Maryland last month and had the pleasure of speaking at the conference on the topic of sustainability and how to "Design Successful Public Space Recycling Programs." Michael was accompanied by Alec Cooley, the Director of Recycling Programs for Keep America Beautiful which is the nation's largest leading nonprofit that builds and sustains vibrant communities. Together they spoke about the benefits of successful recycling programs that can incorporate the best new practices in public space recycling and how placement, label messaging, bin color and other design tactics can help you design and execute winning recycling programs.

Have you ever thought that oil prices and recycling could have a connection? Since recent oil prices have significantly dropped, it's putting a crunch on the recycling industry. As crude oil prices continue to crash, the result makes it cheaper for plastic companies to use new or virgin materials versus the goods you can recycle. Recycled plastics prices are extremely low, and for some waste management companies or local government affiliates, they are now having to pay to have their materials removed.

Vermont once again made the news this week, as non-profit organization Call2Recycle, North America's first and largest battery stewardship program will submit to Vermont regulators, a plan for the collection and recycling of single-use batteries. The non-profit group announced "it had been selected by battery producers to represent them in complying with the nation's first mandatory take-back law for single-use batteries."