#RecycleRightNY Campaign Materials

May is dedicated to keeping food out of recycling bins and educating about composting when possible. Please use the resources below (Facebook posts, Twitter tweets, social media polls, newsletter article, images) through the month of May via your social media platforms, newsletters, etc. to spread the message. The post order is a suggested format to follow but please modify the order for the month as necessary to fit your needs.

Please note that high resolution images formatted for Facebook, Twitter, and newsletters can be downloaded by going to NYDEC's Recycle Right NY Flickr album. For instructions, scroll down to the heading "Free images" below. To download any images from the body of this email, right click the image and then choose "Save As".

Week 1 Campaign Materials

Facebook Post: Have you heard about the #RecycleRightNY campaign? Are you looking to improve recycling in your community? Recycle Right NY is a 12-month public outreach campaign launched in January 2019 in coordination with recycling professionals in the public, private and not for profit sectors of the state to reduce contamination in household recycling across NYS. The Recycle Right NY campaign provides free downloadable social media posts, images, and short paragraphs for articles and newsletters that organizations and individuals can use to promote good recycling habits. Learn more and access the free downloadable resources at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/116113.html

Twitter Tweet: Looking to improve #recycling in your community? The #RecycleRightNY campaign provides free downloadable resources that organizations and individuals can use to promote good recycling habits. Learn more at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/116113.html

Week 2 Campaign Materials

Facebook Post: It’s International Compost Awareness Week! Help us celebrate by making sure your compostable food scraps are not accidentally ending up in your household #recycling bin with your plastic, paper, metal, and glass. Interested in home composting? Find out more here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8799.html

(insert link to your local program if applicable)

Twitter Tweet: It’s International Compost Awareness Week! Help us celebrate- make sure your compostable food scraps aren’t accidentally going in your household #recycling bin with your plastic, paper, metal, and glass. Interested in home composting? Find out more here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8799.html

(insert link to your local program if applicable)

Facebook Post: Food scraps are valuable, but not in your household recycling bin. Composting organic materials, such as food scraps, reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills or at combustion facilities. However, food scraps put in household recycling bins can actually ruin valuable recyclables and those equally valuable food scraps are lost as well. #RecycleRightNY and send food scraps to the soil, not your recycling bin! Find out more about home composting here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8799.html 

(insert link to your local program if applicable)

Twitter Tweet: Food scraps in recycling bins can ruin valuable recyclables. Composting food scraps reduces waste sent to landfills or combustion facilities. #RecycleRightNY - send food scraps to the soil, not your recycling bin! Find out more about home composting here http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8799.html  

(insert link to your local program if applicable)

Week 3 Campaign Materials

Facebook Post: Don’t cover your recyclables in food or liquid! Your plastics want to become clothing, carpeting, and playground equipment and your cardboard wants to become the box for your next doorstep delivery! Food, excess food residue, and liquids in your recycling bin can decrease the value of these items and prevent them from being made into new things. Let’s #RecycleRightNY by keeping your recyclables clean and dry so they can have a second life.

Twitter Tweet: Excess food residue & liquids in your recycling bin decreases the value of recyclables. Help turn plastics into playground equipment and cardboard into the box for your next doorstep delivery. #RecycleRightNY- keep your recyclables clean and dry so they can have a second life!

Social Media Poll:

Facebook and Twitter Poll: Should you put food and liquids in your regular household recycling bin (the one that you use for your plastics, metal, glass, paper)?

A: Yes

B: No

Answer to Facebook and Twitter polls: No! That pizza might look good, but not in your recycling bin! Discarding food and liquids in your recycling bin ruins valuable recyclables. Let’s #RecycleRightNY and be sure to only put items in your household recycling bin that belong there.

Week 4 Campaign Materials

Facebook Post: Planning any Memorial Day celebrations? Having separate compost, #recycling, and trash containers can help keep items out of your recycling bin that don’t belong there and can also help decrease the overall amount of waste that’s disposed of when your party is over. Try reducing waste even further by cutting back on single-use party items. #RecycleRightNY

Twitter Tweet: Planning Memorial Day celebrations? Have separate compost, #recycling, and trash containers to help keep items out of your recycling bin that don’t belong there. Try reducing waste even further by cutting back on single-use party items. #RecycleRightNY

Facebook Post: Can you think of something that saves energy, conserves natural resources, and employs people across NY? It’s recycling! Although recycling has faced recent challenges, it is important to continue recycling and check with your waste hauler or local transfer station to get an update on what is accepted for recycling in your area. Recycling remains an important way everybody can do their part to close the loop!

Twitter Tweet: What conserves natural resources & employs people across NY? It’s #recycling! Recycling has faced recent challenges but it’s important to continue recycling & check with your hauler or local transfer station for recycling program updates in your area.

Week 5 Campaign Materials

Facebook Post: Putting food in your household recycling bin is rotten! Help improve the quality of your recyclables by only putting items in your household recycling bin that your local recycling program accepts. #RecycleRightNY

Twitter Tweet: Putting food in your household recycling bin is rotten! Help improve the quality of your recyclables by only putting items in your household recycling bin that your local recycling program accepts. #RecycleRightNY

May Newsletter/Newspaper Article

Title: Keeping Food Out of Recycling Bins

Food scraps are valuable, but not in your household recycling bin. Composting organic materials, such as food scraps, reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills or at combustion facilities. However, food scraps put in household recycling bins can actually ruin valuable recyclables and those equally valuable food scraps are lost as well. Let’s #RecycleRightNY - don’t cover your recyclables in food! Your plastics want to become clothing, carpeting, and playground equipment and your cardboard wants to become the box for your next doorstep delivery! Food, excess food residue, and liquids in your recycling bin can decrease the value of these items and prevent them from being made into new things. Help improve the quality of your recyclables by only putting items in your household recycling bin that your local recycling program accepts. Visit the DEC's website for more information on #RecycleRightNY and home composting. 

Other Resources

• The Recycling Partnership's Contamination Toolkit

Free Images

*Please note that the customized images for May are not included below but can be found in the coming weeks by going to NYDEC's Recycle Right NY Flickr album. Please check the Recycle Right NY Flickr album throughout the month for additional images!

Free high resolution images formatted for Facebook, Twitter, and newsletters can be downloaded by going to NYDEC's Recycle Right NY Flickr album. *

Images may not be available right away. If you do not see images for the item of the month we recommend waiting a day or two and then checking the Flickr album again for updates.  

Directions to download from Flickr: Click the link to open the Flickr album. Scroll to the image you want and left click on it. The image will now be brought up on the screen by itself. In the far right bottom corner there will be a downward facing arrow with a line under it. Left click on it and choose, Original (1024x512) as the option. It will automatically download.  If you need assistance please e-mail us at recycling@dec.ny.gov.

* If you are experiencing technical difficulties downloading the images from Flickr, please open the Flickr link in a different web browser such as Chrome or Firefox.

Recycle Right NY is a 12-month education campaign focused on supporting efforts to reduce contamination in household recycling programs across NYS. The campaign focuses on educating residents about one recycling topic per month. Campaign materials including monthly text and photos, as seen above, are available for use in your own social media and digital and print newsletters. For more information about the campaign or on how to get involved e-mail recycling@dec.ny.gov.