Not sure if you are recycling right or all that you can? Some people might not realize shoes, mattresses, paint and many other items can be recycled in Rhode Island in addition to what goes in the standard recycle bin.

Come celebrate America Recycles Day with Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful (KBVB) and end any confusion you might have about recycling. This event will have a variety of local recycling companies sharing their programs’ details so we are all Recycling Right in RI.

Learn from RI Resource Recovery what really does and does not belong in your recycle cart. Placing only items that are accepted for recycling is the most important step. When wrong items get mixed in, they cannot be removed and contaminate the good recyclables which often leads to whole loads being landfilled instead of recycled.

And recycling does not stop with what is accepted in the curbside recycling program. Learn about from Goodwill Industries about recycling textiles, Indie Cycle about electronic recycling, RIRRC regarding household hazardous waste and recycling plastic bags, Mattress Recycling Council on mattresses and box springs, PaintCare for paints and stains, Full Circle Recycling about rigid plastic and scrap metal, and how Rhodeside Revival is offering compost collection to residents.

Once you learn a few tricks and guidelines, you will understand if there might more items you can recycle and how to do this correctly.

KBVB is also hosting a recycle drop-off event for electronic waste (computers, monitors, TVs, and basically anything with a plug) and mattresses & box springs at this one-day event.

Ace Mattress Recycling will accept up to 4 mattresses and/or box springs from RI residents for FREE if they can be recycled. Just bring mattresses that are dry, not heavily soiled, damaged or contaminated with bedbugs to this one-day event.

Indie Cycle will also be collecting electronic waste for recycling. Computers, TVs, monitors, scanners, radios, televisions and basically anything with a plug will be accepted. Most items are accepted for FREE, with only Freon items and laser jet printers having a small fee.

Recycling is working. Last year alone, RI recycled over 83,000 mattresses equaling 3.2 million pounds, and another 5.5 million pounds of e-waste. These programs are a huge help in reducing what we send to the landfill.