Have you seen these signs in your neighborhood? I live in Longpoint, and the Friday before our Monday recycling pickup, one appears near our entrance’s message board. I wondered how they were getting there, so I called Charleston County Recycling.

With a couple of committed volunteers, they launched the program in 2004 in the North Charleston neighborhood of Forest Hill. Before the signs went up, only 12% of those residents were recycling. With the signs, that number has jumped to 32%. Apparently, people were just having a hard time remembering when their pickup day was - so the program expanded.

Today, volunteers in 73 neighborhoods put out signs seen by over 13,000 residents, and the results are amazing. For instance, my neighborhood has 586 residents, and only 45% of us were recycling prior to the signs showing up. Now, 72% of us recycle each week. The best neighborhood in Charleston County is The Enclave, with a whopping 78% recycling rate. Overall, the participation increased from 23% to 44% in those 73 neighborhoods - that’s quite an impact for just a little bit of elbow grease.

The success of this program is in great part due to the dedicated work of the volunteers who put out the signs every two weeks, and the Recycling Center is always looking for more. If your neighborhood doesn’t have signs, contact John Foster at Charleston County Recycling (843.720.7111) to join the program. There is a 15-20 neighborhood waiting list right now, but don’t let that fool you - they just like to take measurements before they start the program in order to chart progress. So if you don’t feel like waiting, I encourage you to make your own signs - no sense in waiting, and deep down I know John won’t mind…he’s a recycling fanatic!