Many people think of recycling as a hassle that is not worth their time or a government program that is of no interest to them. Benefits to the environment such as reduced landfill space and less mining for new materials as well as being paid for recycling aluminum and scrape steel are often overlooked. 

Shortly after being hired as Edmonson County Extension Agent for ANR/4-H Youth Development Education, this agent began an aluminum can recycling project with the County 4-H program. We collected cans at club meetings, County Cattlemen meetings, and various other venues. A few volunteers collect cans and drop them off at the office. The ANR/4-H Agent stores the cans and crushes them to have more volume when selling the cans. It takes 32 aluminum cans to make 1 pound of scrap aluminum. When storage space becomes limited, cans are sold and the proceeds are put in the County 4-H general fund. The price of scrap aluminum varies and the amount of money made is not large, but the major focus is on sustainability for the future, not making money.

To date, approximately 60,000 aluminum cans have been recycled due to these efforts and many more are waiting to be processed for sale in the future. Many 4-H’ers have learned the benefits of recycling and several community members have stepped up to help collect cans and other recyclables for other organizations.