Dragon Recycling | RICOH’s Community Recycling Day

13 volunteers from the Ricoh (China) Limited and their families, and 5 Shanghai Roots & Shoots’ volunteers came to the Huayi Neighborhood Committee in Changning District to carry out recycling activity on May 19^th, 2019. With the cooperation with the residents in Jin Gu Court residential area, we sorted and recycled the rubbish and used items in our daily lives and relieved the solid waste pressure on our Earth.

Since 2018, Ricoh joint our Eco Office Program to audit their office and participated in workshops that raised their employees’ environmental awareness. On this occasion, Ricoh recruited employees internally, together with their family members, to become Green Ambassadors. On that very weekend, they participated in a Dragon Recycling voluntary campaign for the local residents by setting up a Recycling Day. The campaign benefits the community as well as the Earth.

Lots of efforts have been made by the staff of the Huayi Neighborhood Committee in order to encourage residents to participate in activities related to environmental protection. Before the Mother’s Day, the community managers invited Roots & Shoots for a workshop of garbage-sorting. Participants have learnt to properly sort our garbage and reuse them if possible. For example, they turned waste banners into coin pouches.

Our campaign had attracted many local residents. They came and donated their old stuff. Our Recycling Day can help resident recycle 4 kinds of useless things that have high recycling values but cannot be easily handled, including used clothes, used toothbrushes and empty toothpaste tubes, waste electrical and electronic equipment, and expired drugs.

During the day, our volunteer families first gained insights into appropriate trash-sorting. We have discussed the Shanghai garbage classifications of wet, dry, recyclable and harmful. Volunteers worked together to set up the campaign booth and recorded the items sent by local residents.

Eventually, we have collected 73 waste electrical equipment and accessories (around 18.7 kg), 834 used clothes (including blankets and shoes), 36 used toothbrushes, toothpaste and mouth wash packages, and 18.21 kg of expired drugs. These items were distributed to Aihuishou, Lusefang, Terra Cycle respectively for regenerative utilization. Expired drugs were given to the nearby pharmacies.

We welcome all people who are passionate about environmental protection to be part of our Dragon Recycling campaign. Let us be eco-warriors and initiate garbage-sorting in our schools, corporates and communities!