Community ambassadors advocate for recycling, composting

The program is a really great hands-on way to not feel so frustrated about the state of our environmental concerns and just become more of an active resource for folks.”

Leah Sweet Slicker

Audio

Community ambassadors advocate for recycling, composting_Allie Johnson.mp3

Have you ever been frustrated seeing recyclable or compostable items in the trash bin? Or maybe you yourself have hesitated over whether an item can be recycled or not.
Those feelings are what led Tangletown resident and self-described former dumpster diver Leah Sweet Slicker to join the ranks of Hennepin County’s Community Recycling Ambassadors in 2018.
Since 2011, the Community Recycling Ambassadors program has been training Hennepin County residents on how to be an advocate for recycling, composting, and overall reducing waste in their community.
Kirsten Wahlberg, the program coordinator and waste reduction specialist with Hennepin County, said the purpose of this program is to bridge the awareness gap when it comes to recycling in the county.
“There’s this misconception that all you have to do is hand this person a handout or a magnet to put on the refrigerator and all of a sudden they’re going to understand how to recycle and compost,” said Wahlberg. “But studies show that having a person to put behind that recycling guide or having a face in front of this person that’s wanting to know more really will make the difference.”
To become a Community Recycling Ambassador, residents must apply and be accepted into the program. Accepted applicants attend six weeks of training – now offered virtually – where they learn from industry experts and county staff about waste reduction, recycling, and organics as well as how to volunteer and effectively communicate what they learned.
“We’re really trying to equip people with the knowledge and the skills to get them going,” Wahlberg said.
Sweet said she particularly enjoyed learning the ins and outs of Hennepin County’s recycling and waste systems –information she could then pass on to family members, friends, and the rest of the community.
“[Recycling standards] are different are all over,” she said. “People get complacent, like ‘It’s just too confusing, I’m going to throw these things away,’ or ‘I heard that most stuff doesn’t get recycled anyways so I’m just going to throw things away’.”

QUICK EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES
After undergoing training, participants are then required to complete 30 hours of volunteer work before they are officially certified as Community Recycling Ambassadors.
That volunteering can take many different forms, Wahlberg said. Community Recycling Ambassadors have volunteered as waste monitors at events like the Basilica Block Party music festival and the annual May Day Parade in Powderhorn Park, helping guide attendees on what items to put in which bin.
“I love it because it’s a really quick interaction,” said Wahlberg. “It’s a really quick education opportunity.”
Ambassadors are encouraged to volunteer in whatever way they are most comfortable. For some, that means taking on their own project, like encouraging their church to switch to reusable cutlery and plates, or starting a swap meet in their neighborhood.
“There are lots of opportunities for extroverts, but if that’s not people’s style, there are other opportunities as well,” Wahlberg said. For instance, there’s a Community Recycling Ambassador who is running a Discord channel for volunteers.
“She’s using her skills to manage volunteers online and that’s totally up her alley, which is great,” Wahlberg said. “People can kind of design [their own projects] and figure out what works for them.”
For Sweet, she worked with both the Blaisdell YMCA and Burroughs Elementary School – where her children attended – to obtain new recycling containers with better signage. She also volunteered with the University of Minnesota’s Pack and Give Back program, which encourages students to donate rather than throw away unwanted items when they’re moving out at the end of the semester, helping to sort those items.
“The program is a really great hands-on way to not feel so frustrated about the state of our environmental concerns and just become more of an active resource for folks,” Sweet said.
Once participants complete their mandatory 30 hours of volunteering, it is up to them how they want to continue to share their knowledge and raise awareness in the community, Wahlberg said.

FIX-IT CLINICS
Sweet has been a Community Recycling Ambassador now for over seven years. These days, she is a regular volunteer at Hennepin County Fix-it-Clinics, where residents can bring broken electronics, appliances, clothing, and more to be repaired.
She does not help repair items herself, rather, she helps by directing attendees on where to go and helping to weigh all the items that come through the clinic to determine how much waste was diverted from landfills.
“I’m not a welder, I’m not really a tinkerer, but I’m noisy and I’m comfortable welcoming people and explaining the process to them,” said Sweet.

TRAINING OFFERED EVERY SPRING AND FALL
Since its launch, the program has created about 850 Community Recycling Ambassadors. Wahlberg said county staff will tap into that large pool of sustainability-minded volunteers when they need additional help.
“[Community Recycling Ambassadors] are the faces. They’re the ones going out and actually implementing a lot of these ideas that we have at the county level that we just don’t have the capacity to do,” said Wahlberg.
The Community Recycling Ambassadors program is open to anyone over the age of 18 who lives, works, or goes to school in Hennepin County. Classes are offered every spring and fall. Interested residents can sign up with their email to be notified when applications open again this fall.