Cabinet Member Guest Blog: Amelia

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, Amelia, with Retired Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court DeMuniz.
Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, Amelia, with Retired Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court DeMuniz.

Hi, my name is Amelia. I am part of the Oregon Kid Governor’s cabinet. My platform is to convince more people to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Have you ever thought that recycling is useful, but too great a challenge? I will tell you about a few small ways you can help that make a big difference if we work together!

How can you help? First, if you don’t recycle yet, start! If you already recycle at home or at recycling centers, encourage your friends and family who may not. Some commercial recycling programs have monthly fees that not everyone can keep up with. Recycling centers like Oregon’s BottleDrop are a great alternative. You can get money for each thing you recycle, for example, cans give you ten cents.

Next, helping others understand the benefit of recycling is another way you can help. Recycling has many benefits for our society. The more things that end up in the recycling bin, the less trash on the ground. Recycling also benefits animals. Sometimes an animal gets their head stuck in an aluminum can or plastic bottle. If these items had been recycled, the animal could have lived its life normally without a can stuck on its head.

Finally, learn what you can recycle and what you can not. A trick you can use is go to your favorite search engine–do this with your parents if you’re a kid–and type “what type of plastics can be recycled in <city> ” and add your city name in the placeholder. Also, plastics often have a number on them. You may be able to check with your recycling center as to whether they accept that type of plastic.

In conclusion, I hope you learned something new and hopefully helpful. I believe we can have a cleaner world if we all make subtle but important changes to our lives.

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