SUPER R's Committee: REFUSE, Reduce, REPURPOSE, Reuse, Recycle

The Recycling Committee was Sustainable Tallahassee's first active committee.  It's earliest achievement was a program called iRecycle that was rolled out in Leon County Schools in August 2007.

Then, in 2009,  the concept for The Sharing Tree  was created in this committee and was brought to fruition the following year as a collaboration among Sustainable Tallahassee, Leon County, Leon County Schools, and Goodwill.  

Recognizing that recycling is the last in a chain of steps to reduce what goes into our landfills and waterways, over time the name and focus of the committee has been changed to the Super Rs Committee (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle).

A significant initiative of the Super Rs committee is a reduction in single-use plastics in our community, particularly plastic shopping bags and plastic bottled water.  Our Rags 2 Bags program is an example:  volunteers make shopping bags from donated fabric and give away the bags - each containing a message about sustainability - at community events.  Find out more about this project and our Rags 2 Bags team HERE.

Our "Kick Bottled Water" project has involved strong efforts to bring attention and challenge people to change behaviors, by publishing articles in the Tallahassee Democrat, creating a Pledge to Kick Bottled Water, and creating a Water Bottle Monster to showcase our efforts at public festivals and other events. 

Learn more about our efforts in these articles and on our website:

LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival, April, 2016

Article:  Slowing the Tide of Plastic Bags, July, 2017

Article: Greening Our Community with two Green Festivals, April, 2017

Article: Getting Passionate About Sustainability, January, 2017

Article: Dollars and Common Sense - Bottled Water is Money and Resources Down the Drain, October, 2015

Article: Drink Locally - Stop Buying Commercial Bottled Water, May, 2015

Would you like to work toward meeting the challenges to reduce the throw-aways in our society and community?  Join our Super Rs Committee!  Check our calendar for the next Super Rs meeting or contact our committee chair for details.