Each year, Montgomery County sets aside a week in May to raise awareness of the importance of recycling and to showcase the recycling efforts of schools, businesses, and multifamily properties throughout the community. The event is called “Recycling Awareness Week,” and it is one of the County’s most popular recycling education outreach efforts.Moreover, this year the County celebrated Recycling Awareness Week on May 24-28. In close collaboration with the County’s Department of Environmental Protection Division of Solid Waste Services, our event planning team planned the activities for this weeklong event.

Featuring magic shows in area schools, student poster contests, and numerous awards to individuals, businesses, and multifamily properties, the event was a great success. For schools with outstanding recycling programs, the County presented the “Magic of Recycling,” which is a magic show designed to be an interactive educational program on recycling. The goal of the show was to encourage students and school staff to continue supporting the County’s recycling efforts. To ensure that the shows ran smoothly, our team provided detailed logistical and technical support including timelines and production schedules.

One of the challenges of planning Recycling Awareness Week this year was to prepare the venue for the Recycling Achievement Recognition Program, which is the awards ceremony. Faced with budgetary constraints, the County moved the site from the Marriott Hotel (the customary location) to one of the cafeterias in the Montgomery County Executive Office Building. To make the cafeteria appropriate for the ceremony, our team planned every aspect of the program down to the details of arranging a staging room for the presenters and a shot list for the photographer.

Scores of honorees were presented with awards. Students were given awards for creating the best school recycling posters. Individuals, businesses, and multifamily properties were given awards for outstanding individual achievement, outstanding improvement, and excellence in recycling. For the details of specific awards, go the Montgomery County Government website. In the end, the sponsors were pleased with the program and recognized our entire team for a job well done—during the ceremony and throughout the week.