It's Earth Day on Wednesday and to celebrate the local branch of the Salvation Army will be at the Pine Centre Mall all week to promote their Put a Little Green in the Red Shield campaign.
The Salvation Army will be at Centre Court starting today and continuing to Saturday closing to raise awareness.
Some might not realize the extent of the recycling the Salvation Army does but when members of the community donate clothing and those items are given to those in need, that's a form of going green.
Locally, the Salvation Army recycled 1.5 million pounds of textiles in 2014, including clothing and other items like fabric, scarves, belts and shoes.
"This is our third annual Put a Little Green in the Red Shield campaign," said Salvation Army Captain Neil Wilkinson. "Our goal is to help raise awareness about the recycling work the Salvation Army does here in Prince George.
There are four main recycling categories, including textiles and end-of-life electronics, including what is powered by battery or electricity and each item is recycled whether it's working or not, Wilkinson said.
Metal recycling is something else the Salvation Army does.
"Any kind of metal at all, we use it as a way to generate surpluses for the work that the Salvation Army does in the community," said Wilkinson.
Light bulbs and light fixtures are also recyclable through the Salvation Army.
"We take CFL lights, fluorescent tubes, halogen bulbs and their fixtures," he said. "The great thing about dropping things at the Salvation Army at 3500 18th Avenue is that it's a one-stop drop for all household recycling and the bigger benefit is that all the surpluses generated from our recycling programs goes right back - 100 per cent - into the community through the work of the Salvation Army."
An added benefit is all products are diverted away from the landfills, he added.
The Salvation Army is best known for the food bank but there are a host of other programs, including family services which includes emergency shelter, household items, clothing, and emergency disaster services for when the unforeseen strikes like the 2012 Lakeland Mills explosion. There is a thrift store and recycling program, the Christmas Hamper program, as well as community care services where Salvation Army representatives visit each senior care facilities once a month to do spiritual services. At Christmas time, each senior care bed is visited and the senior is offered a gift and hat goes for every bed at the hospital, too. There is also a mobile unit that hosts the Operation Hungry Relief, a weekly ball hockey program for teens and young adults, seniors' programs and children's programs.
During the awareness campaign the Salvation Army encourages people to visit with them at the mall, ask questions about the recycling they do and the programs that benefit from it, and be sure to enter the draw for gift cards from Pine Centre.
