Recycling has a become a way of life as we all start becoming more conscious of the environment. Many low-income people and people experiencing homelessness survive by recycling. I think we can all agree that recycling is good. Well, a nonprofit recycling center that employs homeless people and helps them get their lives back is GREAT!
On a recent trip to San Diego I found myself standing in a recycling yard. I was introduced to Chad McKinney, one of the founders of Aware Recycling, but really I just thought it was like all the other recycling centers I have visited. Then chad started telling me their story, and since I was sporting Google Glass, only a short “OK Glass” later I started to record this interview.
What started as just an idea turned into going around in a old pick up truck picking up recyclables from businesses and nightclubs. Today, Aware Recycling has a center in downtown San Diego along with a work program that hires homeless people along with a big-brother-type mentor program for youth.
One of the people I met while I was visiting still lived homeless, but thanks to the help of Aware Recycling, he just enrolled in college with dreams of going to law school! How cool is that!!!
