Introducing Waste & Recycling Workers Week

Introducing Waste & Recycling Workers Week - Formerly National Garbage Man Day

We partnered with Waste360The Hauler MagazineWaste Advantage MagazineSWANA and many others to ask you to send us your best ideas for renaming National Garbage Man Day to make it more inclusive. After combing through tons of submissions and considering all the options, we are officially renaming National Garbage Man Day to Waste & Recycling Workers Week.

We are implementing this change now to give all our friends in the waste and recycling industry time to update their celebration materials in preparation for Waste & Recycling Workers Week 2020, which will take place June 14 – 20, 2020.

Why the Name Change?

There are actually quite a few reasons for updating the name of our annual celebration. Here are a few of the biggest ones that influenced the naming process:

This is a week long celebration in recognition of those who keep our communities clean and safe. It started as one day, but National Garbage Man Day had become a week long celebration to allow everyone time to thank the workers who provided weekly curbside collection services.

The industry is about more than garbage collection. We want to ensure we are including those who work in the entire waste and sanitation industries as well as those who provide recycling services.

There are thousands of amazing men and women in the waste and recycling industry and we want to celebrate all of them. “Man” was always intended as “human” and not to be gender specific. As Disney’s Maui would say “Both. All. Not a ‘guy/girl’ thing.” However, we recognize it is not the most inclusive wording so it’s time for change.

What Can We Expect to Change?

Not a whole lot, actually. We will still be providing all the same resources we always have. We have updated the badges, downloadable logos, online store and other resources throughout the website. If you request local officials issue a proclamation, you can find an updated downloadable template under our city resources section.

The biggest change will be our URL. We invite you to take a minute to browse our newly update website at www.wasterecyclingworkersweek.org. This is where you can find everything you need to bring Waste & Recycling Workers Week to your community.

Bigger and Better Than Ever!

We have been so pleased to see this week of recognition grow and change over the years. In 2019, we saw even more companies, communities and organizations join in the celebration. We look forward to continuing that growth in the coming years as we recognize all the outstanding individuals in the waste and recycling industries. We hope you will join us June 14-20, 2020 as we celebrate Waste & Recycling Workers Week.

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