It’s amazing what you can learn when you’re dressed as a recycling cart. As an intern in Waste Management’s Recycle Corps this summer, I represented the company as “Chuck the Cart” at several Auburn National Night Out events. One of our drivers, another intern, and I went neighborhood by neighborhood meeting people and talking about the importance of recycling.

Walking around as a big blue cart with stiff eyelashes, white gloves and a permanent smile created a playful atmosphere that brought a new sense of delight to recycling. The children were especially excited to see Chuck waddling around the neighborhood and would stop at nothing to get a picture and a high-five from me.

Masked as Chuck, I drilled the kids and their parents on their recycling. Sometimes I could stump them with what to do with Styrofoam or an aerosol can. But one little girl I spoke with was one of the best recycling experts I’d ever met, greatly outdoing her mother and father.

It wasn’t until I brought up composting that I caught her off guard. At this new piece of knowledge, her eyes lit up as big and bright as Chuck’s, and a new composting expert was in the making.

It’s moments like these that make me feel I’m making a difference.

– Amber Longrie