ATLANTA (May 21, 2025) – This summer, Live Thrive’s CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) DeKalb celebrates its first anniversary. For a 1-year-old location, CHaRM DeKalb has a lot of big statistics under its conveyor belt, including 2 million pounds of materials recycled, reused or reengineered in its first 12 months of operation.
“Since the day we opened CHaRM DeKalb, we have welcomed a steady stream of local residents excited by the chance to be good environmental stewards,” said Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, Live Thrive executive director and founder. “We wanted this to be more than a recycling center and instead serve the community by providing sustainability education, as well as being a generally inspiring place to visit. Based on the excellent feedback we’ve had, student successes and the regular clientele we see, I think we have achieved that goal.”
The success of the location has come thanks in large part to its solid foundation. CHaRM Atlanta, the city’s first permanent drop-off facility for items too harmful to place in curbside recycling, marks 10 years in operation this year. Live Thrive, the nonprofit responsible for both locations, celebrates its 15th anniversary.
In the years since Live Thrive was formed, tens of thousands of metro Atlanta residents and businesses have benefited from the organization’s numerous sustainable efforts focused on diverting waste, education and community partnerships.
Since opening its gates last summer, CHaRM DeKalb, currently accepting materials just two days per week, has welcomed 21,000 visitors who have come to drop off materials like chemicals, paint, mattresses, Styrofoam, electronics, tires, musical instruments and so much more. CHaRM’s goal is to reuse first, putting back as much as possible into the circular economy. CHaRM achieves this with the help of many community partners, including Atlanta Furniture Bank, CompostNow, Gift of Music Foundation, Recycle for Good and Atlanta Toolbank.
The impact of Live Thrive and its CHaRM locations stretches far beyond recycling. One of the organization’s major efforts has been education – both civic and scholastic. Since 2023, Live Thrive’s STE(A)M Certification Grant Program has provided financial support to Atlanta schools to allow them access to the resources they need to start and finish their journey to certification. More than a dozen metro Atlanta schools have benefitted from this program.
With its expanded offerings to enhance the community, such as the State Farm Learning Garden and a Compost Kitchen in partnership with soil health nonprofit CompostNow, CHaRM DeKalb welcomes school groups and community organizations to deepen their understanding of sustainability and how they can improve their environment and well-being.
Twenty DeKalb County schools have already visited CHaRM DeKalb, bringing some 650 students to learn about making eco-friendly choices. In addition, Live Thrive has brought in-school programming to STEM nights and organized collection contests at six DeKalb schools, reaching roughly 400 students. And eight DeKalb schools participated in this year’s Material Collection Contest, which is half of the total number of participating schools.
Even before opening, CHaRM DeKalb was the site of the annual Live Thrive Kids Day Earth Day event. Free to attend, Kids Day brings together other local nonprofit organizations, environmental groups, recycling partners and corporate partners, who provide interactive and educational activities for kids and their families. Offerings have included a petting zoo and reptile encounters, crafts and building projects, upcycling, composting games and bee education, all combining eco-friendly instruction with child-friendly entertainment.
Kids Day has taken place at CHaRM DeKalb since 2023, growing from 400 attendees in its first year to 500 in 2024 and 600 attendees this year! The 2025 event, held April 26, welcomed more than 20 activity partners, such as Avondale Arts Alliance, Food Well Alliance, Georgia State Bio Bus, Georgia Tech Solar Racing and Wylde Center, among others.
This year may be CHaRM DeKalb’s Paper Anniversary, and the facility has certainly lived up to that association by taking in 55,886 pounds of paper recycling and another 20,000 pounds collected during shredding events (next Shredding Event coming up May 24!). But its overall impact has already far surpassed its age.
About Live Thrive
Live Thrive is a 501 (c) 3 that works to create a community that cares about a healthy and sustainable environment. Through education, community events and partnerships, Live Thrive empowers people, organizations, institutions, neighborhoods, businesses and corporations to make positive choices for their environment. Since its 2010 inception, Live Thrive and its premier program CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) have been recognized by Keep Georgia Beautiful, Georgia Water Coalition, Southface, Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC), the Atlanta Metro Chamber, US Green Building Council, Georgia Natural Gas, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Magazine and Fulton County Citizens Commission, among others. www.livethrive.org
Atlanta’s only permanent facilities for the recycling of materials too harmful to place at the curb, Live Thrive’s two CHaRM locations encourage reuse while diverting thousands of tons of household hazardous waste and other hard-to-recycle items from local homes, water supplies and landfills. In June 2024, Live Thrive opened CHaRM DeKalb, offering area residents a second option for recycling and reuse. In 2024 alone, Live Thrive’s CHaRM Atlanta and CHaRM DeKalb reused/recycled/reengineered more than 1,912,393 pounds of paint and chemicals, 560,000 pounds of cardboard and much more for a total in excess of 5.7 million pounds of materials.
CHaRM Atlanta is located at 1110 Hill Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30315.
CHaRM DeKalb is located at 1225 Columbia Drive, Decatur, Georgia 30032.
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