Live Thrive and its many partners gathered on June 7 to celebrate the opening of its Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) DeKalb, a facility providing recycling/reuse services to divert hazardous waste and other hard-to-recycle items from local homes, water supplies and landfills.
Located at 1225 Columbia Drive, adjacent to Belvedere Plaza in Decatur, the center also includes the State Farm Learning Garden and compost space.
“As we cut this ribbon today, we open the doors to a brighter cleaner future,” said Chuck Ellis, DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Director.
“A future where DeKalb County leads by example in environmental responsibility and community engagement.”
“This a great day in DeKalb and South DeKalb,” said former DeKalb County District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson, who’s currently in a runoff for DeKalb County CEO. “This was 8 acres of land that I purchased for $100,000 in 2008 or 2009…This would not have been possible without the Belvedere Community.”
Johnson thanked South DeKalb community activist Anne Brown, who effectively advocated for this project among many others before her passing in 2021, and recognized the current president of the Belvedere Civic Group, Wayne Powell.
In 2020, discussions began between Live Thrive and DeKalb County, with unanimous support from the DeKalb CEO and Commissioners. Former Commissioner Kathy Gannon pushed for it to be a park project and former Commissioner Johnson “made sure we had the funding and kept it going,” per Ellis.
The county invested $1.9 million of county appropriated funds and federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for engineering and construction costs, Ellis shared.
Ellis praised Live Thrive as “the perfect example of how public private partnerships can work together to benefit our community.”
State Farm agreed. In 2022, the insurance company granted Live Thrive $500,000, one of only six of its 100th anniversary Century of Good grants given across the country.
“This additional funding will allow us to continue our mission of public environmental education, which is a crucial element in increasing awareness about the importance of proper materials management, among other services,” said Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, Live Thrive founder and executive director at the time of the grant award.
Ratcliffe’s team will partner with local schools and community groups to expand educational efforts around recycling and the environment.
“We are thrilled to have this large safe space to work with kids,” Ratcliffe said. “On one side is an edible garden on the other is a pollinator garden. If you have groups you want to bring – school, corporate, civic – we’d love to have you all come out.”
Georgia Tech’s Horizons Summer Camp will be the first to come to the learning garden on June 12.
Live Thrive’s first permanent facility, CHaRM Atlanta at 1110 Hill Street, opened nearly a decade ago. In 2023 alone, CHaRM Atlanta reused, recycled, and reengineered more than 251,012 pounds of Styrofoam, 503,225 pounds of chemicals, 453,224 pounds of glass, 4,000 mattresses and much more for a total in excess of 5.7 million pounds of materials.
“The operations of this facility are going to be very similar to the facility on Hill Street,” Ratcliffe said.
At CHaRM DeKalb, visitors can drop off items like cardboard and glass, as well as bicycles, paint, musical instruments, tires and household chemicals. To put as many items as possible back into circulation, Live Thrive works with community and nonprofit partners, such as Gift of Music Foundation and Free Bikes 4 Kidz.
Current hours are Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., by appointment. VIP Members receive early access beginning at 8 a.m., without reservations.
“Before coming – go to the website and review the FAQ and items we take,” Ratcliffe said. “We don’t have a map yet on the website because we have to make sure everything is staying where we have it. It’s like moving furniture around in a new house – we want to make sure it’s in the right place.”
With the opening of the CHaRM DeKalb location, area residents will now have two convenient options for recycling and repurposing used goods.
“We take 100 different materials,” Ratcliffe explained. “So please, go home, clean out and come and visit CHaRM DeKalb.”