Live Thrive is launching its Corporate + Community Challenge on Nov. 1 to encourage corporations and their employees to recycle more in the weeks leading up to Earth Day 2026.
The expanded program has been extended for six months through April 25 – and now welcomes community and civic groups, in addition to featuring new educational offerings.
In the past five years, the Challenge has already resulted in 554,890 pounds of materials collected to be repurposed, reused, and recycled.
For the 2025-2026 initiative, Live Thrive’s goal is to welcome more than 2,000 employees from participating companies, and several have already joined the effort, including Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises Inc, Delta Air Lines, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, The Home Depot Foundation, Monarch Private Capital, Novelis and Printpack. Current participating community groups include the cities of Brookhaven and Woodstock, Livable Buckhead, as well as Trinity Presbyterian Church.
“We upgraded the Corporate + Community Challenge to allow more Atlanta-area residents to participate wherever they work, live or play,” Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, Live Thrive executive director and founder, said in a press release. “And to help those individuals take charge of their environmental impact, we’re focusing on educational programs to improve their understanding of making better, more sustainable decisions every day of the year.”
How the Live Thrive Corporate + Community Challenge Works
During the six-month program period, capped by America Recycles Day and Earth Day, employees and community members from participating companies and organizations can bring their materials to either CHaRM location (Atlanta or DeKalb) to have them recycled, reused, or reengineered and counted toward their organization’s total weight and attendance. Live Thrive will also host Household Hazardous Waste Pop Up events with participating cities and local municipalities.
But dropping off items like plastic, mattresses, electronics and Styrofoam at a CHaRM facility is only one piece of the program.
As part of the new Corporate + Community Challenge, Live Thrive will host lunch and learn events on-site (or virtually if requested) with participating companies and community groups.
The expanded initiative puts the focus where Live Thrive wants it – on education. Each week, helpful recycling and sustainability information will be shared with participants, allowing them to deepen their understanding of sustainability in a way that can benefit their lives and extend to the people they interact with outside of work too.
Live Thrive’s Corporate + Community Challenge weekly educational topics will focus on topics like all of the materials the CHaRM centers accept, how to prepare them, how they are processed and more. Participants will also have the chance to learn about composting, food waste and cooking grease; identifying the different types of plastic; the importance of safely disposing of paint and chemicals; and how recycling impacts the local circular economy.
Live Thrive is currently accepting sign-ups and inquiries from corporations, companies and community organizations with metro-Atlanta headquarters or offices. More information is available at livethrive.org/charm-corporate-challenge/.