LAFAYATTE, La. (KLFY)- Happening in Acadiana this weekend, project front yard will host a series of events and initiatives to remind citizens of the importance of recycling and reusing items.

Project Front Yard is enforcing the importance of recycling in honor of the 20th anniversary of Keep America Beautiful America Recycle Day. This is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting recycling in the United States.

According to the White House, the rate of recycling in the United States has grown from less than seven percent in 1960 to more than 34% in 2014. Their report show materials worth nine billion dollars are thrown away each year and this initiative encourages the community to return materials back into the economy, in order to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and create innovative new products. There are multiple ways Acadiana can get involved.

On Saturday, November 18th, the ‘Fix-It Cafe’ is a pop-up meeting place where community members can gather to bring items in need of repair, such as; bicycles, small wooden furniture, and household items. The Plastic Bag round-up is the second initiative that allows students in Lafayette Parish to collect plastic bags for re-manufacturing. The third initiative is Aluminum Can Recycling where citizens and businesses can drop-Off aluminum cans at Louisiana Scrap Metal.

These initiatives are all efforts to increase recycling and the re-use of more items to benefit the environment.