Ryan Hickman was only three years old when he visited his first recycling center; this is when his passion for recycling began. Since 2012, he has been working towards keeping recycled materials out of the landfills and oceans. His story is truly inspiring and if you haven’t heard it already, we want to share it with you!

 

Ryan Hickman was only three years old when he visited his first recycling center; this is when his passion for recycling began. Since 2012, he has been working towards keeping recycled materials out of the landfills and oceans. His story is truly inspiring and if you haven’t heard it already, we want to share it with you!

When he began, Ryan wasn’t expecting much participation but was pleasantly surprised when neighbours, friends, his parents’ coworkers, and other families began contributing to Ryan’s Recycling. Forward to 2018, and he has customers all over Orange County, California, and has recycled over 73,000 pounds of recycled material!

At just eight years old, Ryan is already making a huge difference. He has been recognized all over the world, by staring on shows like the Ellen DeGeneres Show, 60 Seconds Docs, CNN and was on the cover of The Capistrano Dispatch’s Green Issue. In December 2016, Ryan’s Recycling hit a milestone of $10,000 in his savings account from money made from the recycling centers which he says he is saving because he plans to buy a garbage truck!

In August of 2016, Ryan also began selling T-shirts and all proceeds have been donated to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California. So far, he has donated almost $6,000 to the center!

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Ryan has definitely inspired us at Busch Systems and in the spring of 2017, our team sent several Waste Watcher containers to help Ryan’s collection efforts, including a station to be used at the Marine Mammal Centre. Ryan tells us he uses them every day and we love that we can be a small part of his big mission!

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If you are thinking “Hmm… How can I help out this young entrepreneur?” Well, if you live in Orange County you can have Ryan pick up recyclables from your home or work place: http://ryansrecycling.com/contact

Or you can show your support by purchasing one of Ryan’s T-shirts or hats: http://dhdwear.com/index.php?route=product/search&filter_name=ryans%20recycling

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It’s people like Ryan who show the world that it doesn’t matter what age you are because anyone can make a difference if they put their mind to it. We hope Ryan can inspire you to go out and make a difference in your community. Good Job Ryan! We’re rooting for you, keep up the amazing work!