San Juan Capistrano Boy Wins Eco-Hero Award For Recycling Venture

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — An 8-year-old with a passion for the planet has been named a 2018 International Young Eco-Hero by the Action for Nature environmental organization. Ryan Hickman, of San Juan Capistrano, also received a special Environmental Entrepreneur award.

Ryan's Recycling Company, which he and his family founded when he was 3-years-old, has recycled some 370,000 cans and bottles in an effort to keep them out of landfills and help save the planet.

At the age of 3, Ryan visited and fell in love with the recycling industry. "He thought this was cool and told his dad he wanted to start his own recycling company," a spokesperson from Action for Nature said. While Ryan's dad thought this interest would last a few weeks, instead it became a major interest for Ryan, who still today pours his energy into it with great enthusiasm.

Starting with local friends and families, he now collects from customers all over Orange County. Ryan has raised funds through recycling, and through sales of Ryan’s Recycling t-shirts. Ryan has donated more than $8,000 to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

"Living near the ocean, Ryan is very aware of the danger plastics can cause to marine life, such as when he heard that a straw got stuck in the nose of a sea turtle," they said.
"Every week he visits the beach to collect and remove the trash so that it cannot float out into the water," they said. He doesn’t want animals to 'become sick' and he particularly wants everyone to chop up their plastic six-pack holders before depositing them in the trash.

Besides being very good at recycling, Ryan is a natural spokesperson. He has been on numerous TV shows, including the Ellen DeGeneres show where he was presented with a big check and a small truck that he can drive around to collect the bottles and cans. He is also a CNN Younger Wonder and was recognized by the Orange County Register as one of the most influential people of 2017. He has received thousands of emails from all over the world from people who have been inspired by him.

All this publicity and recognition does not seem to go to Ryan’s head. He is too busy every week collecting bottles and cans, hauling them off to the recycling center (often helped by his mom, dad and grandma), or cleaning up the beach.

“Everybody can recycle,” says Ryan. “If an 8-year old can do it, anybody can do it.”

More information about Ryan’s Recycling Company can be found at ryansrecycling.com.

Watch the 2018 International Young Eco-Heroes meet at Google’s San Francisco offices and via Google Hangouts on Saturday, August 25, from 10 a.m. to noon Pacific time.

Participants will discuss their projects and take questions via chat from the audience watching the live stream. Join the Live Conference with THIS STREAMING LINK: https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/5ae71e58-9fe0-4d1e-8df7-7fdecf16b24c

Photo, courtesy EcoHero