At only three and a half years old, Ryan Hickman began foraging his passion for recycling; the key to saving our environment. From planning mass beach clean-ups to doing small ones on the weekends with his dad, he does a variety of activities to feed his cause.
Hickman first found his love for recycling after visiting a local recycling center with his father, Damion Hickman. After cashing in bags of plastic bottles for a profit, he knew what he was destined to do. He soon began taking his and neighboring citizens’ recyclables to the center every week.
Hickman began to mold his mission and take charge of solving our plant’s challenges. He built a self-made business by taking bottles from people all over Orange County, CA, and made nonprofit organizations including Ryan’s Recycling Company and Project3R.
“Since I’ve known Ryan, he’s always been interested in recycling. He’s invited me to beach cleanups, charity events, etc… when seeing all of the good things he does for our world, he inspired me to do the same. As a result, I’ve been a part of his YLB (youth leadership board) for two years now and routinely go to his mass beach cleanups,” said a close friend of Hickman, Sam Christy.
On Sunday evenings, Hickman, his father, and friends organize small beach clean-ups. He also coordinates big cleanups two or three times a year producing a turnout of 200-300 people. He has recycled almost 2 million cans and bottles all together.
In 2016, Hickman’s accomplishments were featured on many local websites. Receiving around 45 awards and being interviewed by over 88 establishments, Hickman has made a massive impact at such a young age. He was named Orange County’s most influential person in 2017, and was interviewed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Hickman’s main goal is to explain how cans and bottles being sent to landfills and oceans kill our animals and destroy air quality.
To fix these problems, he wants others to acknowledge that ignoring the environment will hurt us just as much as it hurts our planet.
“It’s about getting the community involved, and Ryan really does that. He has his communities through school and through other people that he knows…what’s really special is even when we’re at beach cleanups, people will walk by and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ or ‘How can I get involved?’” said Laura Wong, one of Hickman’s associates.
Ryan’s Recycling Company website holds information about his journey with recycling, Project3R (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) nonprofit, and his YLB (Youth Leadership Board).
“If a 14-year-old kid like me could recycle, anyone can… it’d be easy to save the planet if everyone pitched in,” said Hickman.
If you want to schedule a pick-up for any of your recyclables in Orange County, CA, contact Ryan Hickman at ryansrecycling.com/contact/.
