Q&A with Ryder Leary, Executive Director of Keep North Fulton Beautiful
You may be familiar with Sweep the Hooch, but have you ever thought about what it would be like to spend your entire childhood on the water? Join us for a conversation about recycling, sailboat living, and the importance of giving back to the environment.
We’d love to hear a little more about how you came to be in this role. Have you always been passionate about improving the environment?
Before this, I spent about sixteen years with the YMCA, half that in the Jacksonville area, then in Atlanta. My wife and I were recently in a position where we could take some time away to travel and rethink what we wanted to do, and I wanted to look into something in the environmental space. I grew up with a modest lifestyle. My parents were very into sustainable living, and I was actually born and raised on a sailboat on the Fernandina coast. I spent every waking minute on the water, traveling to islands and other places off the shoreline, and although it might not be for everyone, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m also an avid outdoorsman as an adult—I love fishing and hiking, and I want to be able to give back to the environment what it’s provided to me all these years. Keep North Fulton Beautiful is a great organization, and it feels great to not just keep garbage out of the landfill, but to take an active role in improving this wonderful area that’s benefitted me in so many ways.
That’s so wonderful to hear! Can you describe a typical day for us? (Or a handful of days, since we know none of them look the same?)
At our particular facility, we have one main recycling site where we handle all of our materials. We take the majority of things that can be recycled, from scrap metal to plastics to electronics, as well as some hazardous waste. What I enjoy the most is getting to interact with all the folks that come through. It’s fun to communicate with people and answer any questions that we can. We try to be good stewards and make the process as efficient as we can. Then of course, any other odd day might include communicating with our local government, or working on other projects like river cleanups or our Adopt-a-Road program. I’m forever in pursuit of what those additional things might be.
Students at the recycling center
What have some of your favorite projects or events been so far?
I’ve been in this role about six months so far, and in that time, we’ve hosted two major recycling events, one for paper shredding and another to collect household hazardous waste. The latter took place in December, and we woke up to a torrential downpour, but we still had a good turnout despite the weather. For our paper shredding event, we went all out and found as many eco-friendly vendors as we could, from eco cars to how to handle junk removal. We also hired green-forward food trucks, so it was a lot of fun.
Our next big event is Sweep the Hooch on the Chattahoochee. We’re actually one of the host sites here on Morgan Falls Road, right here on the river. It will be brand new to me, but it’s such a unique and popular opportunity. We host three different types of volunteers—some people go out on boats, some walk the trails, and this last one is relatively new, but others put on their boots and wade into the water. I’m really looking forward to that.
What else does your affiliate look forward to in the future? What further impact do you hope to see?
One of the things on my mind is how we’ll continue to expand our service area. Right now, we only have the one brick and mortar facility in Sandy Springs, and there’s a possibility of expanding more into Johns Creek or partnering with some of the surrounding cities like Roswell or Milton. That’s a pie in the sky idea, really, but our board just completed our strategic planning for the next eighteen months, and we’re mostly focusing on how to be excellent stewards of our funds and the support we get from our volunteers. We’re thinking about how we can communicate even better about the impact of our work, and how that can benefit our community.
Any advice for people looking to make their communities cleaner, greener, or more beautiful?
Absolutely. Something I’m learning after so many years of being on the outside looking in, now that I’m on the inside looking out, is to just ask a lot of questions. It’s easy to make certain assumptions as a citizen, not just about recycling, but about how things work in government. Now that I’m in this role, I not only see so many opportunities for the organization, but all the avenues individuals can take to lift up their communities, whether that’s being greener on a personal level or through the organizations you work with. There are tons of great ways for residents to help the environment and support the beautification of the areas we all love and appreciate. Just ask questions and figure out how you can give back.