Dr. Karen Bell

Keep Liberty Beautiful

Here in the Keep Liberty Beautiful office, we get a lot of calls about how to recycle in Liberty County. When we explain about the recycling centers, we often hear that recycling is too time-consuming, too messy, or too much trouble. If you start off with just one or two items, you may realize that recycling will work quite comfortably in your busy lifestyle. Here are some easy tips for incorporating recycling into your home.

It is simple. The trick is to figure out how to make recycling work in your lifestyle and in your home layout. Some families keep recycling bins or canisters in their kitchen or in their garage. If you’re short on space inside your home, you can still make recycling happen!

I keep my items for recycling in separate reusable recycling bags that I place near the trash can until I am ready to take them out to the nearest county recycling drop-off site. Keep Liberty Beautiful gives away a three-bag recycling system at every Recycle It! Fair. You can take the bags when you are on an errand going toward one of the centers. The bags work well to take to the drop-off recycling sites because you can fold them when they are empty, and they don’t take up a lot of space. They also work well in small locations, like dorm rooms and small apartments, too. You can hang them on cabinet knobs or on hooks.

You don’t have to have “recycling” bins, but if you have your heart set on bins, find containers that are a good size for your family’s needs. There are very affordable containers that can work, like some affordable stackable bins, from $5 to $10 each. You can find them at Walmart, Lowes, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Target, or similar stores. It can be a simple system that can work in your home.

Here are our “Top 10” easy-to-recycle items:

• Clear plastic containers PET 1 and 2 - water bottles, soda bottles, etc.

• Colored plastics some soda bottles

• Clear glass bottles drink bottles and some food containers

• Colored glass (brown and green) - some soda bottles and beer bottles

• Aluminum cans drink cans • “Tin” cans - food cans, like for canned green beans

• Newspapers — including the sales inserts

• Paper — such as computer and copy paper

• Magazines

• Plastic shopping bags — some stores have bins set up for returning these bagsA lways rinse out any containers that you are recycling. It will eliminate any concerns about bugs or smells. Remember: all those inserts in newspapers can also be recycled with the newspaper too.

If you have paper or shredded paper, deposit the paper in a bag in the newspaper section. The items can be dropped off at any Liberty County recycling drop-off location. Just deposit them in the bins designated for each type of item. Here are the Liberty County Solid Waste Convenience Centers and Recycling Drop-off Sites:

• 25 South Dairy Road (Highway 196W, Gum Branch)

• 156 Pate Rogers Road (Fleming)

• 836 Limerick Road (near Lake George)

• 64 Left Field Road (Highway 84, Miller Park)

• 619 J V Road (west of Hinesville)

• 50 Isle of Wight Road (Midway area)

• 344 Fort Morris Road (east end near Sunbury)

• 129 Sandy Run (off Highway 84)

• 941 E G Miles Parkway (Highway 196W at Training Center)

• 4000 Coastal Hwy (Highway 17 in Riceboro)

• If you live in Walthourville, contact the city hall about recycling pickup.

Recycling is one of those things that easily becomes a habit, so think about recycling, which could be your successful resolution for 2024!

For more information about recycling, please get in touch with Keep Liberty Beautiful at (912) 880-4888, klcb@libertycountyga. com, or visit our website at www.keeplibertybeautiful. org.