Sunday was America Recycles Day. ARD encourages Americans to recycle and buy recycled products.

Since its inception in 1997, it has grown to include millions of Americans pledging to improve their recycling habits. Keep America Beautiful launched this day to promote recycling. The current recycling rate is about 34 percent, which means only about a third of us recycle.

If you already recycle, check out the ARD website (www.americarecyclesday.org) for handy recycling ideas to do more. If you do not recycle yet, you can pledge to start.

I recommend picking one or two items you use frequently and start with them.

If you know anything about recycling, you know about the three R’s: Almost any fifth-grader in Liberty county can tell you the three R’s!

• Reduce means to find ways to create less waste. The less demand we create for products and goods means less waste. I like to shop and I like stuff so reduce is the hardest of the three R’s for me. I try to select items that have less packaging. Did you realize that $1 out of every $10 to $11 that we spend on products is spent on the packaging? So first thing: be a smart shopper and buy products that require less packaging. Also, look for products that have packaging that can be recycled. Also look for items made from recycled content.

• Reuse means to find ways to use items again rather than tossing them. Here are examples of items you could reuse.  Reuse food containers and glass bottles. Plastic grocery bags can be reused as small trash can liners or lunch bags. You can also use containers and jars as storage containers for household items. Another example is to use the back side of paper that has been discarded for notes, etc.

• Recycle means that the materials from items will be used to create new products. What can be recycled at drop-off centers around Liberty County?  Plastic bottles and containers, aluminum cans, tin cans, paper,  lightboard (food boxes), glass bottles and jars, newspapers, magazines and cardboard can all be recycled at the centers.

Have you ever thought about what can be made from your recyclables? Newspapers can become new newsprint, boxboard, cellulose insulation, animal bedding and more.

Glass items can become more glass containers, roadbase aggregate, road surfaces, fiberglass, and glass beads in reflective paint.  Plastic bottles can become insulation for jackets and sleeping bags, carpeting, paintbrush bristles, surfboards, sailboat hulls, benches and even clothing.  

For more information about recycling, please contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at 880-4888, klcb@coast alnow.net or www.keeplibertybeautiful.org. Happy America Recycles Day.