Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a beautiful start to 2010. Now, as you start to seriously consider those New Year’s resolutions, think about what I suggested last week. Resolve to perfect a green habit. One effort we can make is to recycle correctly. I know that a lot of you are trying to make it work in your homes and offices, and I am very proud of you for making that extra effort, but I have had a request to clear up some of the specific rules. I want to make sure you are recycling as well as possible.

As I’m sure you know, there are three collection sites in Clinton. You can take your items to Royal Lane behind the old Putt-Putt, John Street next to Public Works, and Beaman Street near the fire station. There may be more things that you can recycle than you think. You can save your plastics, metals, glass, newspapers and magazine paper, and corrugated cardboard. You are able to recycle all of these items at every site except for the corrugated cardboard, which is only taken at two of these places. You should choose the closest or most convenient location of the three, so this creates as little hassle as possible. The thing you have to remember is that only the center on John Street and the center on Beaman Street accept cardboard.

Unfortunately, there is no place in Clinton that recycles old office paper, so try to be efficient in your use of it. There was a business that did it a year or so ago but they closed. You should still continue to collect your other recyclable items though. Any food containers should be emptied and rinsed before going in the recycling. Another thing that you might forget when recycling is to remove lids from containers. Don’t assume the top and the body of the bottle are made out to the same material. A drink bottle is a perfect example of how that doesn’t work. There is a metal top with a glass bottle. When recycling plastics, remember that you can only recycle number 1-7 plastics. You can find this number usually on the bottom of the item in the middle of the recycling symbol. I hope these clarifications clear up some of your questions. Good luck! Go Green!