We are excited by the challenge issued by state and local officials last week for Alpena County to recycle 2 million pounds of plastics, paper, and cardboard by year’s end.

According to local officials, staff at the Alpena Resource Recovery Facility have already collected and shipped 1.21 million pounds of plastics, paper, and cardboard from Nov. 1, 2018 to July 30 of this year, so only 800,000 pounds more are needed by Dec. 31.

We know you can do it, Alpena.

It only takes a few extra seconds to toss your recyclables into a separate container than your trash, and only a few minutes on a weekend to take the recyclables to one of nine drop-off locations around the county (find out more here: https://www.alpena.mi.us/document–center/Recycling%20Guide.pdf).

By doing so, you’ll not only be helping the environment, but also helping the economy. State officials said increasing Michigan’s 15% recycling rate to 30% would would produce almost 13,000 jobs statewide and would have an economic impact of up to $300 million annually.

But, perhaps what is most exciting about the news is an increased effort to educate the public about recycling properly. Too many people put non-recyclable materials into recycling bins (and that’s not to mention the scoundrels who drop off their trash), which can be costly for recycling centers to sort out or can even force officials to send an entire otherwise recyclable load to the landfill.

The state has launched a new website, recyclingraccoons.org, to teach people what can and can’t be recycled.

We encourage readers to spend a few minutes on the website to get up to speed.

And then get recycling!

(THE ALPENA NEWS)