When I moved to Anson County in February, one of my first questions after getting settled into my Wadesboro apartment was, "Where do I drop off my recycling?" No matter who I asked this question, I got the same response: "We don't do recycling here."

Quite honestly, I was shocked. I thought that in this day and time, with people driving hybrid cars and solar power becoming more common, every community had a recycling program. Even the rural county in southeastern North Carolina that I'm from has a recycling program— one that makes it easy for its residents to drop off their aluminum cans, plastic bottles, paper, boxes, metal, etc. to be recycled so that these items won't be filling our landfill. Certain days of the week, the recycling sites are open and folks just load up their cars or pickup trucks, and drop the recyclable items into marked bins. It's so convenient that I've been saving up my recyclable items and hauling them back home when I go visit my family and friends.

I won't need to do that anymore.

Anson County has started a recycling program, one that within a few months should be on par with that of any in the state. Sites will be open two days a week at locations throughout the county, making it easy for residents to recycle.

Yes, it takes effort to separate the cans and bottles, to flatten boxes, to load up the vehicle and take those items to one of the recycling centers. But really, is it that much trouble to just put those items in a different bin in your home and take them when you take the rest of your trash to be dumped? Even my parents, who are set in their ways (to say the least), recycle. And they don't grumble about it one bit.

This Saturday, Dec. 26, is the perfect time to start. Just get a separate trash bag for your wrapping paper and boxes, put the paper and flattened boxes in that separate bag and take the bag or bags to the center closest to you on Saturday (They're listed in a related article on Page 1A). At this point, the recycling is co-mingled, meaning you don't have to separate your paper from your bottles or cans, so it really is easy.

It will make a huge difference in the cleanliness of our county and the impact on the already overburdened landfill.

So when you're giving gifts over the next few days, don't forget to give back to your community— and to the planet— as well. You'll feel good that you did.