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How does recycling benefit us? "Well, it reduces landfills and allows the reuse of products that otherwise would be considered useless," says Gary Poppen. Gary Poppen has been doing the recycling job for 4 years now. The burn ban is one of the many changes that have happened since he's been on the job. Instead of burning paper and cardboard, people now have to recycle. "Recycling takes time and effort. It is not easy, fast, or convenient. Everyone has to do their part," says Poppen.

Here in Reinbeck, we recycle all kinds of paper, cardboard, glass, tin, plastic, used tires, waste oil and car batteries. The used tires are taken to Green Man Technology in Des Moines. Once there, they break the tires up into small chips and they are used in a variety in ways. If you buy a new car battery, you can bring in your old one and recycle it. Waste oil is used to heat Napa's shop. The rest of the recycled items are sent to Waterloo-Cedar Valley Recycling. There, they package it into bundles and ship it to a processor. Each item goes to separate processors. How much does Reinbeck recycle? On a monthly basis, we send in about 4 tons of cardboard, 1 ton of glass, and 4 tons of paper. The high school and elementary recycle about 1,000 pounds of paper to add to that giant mass. With this information, we think that Reinbeck does an extraordinary job of recycling, but it wouldn't hurt to get everyone to join and help us make this planet a greener place for living.