If you live in a community that recycles, or you practice it by doing your own recycling, congratulations. You are saving money, natural resources such as trees and land, and space in our landfills. That means you are helping to cut down on pollution, as well as helping our environment. But did you know that there is more to recycling than dropping your newspapers off at a newspaper drive, or separating your empty milk cartons and soda cans for the garbage man? If you're interested in the practice of recycling, here is an overview of the recycling process, a list of some common household and office items that can be recycled, and how you can do your part for our environment - because every little bit does make a difference.

Although exact recycling methods vary in each community, recycling generally means collecting and in some manner reusing household and office materials. Materials are collected a few different ways, including the following:

• By placing items on the curb alongside your regular garbage, but in specified recycling containers
  
  
• By dropping items off at a recycling center
  
  
• By returning items to the store or a refund or deposit
  
  
• By taking items to a buy-back center
  
  
• By depositing items in specially designed recycling collection bins, such as those designed for paper at your office, or aluminum cans in your cafeteria

Once items are collected, they all take a similar path for the recycling process. Items are sent to a materials recovery facility where they are sorted by material type- for instance, as plastics, glass, or newspaper.

Even within a certain type of material there are different kinds of that item that are recycled somewhat differently. Take glass, for example. It might need to be separated by color; clear glass is extremely valuable, while mixed colored glass is not. And different glass products need to be separated, too, because the glass from bottles cannot be mixed with the glass from windows, mirrors, or light bulbs. Also, broken glass is not really an asset because it's difficult to sort.

Once materials are sorted, they are bought and sold on the open market, just like any other goods. And just as the prices of most goods fluctuate and change from day to day, so do the prices for recyclable materials. After materials have been sold and bought, they are cleaned and further separated; then they are ready for manufacturing into new products. The process for each type of material varies, of course, but the important thing is that more and more people are recycling, which means more of the products you buy these days contain some - if not all - recycled material.

Did you know that, on average, a soda can made of aluminum is manufactured, filled with a beverage, sold, used, recycled, and back on the shelf again in about 6 weeks?

It's important to re-emphasize that the final piece of the recycling circle is complete only as consumers continue to buy recycled goods. This is important because as the demand for recycled goods increases, more companies and manufacturers will work to meet those demands by producing more products comprised of recycled content. So if you're not buying recycled products, ask yourself why not. If it's because you've heard stories or comments about recycled products costing more, being of lower quality, or being harder to find, be aware that those myths are just not true.