I am not a rabid environmentalist a la Al Gore, but I am a practical steward of my environment and think our town area needs some guidance and instruction on the Recycling Center of Southern Pines, as well as alternate ideas for recycling a larger percentage of our daily household garbage as well as construction refuse.

I try to separate much of my garbage so that most of it will make it back into a useful product and not just occupy space in a landfill.

However, I think many people (maybe even I) are taking stuff to the Southern Pines Recycling center that is inappropriate for that facility and just adds to the burden of the good folks that do the dirty work of separating recyclables from plain old garbage.

If we had some periodic reminders via The Pilot as to what is acceptable to take to the Recycling Center and what is not, I think it would help not only the local environment but also the national recycling effort as a whole.

In addition to guidelines for the recycling center information about curbside service and an article on alternative material collection sites (even things as simple as the plastic bag collection bins at Harris Teeter and Food Lion) for other materials that we use on a daily basis, it may be helpful to stress maximizing the amount of daily materials that are recycled and minimizing the materials that end up in our nation's landfills.

Maybe one of your "local heroes" profiles can highlight these key citizens that do our dirty work separating garbage on a daily basis. I hope they realize how important their job is for a cleaner future.

Christian Lichter

Southern Pines