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This is the label that will be melted into the lid of your curbside recycling bin showing what's recyclable and what's not. New items include pots and pans, small electronics, milk and juice cartons and hard plastics like clothing hampers.

After years of thinking, planning, public meetings, board approvals and contract negotiation, Las Cruces is finally ready to take the plunge into curbside recycling. Nearly 30,000 Las Cruces homes will receive a bright blue curbside recycling bin at the end of March and pickup starts at the beginning of April.

Along with the new bin is a new program: "Recycle Right!" It's an effort to better educate residents and end confusion about what's recyclable and what's not.

To help in that effort, new labels with photo images are being melted into the recycling bin lids, so they won't fade in the sun, or come unglued over time in the rain. "The same items that are accepted as part of single-stream recycling will be accepted with curbside recycling - mixed paper, cardboard, plastics one and two, newspaper, aluminum and steel cans, catalogues, magazines, and phonebooks," said Patrick Peck, director of the South Central Solid Waste Authority.

And new items are being added. For the first time Friedman Recycling will accept:

•small electronics,

•pots and pans,

•milk and juice cartons,

•hard plastics like clothing hampers

Recyclables will be picked up curbside every other week and taken to the Friedman Recycling plant in northeast El Paso. Friedman has been in the recycling business for more than 30 years in Phoenix, Tucson and now El Paso, Las Cruces and Do-a Ana County. Right now, the trucks are being built that will pick up and haul the

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recyclables, along with the 30,000 brand new bins.

With every move to make recycling easier, recycling numbers increase dramatically.

"We collected and shipped out 4,000 tons of recyclables in 2010, compared to the 2,400 tons of recyclables in 2009," Peck said. This increase is attributed to the switch to single-stream recycling one year ago - no more separating of recyclables by residents.

To spread the word about curbside recycling, several programs have been launched, including the "Get Caught Recycling!" campaign. From November to January, recyclers were instantly rewarded with prizes at drop-off sites. Recycle rallies in Las Cruces public schools are firing up students about their role in recycling, so don't be surprised when your kids come home eager to recycle!

For now, Las Cruces citizens take their recyclables to six drop-off sites in the city: K-mart, Walmart, Sam's Club, Mesilla Valley Mall, the Old Foothills Landfill and the Amador Avenue Recycling Center or eight county collection centers in Do-a Ana County - Hatch, Hill, Anthony, La Mesa, Butterfield, Mesquite, Garfield and La Union. There are also 27 schools that have blue recycling containers.

Drop-off sites will remain open, even after curbside begins, so we can continue to serve county residents who will not receive curbside bins.

Thank you for recycling! If you have recycling questions, please visit our website at TheScrappyPages.com or call the SCSWA at (575) 528-3800

Recycling Connections is submitted by Suzanne Michaels, Education and Public Outreach, for the South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) named 2010 Solid Waste Authority of the Year by the New Mexico Recycling Coalition. The SCSWA is the city/county agency responsible for managing solid waste and recycling in Las Cruces and Do-a Ana County.