Recycling

Even if you don't care about the benefits to the environment, there is a more practical reason to recycle your paper, plastic, glass and metal recyclables. It saves space in the trash dumpsters!

This helps keep the dumpster areas cleaner, which not only makes them more attractive but more sanitary and less likely to attract animals looking to scavenge a meal, which just spreads the mess around even more.

If you don't have recycling bins, you can request them from Hillsborough County by calling (813) 272-5680 or by e-mailing SolidWaste@HillsboroughCounty.org. There is no charge for this.

If you already have the bins, here's an update for you: The county now accepts paperboard products. These include:

• Cereal Boxes
  
• Cracker Boxes
  
• Soda & Beer Carriers
  
• Shoe Boxes
  
• Gift Boxes

About the only kind of paper product you can't recycle now is waxed or so-called "wet-strength" paperboard. These are boxes that hold food or liquid. If the box was for something that you put in your refrigerator or freezer, you can't recycle that.

Apologies for the time between posts. Your humble blog author was out of town for most of the past week and did not want to advertise the fact.