First inhabited by Native Americans, Colorado is a region well known for its natural beauty — forests, plains, springs, summits, valleys and ridges surround its residents. This state boasts of naturalist workshops and various outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking and kayaking. For a place with a reputation for everything natural, Colorado has one of the lowest recycling rates in the country. This is quite a surprising fact. In order for this state to improve its recycling rates, local industries, nonprofits, small businesses and homeowners need to step it up. However, could it be that municipal program awareness is part of the problem? The City of Colorado Springs recycles a wide range of materials, including aluminum, tin, cardboard, glass, plastic and junk mail/newspaper. In addition, several companies offer recycling pick-up in conjunction with their trash services. View the single-stream curbside pickup companies in Colorado Springs here.

If you have raw metal or metal from appliances and broken equipment, you may even get paid for your treasure — Western Scrap has been in the resource recovery business for nearly 100 years. Colorado Springs is not the only place in the state with recycling opportunities. Currently, a Denver-based nonprofit organization called Colorado Recycles has developed a website so homeowners and business owners can readily located a recycler statewide. You can conveniently search by material (e.g., advertisements and inserts, bicycles, mercury and mercury devices, vinyl, etc.) and locate a recycler in your county. Although Colorado Recycles is undergoing a complete restructuring of its websites, existing links and even more helpful resources will become available to Coloradans. Eventually, Colorado Recycles will have a section dedicated to the Recycler of the Year, so you can see who is making the biggest difference in this nature-friendly state. Colorado may have a low recycling rate, but with the help of Colorado Recycles and other initiatives, this region may be able to increase its recycling performance in no time. The infrastructure for recycling is available in many counties, so it’s just a matter of residents making use of local recycling facilities and spreading awareness. For listings of recycling locations in Colorado, see 1-800-RECYCLING’s recycling location finder.