We appreciate visitors following Leave Only Footprints rules while visiting our beaches, but there is more you can do even when you return home.

Going green is a way of life. Recycling your bottles, cans, metals and paper products is one way to do that.

Nationwide, our recycling efforts have improved greatly. In 1980, recycling and composting kept about 15 million tons from landfills. By 2013, that number was up to 87.2 million tons. Our hope is that it will continue to grow as we put less material in landfills and recycle more of our waste.

Why is it important to recycle instead of putting those items in a landfill? One reason is to eliminate or at least reduce the amount of toxins that can be released from products and end up in our groundwater and soils.

Plastic bottles take hundreds of years to decompose, so recycling plastics just makes sense. It’s hard to even imagine that something you throw away today will still be around 500 years from now.

By some estimates, 60 percent of what ends up in trash bins can be recycled. It costs less to do so, saves energy, and keeps pollutants out of our natural resources.

One simple way to reduce your waste is to take your own canvas bags to the grocery store or dollar store so you don’t have to use plastic ones. Another is to reduce the number of items you buy that are pre-packaged. And store your opened items in re-usable containers instead of disposables. When your re-usable items wear out, recycle them when possible.

Let’s all work together to protect our planet.