Earth Angel

Facts about plastic recycling: • Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away.

• Plastic water bottles are shielded from sunlight in landfills, which can cause them to take thousands of years to decompose.

• Only about 27 percent of plastic bottles are recycled.

• More than 1,600 businesses are involved in recycling post-consumer plastics.

• Clothing, toys, stuffed animals, rulers and more can all be made from recycled PET plastic.

• One ton of recycled plastic saves the equivalent of 1,0002,000 gallons of gasoline.

The Hot Springs Solid Waste Department offers curbside collection of newspaper, corrugated cardboard, telephone books, aluminum cans and plastic grades No. 1 and 2 for city residents through its Earth Angel Recycling Program. If you’d like to get started recycling, call 321-6911.

Last week, Earth Angels of Hot Springs recycled: 115 pounds, aluminum cans; 4,608 pounds, newspaper; 728 pounds, corrugated cardboard; 196 pounds, plastic; 28,280 pounds, yard waste. A total of 17 tons of recyclable materials were kept out of the landfill.

Collection schedule Today: McAuley/Greenwood. Saturday: Hobson/Plain. Monday: Quail Creek/Lotus Loop. Tuesday: James/Millcreek. Wednesday: Park Avenue Magnolia/Circle Drive.

Thursday: Oaklawn Park/ Pine Meadows.

Jan. 27: Whittington/Quapaw-Prospect.