In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt included this remark in his annual message to Congress: "To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed." That message is echoed today in current TV ads encouraging Californians to conserve energy and resources.

Last Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle printed a special “Green” section. The article did confirm some of my assumptions. Since 1989, Californians have kept more than 350 million tons of recyclables out of landfills. According to the California Integrated Waste Management Board (www.ciwmb.ca.gov), this recycling would fill a line of garbage trucks that would circle the Earth six times. While California cities have achieved their 50 percent diversion rates, it is still an uphill, almost impossible task for cities to maintain current diversion percentages, let alone trying to increase it.

The State’s Zero Waste Program is a wonderful concept, but the state has not demanded that manufacturers give us less waste or make products that are easier to recycle. According to Californians Against Waste (www.calrecycles.org), we generate more trash each year with new products and packaging, and an increasing population.

To promote Zero Waste, the Solano County Local Task Force for Integrated Waste Management has three innovative recycling guides. Open your phone books to Recycling in the yellow pages and flip out the recycling tab. Here you will find your own personal recycling guide listing what you can recycle and where to recycle. There is a list of contacts for local recycling coordinators. Recycling information is also included in Spanish. Solano County maintains an up-to-date web site, www.recycle-guide.com, with detailed information about each city’s programs for residential and business customers. The Recycling News feature lists upcoming recycling events, composting classes, and conferences along with local cleanups and other environmental events. A toll-free Spanish Environmental Hotline was launched last Fall. This Hotline (1 800 280-6208) is staffed Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Questions can also be emailed to hugo@c2alts.net.

Is all our hard work paying off? You bet. CIWMB reports that our recycling in California annually saves enough energy to power 1.4 million homes and saves 14 million trees, while cutting water pollution by 27,000 tons and air pollution by 165,000 tons. Good job. Back to the Chronicle Green supplement; one section listed new recycled products. Items include recycled aluminum kitchen sinks (www.eleek.com), recycled glass counter tops or floors (www.enviroglasproducts.com), recycled denim house insulation (www.bondedlogic.com), and Adirondack chairs made from recycled milk jugs (www.conversionproducts.com). Tom and Gina Snyder have enjoyed similar chairs in their backyard for years. One company makes recycled paper cat litter (www.kadantgrantek.com). There are also web sites selling belts made from reused bottle caps (www.littlearth.com), handbags made from recycled inner tubes (www.englishretreads.com), and recycled brass earrings (www.bryde.bigstep.com). Check out www.recyclestore.org for more items.