Statistics show that a lot of Southeast Missourian readers have joined the newspaper, the city of Cape Girardeau and the nation in committing to recycling newspapers.

In 1995, Americans recycled 63 percent of all old newspapers, an all-time high representing 8.1 million tons of newsprint. In Cape Girardeau newspapers are the top recyclable material collected by the city: Some 57 percent of all recyclables collected is newsprint. The Southeast Missourian uses recycled paper on which to print its news. The company bails about 250 tons annually of scrap newspaper at its printing plant for recycling.

Newspapers are the easiest among recyclable items to turn in for recycling: Cape Girardeau residents simply place them in a bag to be picked up at curbside. So successful has the recycling effort been that the bottom has practically fallen out of the price the city gets for old newspapers. But that indicates the success of the recycling effort.

Recycling is a common-sense approach to reducing consumption of natural resources and reduces the flow of trash going to landfills. If you aren't recycling now, please do.