News 12 at 6 o'clock, October 5, 2009

COLUMBIA CTY, Ga.---The green movement has hit Columbia County. The county's first recycling center opened today.

The center has been in the works for years, ever since the county's landfill closed. Now it will be a lot easier for residents to be kind to Mother Earth.

John Boudreaux is trying to teach his youngest son the importance of recycling. His family's curbside pickup currently doesn't take as many recyclables as Atlanta's service.

"We're actually real excited, because some of the items they don't take from the curb, we'll be able to recycle by bringing here directly to the facility," Boudreaux said.

"The best part of all this is seeing this project come together and having the opportunity so we can all do a little but for the greater good of the earth," said Jenny Hinton of Keep Columbia County Beautiful.

Although there are other drop-off locations, the new recycling center on Chamblin Road is the first site dedicated solely to recycling, and it accepts more than the others. You can bring plastics, cardboard, newspaper and office paper, aluminum cans, metals, and even electronics.

The roughly $150,000 complex is also centrally located in Grovetown, to attract more people.

John hopes the message gets through: "To teach our children the importance of doing whatever we can to help preserve the environment and be responsible as we can with the resources we have."

The new center is open every day except Wednesday and Sunday. The center does not accept glass.

Columbia County will keep its existing drop-off locations open, but the Ronald Reagan complex will no longer take cardboard or aluminum cans.