Fall and cooler weather is upon us. With cool weather, many of us have leaves to rake along with other yardwork to prepare for winter.

For the last year or so, the city's compost site has been restricted to leaves, grass clippings, garden waste and straw. If you have tree limbs that did not make it to the alley for alley cleanup a couple of weeks ago, your only option is to take the limbs to the county landfill.

As far as our weekly trash pick-up, we have a tremendous opportunity in Hays to minimize our trash that goes to the landfill by taking advantage of the city's recycling program. It is really quite simple and has potential of helping the city keep our cost for trash pick-up as low as possible.

While there are some costs involved with the recycling of plastics and glass, the recycling of paper not only helps save the planet, but provides some limited funds back to the city's recycling and solid waste division to help offset the costs of our trash and recycle pick-up.

Recycling is made quite simple in Hays and requires only minimal separation of trash with recyclables in just a couple of different blue bags.

Place paper and cardboard products in one blue bag. This includes newspapers, magazines, junk mail, cereal boxes and cardboard boxes. If cardboard boxes will not fit in the blue bag, set the empty box about 3 feet from the polycart for collection. It would be helpful to place another blue bag in the box so that the bag won't blow away.

With discarded mail, for security, consider shredding or at least tearing up the content if it has your name and other personal information.

The second blue bag is for any color glass, jars and bottles, aluminum and tin cans, No. 1 plastics (such as water and pop bottles) and No. 2 plastics (cloudy-white only -- like a milk jug). These items are co-mingled in the same blue bag. No other separation is required.

The good folks at the public works department ask that we keep the paper and cardboard separate from the co-mingled items.

It is best if the blue bags are placed about 3 feet away from the polycart. The automated arm on the refuse truck needs space to pick up the polycart. If the bags are too close, the driver won't be able to empty the polycart.

It is also very important for us to tie the recycling bags. If the bags are not tied well and placed upside down when collected, the contents will spill on the ground.

And last but not least, Styrofoam is not recyclable in the city of Hays Blue Bag Recycling Program. Styrofoam should be placed in trash bags and placed in the polycart. This includes removing the Styrofoam from cardboard boxes.

Yard waste such as grass clipping and leaves can be picked up by the Public Works Division if you have purchased yard waste stickers at the city clerk's office at City Hall.

For $5.25, you receive five stickers to place on five bags of clippings or yard waste. When the public works-solid waste crews see the bags with stickers, they will pick them up, too.

Hays residents take great pride in maintaining their property, which helps keep our community beautiful and safe. With the compost site and recycling program, it makes it even easier.

Philip Hartsfield is assistant chief of the Hays Police Department.