Members of the Phoenix ARCS Chapter recently toured the City of Phoenix recycle center.  The tour included viewing the dumping, sorting and bundling of all recyclable materials brought to the facility.  Our tour guides, Amy Clow and Diana Felix, educated the group on which items the center accepts and more importantly those they don’t.  Two of the most important things we learned are that any items contained in a standard garbage bag are pulled from the sorting belt and sent to the landfill even though they may contain appropriate recyclables!  The only bagged material accepted is shredded paper in a see-through bag.  Secondly, plastic grocery store bags are the enemy!  (They get caught in the conveyor belt and cause total havoc requiring the belt to be shut down and workers to manually unclog the gears which is costly and hazardous.)   Watching the sorting process was absolutely fascinating and so educational.  It is tedious, brain-numbing work that is a critical component of conserving our natural resources, keeping our environment clean, and protecting our planet for future generations.