The greening of Colorado.

Everywhere I look, I see signs that Coloradans have become more concerned about treating our environment a bit more responsibly. It doesn't really matter whether you buy the global warming story or not. Resources are limited--the basic economic problem is infinite wants confronting finite resources--and it behooves us all not to waste them.

I still find myself squeezing the toothpaste tube until it screams, trying to get out the last drop. I can hear my mother saying, "Waste not, want not!" It wasn't that we were poor. But her generation in the South survived the farm depression of the early 1920s, and she was married in 1930, at the beginning of the Great Depression. It was a generation that didn't waste things.

Three years ago, my granddaughter's senior project for Earth Day was to collect cooking oil from the school kitchen and convert it to biodiesel to power the school tractor. Today that is an ongoing project at the Fountain Valley School.

She chaired the Environmental Club there, but they were never able to find me a place to recycle the plastic sacks my three newspapers arrive in or the endless plastic bags from the grocery store. Now, many stores have recycle bins in front so those can be dropped off each time you shop. I've even dug out the dozen or more cloth bags I've gotten at conventions and use them to bag my groceries (when I can remember to take them into the store with me).

I've also noticed people asking for tap water in restaurants and refilling their own water bottles. There's even a pledge you can sign (more information from my environmentalist granddaughter) saying you won't buy water in plastic bottles. I was shocked when I thought about the resources used to produce bottled water--the plastic, the transportation, the disposal. I didn't sign the pledge, but I look for things packaged in glass or aluminum, which unlike plastic can be recycled indefinitely. And you'll drink tap water when you come to my house in Colorado Springs, which has the fifth best water in the country. (Who do you suppose comes up with those data?)

Denver provides containers for recyclables as part of its trash service. Here in Colorado Springs, you are charged extra if you want recyclables collected- Guess what? You almost never see a recycle bin at the curb. But lots of us drive across town to dump our bottles, cans, plastic and cardboard at the recycle center, and several churches and schools in my neighborhood collect newspapers. I just hope I don't use more energy driving to the recycle center than is saved.

Seattle has the ultimate recycling program, from an economic standpoint. They provide each home with containers for all sorts of recyclables, including yard waste. No charge for pickup. Trash collection, on the other hand, is very expensive. Guess what? They have the highest recycling rate in the country. My daughter's family of four can go a week with only one small container of trash. Everything else is recycled.

My favorite recycling center is the Wellesley, Mass., town dump. "I want to show you our dump," my friend Debbi said the last time I was there, an unusual offer. It is huge, clean, without a rat in sight. Not only are there the usual bins for glass and plastic, there are shelves for books (you can leave or take them), areas for appliances, electronics and furniture (help yourself), and everything else you can think of. It was fascinating. It seemed that nothing in Wellesley, a very affluent Boston suburb, goes to waste.

It's easy to return clothes hangers to the cleaners on your next trip. Dependable Cleaners in Cherry Creek even recycles plastic bags, they have for years.

I haven't started composting yet, but I did buy a book on it the other day. There was always a huge compost pile in the back of my grandmother's yard, with lots of rich, black compost at the bottom. Maybe next summer.

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Tucker Hart Adams, president of the Adams Group, monitored and analyzed the Colorado economy for 30 years. She can be reached via her website, coloradoeconomy.com