Those of us who have children know what a positive influence they can have on our lives.

They come home from school reminding us to wear our seatbelts, never to touch a firearm and to change the batteries in our smoke detectors.

My oldest daughter, Kaitlyn, is 7 and in first grade at Robinson Elementary School.

She has made it her personal mission to ensure that our household recycles. If I start to put a plastic bottle in the trash, she is quick to remind me of my mistake. We all know how difficult it is to argue with children, especially when they are right.

Over the past few months, our staff has made it their mission to ensure that all of our residents do the right thing and recycle. One of the chief complaints from our citizens is that recycling is too time consuming and too inconvenient.

People complain that they have to separate each type of recyclable and even remove the labels from plastic water bottles.

All this is about to change.

Dawson County recently entered into an agreement with Community Waste Services to provide single stream recycling at our Dawson County Transfer Station.

Last year the county spent about $38,000 providing recycling services. The agreement with CWS provides an improved service at absolutely no charge.

Not only will this agreement save our taxpayers $38,000, but it will also allow them to place all of their recyclables in one container.

The county will continue to offer recycling services at no charge to our residents. We will accept the following items for recycling: aluminum and steel cans; plastic No. 1 thru No. 7; plastic grocery bags; glass bottles and glass jars; newspapers; magazines; mail; office papers and cardboard.

The recycling center will be located at the current transfer station on Burt Creek Road. Patrons will be able to pull their vehicle out of the weather where they currently unload garbage. Thanks to Sheriff Billy Carlisle’s inmate labor and our staff, we will assist citizens in unloading both their trash and their recyclables.

The recyclables will be placed in a compactor and then transferred off site for use in new products.

We realize that a large number of Dawson residents live in the eastern part of our county. For those individuals we plan to offer a similar service near the new Emergency Services Station 2 and Government Annex that is scheduled to open this fall.

With two improved and more convenient recycling centers, we will attempt to double the amount our citizens recycled last year. Our staff is planning a marketing campaign with our school system, “Keep Dawson County Beautiful” and other community groups to encourage participation.

Many of our civic clubs also are interested in being involved in this effort. The Dawson County Woman’s Club has a strong conservation committee, and they are excited about partnering with the county.

A soft opening is scheduled soon with a grand reopening “green” ribbon cutting planned in the near future.

I encourage each of us to listen to our children and to take care of our environment and recycle. I look forward to seeing each of you at the ribbon cutting.

As always, please call on us with any questions or concerns you may have about your county government. We are here to serve you.

Kevin Tanner is the Dawson County manager.