Yesterday morning I lugged my green rectangular recycling box out to the snowbank that serves as a curb and plopped it down on a level surface lest it slide away. The weight of accumulated newspapers and torn-up wrapping paper helped to hold it in place. A half dozen cardboard tubes, once the innards of that wrapping paper when it was in its pristine state, protruded from the box. I paused to take a picture of the box in its final day of service. It needed to be replaced anyway since it had a growing fracture at one corner. I’m looking forward to the switch to the new 96 gallon recycling bins. There will be a lot less bundling of newspaper and cardboard – the new container will permit me to just toss it inside. I do understand the concerns about the size and weight of the new containers, especially for some elderly but hopefully that won’t be too much of a problem. I have a green-topped lid on my recycling bin and have my trash picked up on Thursdays (in non-holiday weeks) so according to the color-coded calendar on the city’s recycling page, my first recycling pickup will be next Friday, January 3 (the New Year’s Day holiday causes all trash pickup to slide back a day) and my second recycling pickup will be Thursday, January 16, 2014.