Does having a good economy mean trashing Minnesota? According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the better our economy is doing the more trash we produce. But no matter how the economy is doing, recycling in Minnesota seems to stay at the same low level. Last year alone, our state disposed of 1.2 million tons of recyclable goods with an estimated value of $285 million. If we increased our recycling level, we could give the economy an additional boost. Not to mention, recycling alone keeps 37,000 Minnesotans employed. There is no question we can do better at recycling. It can be pretty simple. We could double the number of beverage containers that get recycled and create new jobs if the legislature would approve the Recycling Refund. Each of us can also do our part by knowing how to recycle phonebooks in our community, or by opting not to receive the yellow pages at www.DontTrashThePhoneBook.org. Having a strong economy doesn't mean trashing Minnesota. The path to a stronger economy includes simple and convenient steps to increase our recycling rate.