Good news for all of you who groan at the thought of sorting your tuna cans, honey jars, and newspapers: Cities are adopting more user-friendly “single stream” recycling programs that do away with the sorting chore, allowing participants to dump all recyclables in one giant tub, according to a new article in The Christian Science Monitor.

While some critics say this method degrades the quality of the post-consumer material, advocates note that it dramatically boosts the level of participation in recycling programs. Take the example of Madison, Wisconsin, where residents began recycling an additional 8100 tons of material a week after a single-stream program was implemented. That's 25 percent higher than previous participation, and has the added benefit of diverting waste from the landfill (which saves money), and increasing revenue from the sale of re-used materials.

Find out everything you need to know about recycling at The Internet Consumer Recycling Guide and the EPA's RecycleCity resource.

Image credit: Abnakigsc.org