UPPER PENINSULA -- It's been around in one form or another for nearly 2,000 years. We depend on it, more than you may realize.

In this week's Green Tuesday feature, we take a closer look at paper.  It surrounds our lives, being found in just about every facet of it. And while in the past it was thrown away without thought, more people now are recycling paper products.

According to the website, paperrecycles.org, more than 36% of paper that is recovered saves 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.

Getting started is easy, but not everyone has the ease of curbside pick up. That's why more groups and organizations are doing their part to get old paper into the right facilities for recycling.

The Grace Lutheran Church in Gwinn has been a drop-off for people to recycle newspaper, books and magazines. They then bring the paper products to Manistique, where they get paid for the drop-off. This is something that is good for both their parish and the community.

"Those funds that come back from it, we take money out of it for the gas for transportation to haul the paper there, and then the rest of the funds are used to support other projects in our community," stated Reginald Krueger, church member. "Like St. Vincent De Pauls for the food pantry, the Boy Scouts have received funds from us for projects they work on, youth projects through the church, some mission work that the money goes back into."

The church estimates that they have reached the one million pound mark this past month. That's good news, both locally and nationally.

By 2012, the paper industry hopes to recover 55% of all the paper Americans consume.

If you have an idea for Green Tuesday or want to share your ideas on recycling, make sure to visit the Community tab to connect to the Green Tuesday page, right here on the TV6 website.