Green has become the symbolic color of environmentalism, chosen for its association with nature, health, and growth.

There are many ways to be green in everyday life - by using energy-efficient light bulbs, limiting water use, car pooling and turning off the lights when exiting a room.

One of the simplest ways to be green is to recycle everyday items like aluminum cans and newspapers, instead of tossing them in the trash. Ecycler.com, a site that pairs people who have recyclables to give away with those wishing to collect them, makes it even easier.

Recycling can be done without going to a recycling center - businesses and residences that wish to recycle their aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles and newspapers need go no further than their computer.

Not all households have curbside recycling and not all businesses have services to pick up their recyclables. Recycling is not only easy with ecycler.com, it helps people in the community earn money.

Here's how it works: People with recyclables to give away can register on ecycler.com and the site will match them with collectors in their area who wish to pick up the items in order to redeem them for cash. The collectors arrange a time to pick up the recyclables, which can be left at a location that's convenient for the discarder, such as the back door of a house or the entrance of a business.

Once the collector picks up the items, all he or she has to do is take them to a local recycling center and get paid for the items. Most recycling centers pay more as the number of items increases, so it pays to wait to pick up items until the discarder has a good bagful of cans or papers. Or, if the discarder wishes for a small number of items to be picked up immediately, the collector can hold onto them until he has enough from that discarder, or multiple discarders, to make a trip to a redemption facility worthwhile. The amount of money that can be earned can provide a nice source of supplemental income.

Ecycler.com can then be used each time a collector wants to pick up recyclables in his area - either from the same discarder or from multiple new discarders. The site creates entrepreneurship opportunities for collectors and provides an easy way to manage the collector's own ecycling business. The site even allows collectors to download personalized posters that can be posted at local supermarkets and coffee shops, as a marketing tool to attract additional discarders.