Recycling our materials saves resources, diverts tons of material from our landfills and helps create healthier communities and a cleaner planet. In honor of Earth Day on Tuesday, here are some simple tips from Republic Services to make at-home recycling easy and free from fuss:

• DO only recycle materials that can be recycled! This includes paper, cardboard, metal cans, and plastic bottles and jugs.

• DO recycle plastics marked with numbers 1 (PETE or PET plastics), 2 (HDPE) and 5 (PP). Plastic bottles and retainers are marked with recycling symbols and numbers, 1-7, that notate with what type of plastic the container was made. Republic Services team members say to recycle plastics marked with numbers 1, 2 or 5, which would include items such as plastic water and soft drink bottles, salad dressing containers or plastic peanut butter jars, milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, yogurt containers, syrup containers or bottle caps, for example.

• DO recycle metal cans used for food and beverages, including steel, tin, aluminum and bi-metal.

• DO recycle cardboard, newspaper inserts, catalogs, paperback books, phone books, brochures and other paper materials. Put shredded paper products in a paper bag.

• DO recycle paper food containers and cartons such as juice boxes, egg cartons, junk mail and greeting cards.

• DO ensure your recyclable materials are empty, clean and dry before putting them in your recycling bin. Wash out milk and juice jugs, for example, before recycling. Leave recyclable items contaminated with food waste — like grease-soaked pizza boxes — out of the recycle bin.

• DO recycle your items loosely in the recyclables bin. There is no need to separate them by type or to bag them.

• DO NOT put non-recyclable materials in your recycling bin. This includes batteries (especially lithium batteries, which can cause fires), bio-hazardous or hazardous waste, cables, ceramics, clothes, construction debris, diapers, food or liquid waste, hardback books, plastic bags, plastic food wrappers, shoes, toys, yard waste and more. For more guidance on specific items that cannot be recycled, visit recyclingsimplified.com.