It turns out Kermit the Frog was right: It’s not easy being green.

After recycling millions of pounds of materials over the past 20 years, Powell Valley Recycling is struggling to keep the center’s doors open.

Commodity prices for recyclables have dropped significantly, meaning in some cases, it’s more expensive to recycle than to create new materials.

Adding to Powell Valley Recycling’s struggles is the recent retirement of its longtime operations manager, Mary Jo Decker. We are thankful for Decker’s dedication and hard work over the past 20 years, and we wish her the best in retirement.

With the nonprofit operating in the red, Powell Valley Recycling isn’t able to hire a new manager or additional staff at this time.

The recycling board decided earlier this week to keep operating under its updated hours — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — until further notice.

But unless something changes in the future, the center may be forced to close.

That would be a huge loss to Powell as well as surrounding communities. Over the years, the center has received tons of materials from Lovell, Greybull, Basin, Clark, Ralston, Byron, Cowley, Wapiti and other towns in the region.

Last year, the recycling center received nearly 600 tons of materials — or almost 1.2 million pounds.

Decker estimated as much as 60 percent of the center’s recycling materials comes from surrounding communities, while the remaining 40 percent is from city of Powell residents and businesses.

Right now, the only consistent funding streams for the center come from the city of Powell and Park County.

Since surrounding communities utilize the center regularly, it only seems fair for residents, businesses and agencies in those towns to contribute financial support to help keep Powell Valley Recycling afloat.

The reality is, without Powell Valley Recycling, tons of paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and other recyclables would be tossed in landfills in the region. That would be a shame.

Of course, we understand recycling doesn’t make money. But we continue to believe it’s worth investing in recycling instead of letting reusable materials rot in landfills for decades or even centuries. Certain plastics can take hundreds of years to decompose — and some possibly never will.

As a community, we spend far more on trash than we do on recycling. City of Powell residents pay $31.10 for trash pick-up on their monthly utility bills, compared to just $2 toward recycling. In a year, that amounts to $373 for trash and only $24 for recycling per household.

We’re spending thousands of dollars for trash to be hauled to a Billings landfill, yet a recycling center within our town can hardly make ends meet. That doesn’t seem right.

Ideally, we would like to pay less for trash and more toward recycling. While we don’t expect that to happen any time soon, we do believe this community — and partners in surrounding areas — can find ways to keep Powell Valley Recycling open.

Maybe the city of Powell should consider helping to collect recyclable materials. Perhaps other towns in the area could add a $1 or $2 charge on their monthly utility bills to help support the recycling center. Or maybe those who regularly use the center could pay a small membership fee to support the nonprofit.

The Powell Valley Recycling board is looking at its options and considering ideas. If you have an idea — or if you would like to volunteer to help at the center — let them know by calling board member Marynell Oechsner at 754-9055.

It may not be easy being green, but we believe it’s still worth trying.