Take it to the curb. Then take it to the bank.

Americans are spoiled with the number of recycling options they have. In most major cities across the land, recycling is as simple as putting stuff in a bin that's separate from the rest of your garbage and hauling it to the curb once a week or so. What could be simpler? Yet according to these guys, only a third of our recyclables get recycled. (It's a little higher with a aluminum cans -- about half -- but still it makes you scratch your head.)

It's a cinch that altruism isn't working.

That's where these guys come in: RecycleBank, one of those bright new startups in Green Business, offers a cool new idea: you get paid to bin your recyclables and haul them to the curb. The American freakin' way!

How does it work? Corporate sponsors like Kraft, Coca-Cola, Petco, CVS, The North Face, Timberland and give you discounts. Real discounts. Like a coupon for $10 off your next bag of groceries, dvd purchase, or pair of (recycled) polypropylene underwear. RecycleBank sends you coupons based on how much you recycle.

Now, I'm sure you're asking, "how do they know?" Here's where it gets cool. If you're one of the lucky folks in a town served by RecycleBank (currently 35 pilot cities in the US Northeast) you get a smart garbage can that weighs your recyclables and ticks them off on your account when the truck pulls up.

This system has diverted 36 million tons of perfectly good, perfectly recyclable stuff from landfills so far, and they're planning to take it nationwide in the coming year.

Now you have no more excuses.