Brenda Ramsey was raised to do her part.

“My parents just instilled that in me, that you do what you can do,” Ramsey said, explaining why she signed up for a curbside recycling program in Suffolk. “It probably has a lot to do with my background.”

The city of Suffolk has contracted with TFC Recycling to provide curbside pickup service to the city’s residents. For a $12 fee each month, the Chesapeake-based company will provide participants with a recycling container similar to the trash containers the city provides most homes. Participants can dump a wide variety of materials into the cans, which then would be picked up twice a month on trash day.

The company is trying to sign up 3,000 residents by Earth Day, April 22. Ramsey was one of the first to add her name to the list.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” Ramsey said. She formerly lived in another locality that had curbside recycling, and she was thrilled to learn when she moved to Suffolk they also had it.

However, curbside recycling ended soon after she moved here.

“I was not happy,” she recalled.

Ramsey currently collects her recyclables in a blue mesh bag in her kitchen, and then empties them into storage bins in her garage when the bag gets full. When the bins get full, she loads them into her vehicle and carts them to the recycling drop-off station on Market Street.

“This certainly will make life a lot easier,” Ramsey said of the program, adding that she recycles to help make the Earth a better place for her four grandchildren.

Ramsey said the $12 per month cost is a good deal.

“I’m retired, and I don’t have a lot of money for extras, but I think this is very worthwhile,” Ramsey said. “We pay for a lot of other things we probably don’t need. I hope and pray people get on board with this.”

So far, 1,310 people have signed up for recycling services through TFC Recycling. That puts Suffolk 44 percent of the way toward its goal of 3,000.

To register online, or for more information, visit www.tfcrecycling.com/suffolk. The company now also has a Facebook fan page. Those who sign up for the program do not have to give their billing information until after the 3,000-household threshold is met.

Those without Internet access can call 543-5766 to register, or visit one of the following sign-up events:

Harris Teeter at Marketplace at Harbour View

March 6

March 20

Farm Fresh on Main Street

March 6

March 20

Farm Fresh on Bridge Road

March 7

March 21