Ask the Answer Person: How should we recycle brown paper bags?

Amy from Decorah asks: "Should brown paper bags be put in the paper or cardboard recycling bins?"

Winneshiek County Recycling Manager Terry Buenzow says, "We prefer brown paper bags be put in with the cardboard. When you tear a piece of material and the torn section is brown, we default to cardboard. If it tears white, we default to paper. Too bad we don't call brown paper bags brown cardboard bags--that would make it much easier to understand!"