We all want to feel like we're doing something good for the environment when we voluntarily separate our trash from recyclables. But with the city looking at mandatory recycling, people worry, could enforcement mean someone going through their trash?

Cheryl Edwardson has made it a habit of dropping her cans and bottles into the recycling bin. "I've gotten used to the fact that you need to put things where they need to go," Edwardson said.

But, come January 1st, it might not just be a good deed, it might be the law. The council's proposed ordinance requires businesses and homeowners to either put recyclables by the curb or take them to a recycling facility. We asked residents what they think. "They're going to have manpower that's going to have to stop every time and look in the trash to see what they have in there," Edwardson said.

"I think it's going to be very hard to try to enforce because lot of people just don't want to do it," James Correll said.

"It may be a good thing as long as it doesn't get to a point where they are going through your trash and checking to see if you're abiding by the law," Barak Brosseau said.

Utilities and Solid Waste Manager Paul Flores tells us they won't be doing that. However, Flores says commercial businesses would be targeted because they generate a lot of trash but recycle very little. While commercial properties could face fines, this would be more of an educational program for residents.