First he went into Philadelphia neighborhoods to help sweep up; now, only a month later, Mayor Nutter is coming back with the recycling can.

The May 5 expansion of the most convenient form of curbside recycling to 150,000 households in North Philadelphia and several lower Northeast neighborhoods will be the first noticeable improvement in city services under the new mayor.

Homeowners will be able to dump all recyclables into a single container. No separating paper from plastic and so forth. Plans call for covering most of the city over the next year.

The so-called single-stream recycling program is an important part of efforts to promote an environmentally friendly city. Better yet, it delivers that message to residents curbside.