MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Oahu - Troops at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe have turned over more than a few good mattresses to be recycled.

Officials said it's the base's latest effort to help preserve the environment and reduce its ecological footprint on the island of Oahu.

This month starts the Marine Corps' contract with a local company, The Green Bed Factory, to remove and recycle old mattresses. Approximately 700 barracks mattresses will be diverted away from local landfills and recycled this month as part an effort to reduce the burden on local landfills and increase the scope of the base's recycling initiatives.

The base generates hundreds of old mattresses annually and recently found out about The Green Bed Factory, a business that breaks down mattresses into reusable and recyclable components. MCB Hawaii is the first military installation on Oahu to use this process and expects this program to continue into the future.

"The Marine Corps is a proven leader within the Department of Defense in resource conservation programs" Col. Robert Rice, commander, MCB Hawaii, wrote in a recent column in the base newspaper, "Hawaii Marine."

"Going green is not a big leap for Marines; we're already green at heart. We need to practice it in everything we do," Rice said.