John King reports on El Cerrito's new recycling center, giving it props for turning a utilitarian structure into an architectural highlight. The new center sits in a bowl-shaped site that used to be a quarry and then the dump, and features tall concrete bases and a butterfly roof. There's also a free-standing "exchange center" with shelves filled with items up for grabs, like books and other random things. The city is heralding it as a way to teach sustainability, and it's certainly making recycling look a bit more chic. [SF Gate/Photo: Shutterstock]
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