Why Don't People Recycle When It's Available?

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by ognend

We recycle but every time I drive by a 10,000 sq ft mansion or I see pictures of all those hotels in Vegas and the lights on all night etc., I wonder whether it really matters.... That's like conserving gas or buying a hybrid - great job but then you have the guy who I work for who has a boat that can carry up to 12,000 gallons of diesel - I once sat down and calculated that his one trip to France and back is equal to my three years of driving to work and back every day...

The advocates for conservation and recycling always seem to be the most utterly irresponsible people. Can you imagine people who really care about the consumption of fuel scheduling a private jets hugfest in Cancun? And, the people who want the government to require you to go out on the highway in an electric roller skate arrive at the private jetport in a chauffeur driven limo and live in a 50 room house with a/c to cool a small stadium.

The only visible environmental advocate I have respect for is that Ed Begley guy who apparently lives the rhetoric. But if I have to hear another word from Al Gore I'm gonna vomit.

[plwhit]

Originally Posted by aspiring_NewYorkers

My boyfriend tried to get recycling bins in our cafeteria at school. It worked for about 2 weeks but the kids weren't taking care of the bins. They had to get rid of them. It's unfortunate but people just don't care sometimes unless it directly affects themselves.

What do you mean the kids weren't taking care of the bins?

From a students viewpoint garbage cans etc are the responsibility of the school.

[Ecovlke]

Questions:

Would you recycle if it was convenient? What would make it convenient for you?

Possibilities: Single stream recycling (it has problems like much of the recycables get contaminated, thus get put in landfill, but it's more convenient than separating recycables)

Would you separate and recycle if you had a trash bin that had compartments and had the recycables picked up once a week and on the same day as your regular trash?

Would you pay extra to recycle?

If you live in a high-rise, or even a low-rise how do you handle your trash now? Do you carry it down or is there a system for you to dump it without travesing stairs or elevators?

Thanks!

[Ohiogirl81]

Our trash hauler recently converted to single-stream recycling; I assume that was done to make recycling more attractive. Previously, we separated cans/bottles from paper and cardboard. The hauler also increased the number of plastics it would take to include #1-7, and wide-mouth containers that it previously would not take.

Our bins -- provided free of charge by the city -- are picked up weekly, on regular trash day. If a household needs or wants a larger bin, residents can get large recycling stickers to place on a standard trash can. Also free of charge.

I don't know how much easier it can get -- for those living in single-family homes or small apartment buildings, anyway.

Would you separate and recycle if you had a trash bin that had compartments
Yes.
Would you pay extra to recycle?
Probably. Like as not, the city would make any fee mandatory anyway.

[Scott e]

the question you asked is what I wander, it is not only pollutes the environment ,but also waste a lot of reourse . just take the plastic bags for example , when people use up then throw them at their option . we can see that many many plastic bags in the the river and ground . we all know that most of the plastic bags can not be biodegradable in several years . when see this phenomenon ,I always think that whether there has a product which substitute for plastic bags !

[mustangman66]

Our town recently gave out one big recycling bin that you can throw cans, bottles, carboard, etc into one. Makes it a lot easier...not that it was hard before to seperate but I think more people may be apt to recycling now (at least I hope). Recycling is second nature, I cant throw something in the trash I know is recycling without having a guilty feeling hovering all around me. Ive taught my kids as well...my 2 year old threw something out and my son saw it and told me that there was recycling in the trash can. I pulled it out and put it in the recycling. This is what we need to teach the future generation or they wont have an earth to live on.

[cittic10]

I recycle everything I can and even some things I'm not sure about.

But I do feel a little like it's only a drop in the bucket because when I go to a restaurant and usually there bottles involved, be it wine, beer or water and you know the restaurants aren't recycling the bottles.

I think more should be done to encourage recycling amongst the largest waste generators such as restaurants.

Originally Posted by Ecovlke

Questions:

Would you recycle if it was convenient? What would make it convenient for you?

Possibilities: Single stream recycling (it has problems like much of the recycables get contaminated, thus get put in landfill, but it's more convenient than separating recycables)

The trash company that serves my area does this. I find it very convenient and there is literally no excuse for not doing it. Although I do seriously doubt that any of it is actually being recycled. I think they're just doing it because their contract with the county stipulates they have to offer it.

Would you separate and recycle if you had a trash bin that had compartments and had the recycables picked up once a week and on the same day as your regular trash?

Honestly, I'd rather provide my own bins/containers. I don't have a problem separating but I don't want to be forced to use a special container and I would actually prefer to take my rubbish to a compactor site than pay some company to pick up weekly as I don't require weekly pickups. I only fill one 95 gallon container in one month of non-recyclables and so to save time, I only put it out at the curb once a month. It could wait even longer if I had another way of disposing of dog poos.

Would you pay extra to recycle?

That's negotiable. More than anything I don't want to be forced to pay a recurring monthly fee. So I would be willing to pay extra based on what I drop off at a public compactor site. Some small cities have a bag system where you pay for special bags rather than a monthly fee. I like that idea as well. Those cities often don't charge for recycling so it encourages people to recycle as much as possible.

If you live in a high-rise, or even a low-rise how do you handle your trash now? Do you carry it down or is there a system for you to dump it without travesing stairs or elevators?

MY folks live in a high rise. Each floor has a trash room where you drop stuff down the shute. You press a button based on what it is that you're throwing out and a about 10-20 seconds later a giant lazy susan on the ground floor rotates and then a green light comes on and lets you throw stuff in the appropriate bin that way. But that takes time. And my folks do NOT do it. They throw everything into the main trash. I should ask them what it would take to get them to do it. I'm curious but I don't think anything would get them to do it.

Thanks!

You're welcome.

This will probably be a hit and run post for me as I don't normally check back in to threads with 5 or more pages but I do check pms.

[plwhit]

Originally Posted by cittic10

I recycle everything I can and even some things I'm not sure about.

But I do feel a little like it's only a drop in the bucket because when I go to a restaurant and usually there bottles involved, be it wine, beer or water and you know the restaurants aren't recycling the bottles.

I think more should be done to encourage recycling amongst the largest waste generators such as restaurants.

You could get together with your eco-friends and go through the restaurants garbage at night and sort it out and take it to a recycling plant....

See? Issue solved.....

You saw something you didn't like and took a proactive approach rather than whine about other people doing something about it....

[nightcrawler]

maybe if they stopped making bottles water, thus billions of plastic bottles we wouldnt have to worry about recycling so much.


get water from the tap, it is the same thing, I dont care what anyone says.