Is recycling our own choice, or is it something we should encourage each other to do? With global warming on the rise, we should arguably all be recycling, but what’s uncertain is whether it’s our place to ‘preach’ to those who don’t do it already. Then again, how much does the average person listen to their government advice, and are they more likely to listen to their friends and family?
Whether you choose to influence others to recycle is entirely up to you. There’s always the risk that friends and family will tell you, hopefully in not so many words, where to go, but you might also have some positive impact. Surely it’s worth the bother to try, if recycling helps the planet and the running of a household too. Let us show you what we mean…
For someone who doesn’t recycle, everything goes into black bin bags. The average couple who doesn’t recycle might be putting out two bin bags per week and a family even more. What that means is that by the end of the week, one bin bag has been festering, if not outside in a dustbin then inside the house tied up in a corner. Life is much more pleasant for the average recycling couple, who have just one bin bag for the whole week, sitting neatly in their bin. Anything that can be recycled is washed and put into bags ready to go out on the right day, without making even the slightest scent.
This isn’t the only advantage to recycling that you can tell your friends and family, however. Recycling goes much deeper than that. You might start encouraging others to recycling by asking them to bring you certain items. Don’t lie about why you want them, just tell them to save their old mobile phones or cassettes for you and you’ll take them to the tip, or the supermarket. You may want to do some research into what old junk can be used for, for instance using old magazines to line the bottom of a new pond before the lining goes in. You’re likely to find something that applies to you, a family member or a friend and you can encourage people to collectively recycle for the good of one other person. Know someone who does a lot of gardening? Save your old margarine pots for them to germinate seeds in. Know someone with a lot of rabbits? Save your old cardboard toilet roll tubes for them to play with. Once you get people thinking and recycling this way they’re likely to keep at it. As the old saying goes, one person’s junk is another’s treasure, and it feels great giving to someone else.
Your next step could be to ask the government if they can make recycling any easier in your area. Does everyone on your street have a kitchen compost bin, and a bigger one for outside? Not only does throwing out vegetable peelings and refuse mean that garden compost can be made, but it reduces the amount of black bin bag waste that goes out too. Has your government given out a rota of when the recycling van comes? Even if it comes every other week it can be hard to remember when you should put the bags out. A simple rota is not beyond the local council’s ability, and most citizens in towns and cities receive one.
It is possible to make recycling fun for kids, especially your own. Buy them the multicoloured recycling bags that go next to your kitchen bin and give each child a different material to recycle each week. The one who does best gets a prize. Maybe if their friends see them they’ll ask their parents to buy some too. You can do something similar at work, particularly if you have different departments, or branches that stay in touch regularly. Start a competition between departments to see who can recycle the most. A prize isn’t particularly necessary, but it might get you in the company newsletter and, ultimately, spread the word.
One thing that is probably too much is catching people out when they’re emptying their bins and giving them a lecture. You want to stay on people’s sides and encourage them gently to recycle, not tell them off for not doing it. If you see them throwing out something you could possibly recycling then ask them nicely if they wouldn’t mind you having it. Even something as mundane as a newspaper can be used to line a pet’s cage. Bear in mind that some people just don’t have time for recycling, even if they do understand it. We may not be able to influence everyone, but a little encouragement to anyone who will listen is bound to do some good.
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I think it should be handled like anything else that is important to your lifestyle. If you are religious, you don’t want to shove it down someone else’s throat, but you can be excited about it and speak highly of it, even have your lifestyle mirror your views. If you have kids and are hanging out with people who do not, it is the same way. I’d never force anyone into anything, but you can surely encourage others to care about their world and what gets you excited.
It’s not that it’s wrong. It’s just the methods used to influence others- such as fines by local Authorities- however necessary they may be!!!