Influencing Others To Recycle

The excuses and reasons of why some people still don't recycle seem to pile up quicker than the waste in our landfills. Facts and stats have no impact on those who don't care or couldn't be bothered. I've nagged, I've explained and I've simplified the process - going as far helping my family get set up for weekly recycling pick-up. To no avail, I leave feeling defeated.

I regroup and reconstruct the way I approach the issue: Lead by example!

Now, instead of reminding and rolling my eyes, I pack up their recycling and bring it home for my bi-weekly pick-up. Currently, I load up on recycling every time I visit my mom for a weekend, and I pick through the garbage all day at work, pulling out milk jugs, plastic containers, tins and bags. At the end of the work-day, you can find me busing it home with my bag of recyclables. Over the past three weeks, I have kept 14 full black garbage bags out of the landfill. I estimate to save 260 full bags of recycling over the year.

The bonus to all this: the girls I work with have started bringing me the milk jugs instead of throwing them in the can.