EXCERPT: While we agree that educating the public is a great first step, the bigger question is whether the education should involve a carrot or a stick. With the carrot, the city could continue to explain to residents that recycling not only saves money in the long run, but also protects the environment in countless ways and saves space in the landfill. And if the education approach is considered, then it really needs to begin at a much younger age since it’s easier to teach a puppy new tricks than thinking an older dog is suddenly going to change. The problem in that approach is that while it is effective, it could take many years. That’s why we favor a stick approach. With the stick you could go to an aggressive pay-as-you-throw program that would hit nonrecyclers in the wallet. In other words, the more trash you throw out, the more you pay, creating an incentive to throw away less — and recycle and compost more. Some cities that have taken the pay-as-you-throw approach have also increased recycling collection to weekly pickup while decreasing trash pickup to twice a month — to further encourage their residents to recycle. If the city is truly serious about encouraging recycling efforts, then it should consider trying a pilot program in several neighborhoods to see if a pay-as-you-throw program with more frequent recycling pickup and less trash pickup would actually work.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 13:27:59 +0000
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