Categories: environment | recycling | social change | vancouver
So this week on ChangeEverything we have the following survey question:
Would you support mandatory recycling in Vancouver?
It's an interesting question, and if you're Vancouver-based, I urge you to go and cast your vote. For me, the question brings up a few funny memories, and a couple of questions.
So when I lived in residence at the University of Western Ontario, every room was provided with a garbage can, and a blue box for recycling. Garbage was collected straight from our rooms, but recycling had to be carried down to the basement and sorted by the individual. You try and guess which option the lazy and usually hung-over dorm students usually chose?
And thus I became known as the Recycling Bitch, because I would come down the hall and pointedly ask people about the recyclables in their garbage cans. (This phase of my life was likely related to the times when I used to scrape extra butter off my dad's toast, to save him from the heart attack I was sure he was asking for.) Needless to say, I was in favour of mandatory recycling then. I was *extremely concerned* about everyone else's seeming lack of concern about our lovely fragile planet.
And now, ten years older and a wee bit wiser, I think I would still be in favour of compulsory recycling. HOWEVER, I also wonder how much good recycling actually does, and I have yet to hear a truly compelling argument to persuade me that it's really a solution.
I would rather see people recycle than not, but I am not really in favour of forcing recycling, if one of its main spin-offs would be to allow people to be complacent about their consumption habits. Let's face it, downgrading the masses of garbage we create is just not the final solution. Let's face it, we need to STOP USING SO MUCH!!!
And there endeth my rant. Go vote.
Doesn't work in London
Tue, 2007-02-06 10:56 — conductorchrisSarah, I've just returned from a month in London -- where they have mandatory recycling -- and "recycling police" (never quite figured out what they were, but I heard of their existence.) And still their recycling rates are not much different than ours. A certain percentage (15-25% of the population?) can't be bothered or can't get their life organized or something. That's why businesses take credit cards - because it's easy, and a certain margin of people won't or won't be able to buy otherwise. I can't quite wrap my head around this - I know it's a reality, but I don't quite understand WHY it's a reality. I have a lot of judgments about the drunk frat-boys too lazy to recycle, but my judgment misses the point because it's not based on understanding and it doesn't help change anything.
I end up in the same place you do - we've got to use less. AND, companies should be required to design their products from the start for reuse and less packaging. If the cost of all this was born by those that made the mess in the first place, you would see (as you do in Germany) a big drop.
Which gets around to bottle deposits, as we have in New England. They are a hassle to administer, but they work. Interestingly you still have a percentage of the population to lazy (or whatever) to get with the program. But then you also create a market for people on the margin to collect all the trash and go through people's garbage and get it all in for redemption. (now if we didn't have so much poverty, and better care for those on the margins this might be a different story . . . but that's another conversation.
England & Germany
Tue, 2007-02-06 12:12 — TrinityI've spent most of my last 40 odd years living in England and 3 in Germany.
Most of England has recycling in some form or other, but mandatory recycling is not the norm. The most you usually have outside of London is an extra bin for paper & cardboard. There are also bottle banks and the like in most towns and villages, but you don't have to take your bottles, tins etc there, you can just dump them in the bin with no consequences.
Germany however is very different. We had I think 9 different bins which we had to use and they were all collected on different days. There was, I think, bins for paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, green glass, clear glass, brown glass, foodstuff and one for things that didn't fit into a category. There was also consequences if you got caught putting the wrong thing into a bin - usually a fine from the local council for having to sort your rubbish for you.
labeling doesn't work either
Wed, 2007-02-07 14:55 — electraCalling people lazy just because they don't recycle won't help educate non-recyclers or non-believers; it will only strenghten and widen the gap between the PC hippy do-gooders and the lazy wasteful consumers. If we want to change the world we need to meet people where they are with understanding, acceptance and love.
Why not do as the Swiss?
Mon, 2007-03-26 21:45 — sd8192In Switzerland they have to buy specific garbage bags to throw out your garbage. It's around $2.50 for about a 25litre bag. It's like a user system. So the more you throw out, the more you pay. Big ticket items, they don't just pick up at the curb, you have to take it to a dump and pay by weight, plus there is a tarif sort of thing - you pay extra for electronics versus, say wooden garbage. Interesting system...