My town passed a new law last year that forced all residents in our town to separate trash from recyclable items as well as between the recyclable items themselves, including glass, plastic, metals, paper. What was considered a great idea at first thought turned out to have several unforeseen problems along the way to implementation.
One reason why the recycling plan was not a complete success was that the government did not educate the people about what a recyclable item was. Without knowing the difference, a person who intended to recycle would fail in his/her efforts to do so. Another reason was that the government began to fine people that did not recycle properly as a way to encourage people to recycle. Finally, sanitation crews had orders to dump the entire bin as garbage if a homeowner had mixed the recyclables and garbage in the same bin. As a result, the recycling program had unintended and, somewhat, ridiculous outcomes, including unfair fines, an uneducated public, and much wasted time and money.
Ever since my freshman year, I have been involved with my school’s Environmental Action Committee because I have always held the belief that one’s efforts to make a difference in the world begins on an individual level. Recycling is a good example of this because the success of a recycling program is based on each household separating out their own recyclables from garbage.
Because the government did so little to explain recycling, however, the program seemed certain to fail. In an informal poll I took of homes within a four block radius of my school, I learned that nearly 75% did not know that milk cartons were recyclable and over 90% mistakenly thought that yogurt containers were recyclable. These results were totally shocking to me. In an attempt to educate the misinformed public, I created brochures that listed clear examples of what was recyclable and what was not recyclable. I also explained the benefits of recycling and reducing our waste. For example, I noted that recycling one ton of paper saved seventeen trees and that every year the U.S. threw away enough paper to build a wall from New York to California. I also pointed out that recycling saved our society money. Throwing away recyclable items was like throwing away cash into the bin.
As president of the Environmental Action Committee, I trained and organized a group of thirty-six student volunteers to hand out brochures to residences and at local malls. I contacted the Sanitation Department and asked them if I could give presentations at local libraries with their help and they agreed. The Sanitation Department supplied me with free posters and recycling stickers to give out to homeowners. I gave ten presentations to over two hundred people about recycling and its benefits.
In conclusion, I focused making a difference at the individual and local level which I believe is very important because I believe this is the best way to make a long-lasting difference in the world. By increasing awareness, people learn good habits that are better for the planet and their neighborhood. We can imitate this awareness in communities everywhere through unified hard work and commitment. The entire planet will feel the difference if we are successful in our attempt to get more people not only to recycle, but to recycle properly.