The end of September is three quarters of the way through the year.
Some stats for the end of September are:
- 308.7 metric tons processed
- 774 bales made
- 19 semi loads of materials shipped
One semi load of ewaste was shipped in February and one in October.
At the current rate we will recycle over 400 metric tons this year. I had hoped for 500 with increased publicity and free curbside pickup in Creighton. I think that goal will have to wait until next year.
Five hundred metric tons were recycled in 2007 when there was free curbside pickup.
This confirms what 35 years of research into recycling practices in North America has found. There are programs to encourage people to recycle including education, asking for commitments and making it convenient.
Convenience is twice as effective as anything else that invites people to recycle.
These programs are the ‘carrot’ type of incentives to recycle. There are also programs which are more of a ‘stick’ that encourages recycling.
A ‘Tags for bags’ program requires a tag on every bag of garbage. Some programs have a certain number of free tags per year where others require that all tags are paid for. Curbside recycling is usually free in this situation.
The Pas decided that they would only pick up 2 bags from households. There were no charges for bags, but people needed to recycle or pay tipping fees to get rid of the rest.
Recycling has been available in our community for 20 years so those who are inclined to recycle probably are. More incentives are needed to get the majority of people in our communities to recycle.