I needed to post this on Facebook last weekend.
‘Just want to give a shout out to all recyclers. I often comment about problems we are having and there are some bags that are problematic, but the fact is the majority of the bags and boxes we receive have very little garbage with very few drippy, sticky or gooey things.
Thank you to all of you who are doing a great job of recycling.’
Most messages we receive focus on what we need to change to do things right including many of my posts on the Flin Flon Recycling Facebook page.
The need for more positivity and recognition of what people are doing right inspired this comment.
We still get a lot of garbage but I believe it happens because people need information more than that they don’t care.
We see this when we tell people dropping things off that an item they brought is not recyclable. They are usually happy for the information.
It reminds me of the ‘not recyclable’ table in our Leisure Show display. Many dedicated recyclers would apologize for including things on the table. I told people that it was the information table not the guilt table.
Sometimes it seems we have said the same things many times, but if someone hasn’t heard it before it is information they need.
Some of the common ‘missing information’ non-recyclable items we find are Styrofoam, plastic wrap, liquid in bottles, food bags and boxes such as Tim’s donuts or KFC chicken.
The smelly bags of garbage, or the leftovers of a meal with some recyclables in it stand out but the majority of recyclers are getting it right.