Kurt Ullman wrote:
In article ,
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:


What about the fact that it's right thing to do? It didn't happen overnight,
either. There was advertising involved.
Minority probabaly do it because of that. Like most everything else
in life.

By the way, it is NOT free.

Where it is successful, generally it is free to the person doing the
recycling. Taxes may be involved, but it is the actual out-of-pocket
(or more precisely the lack thereof) that is the main constraining
veriable where it makes any kind of real impact.

Or, in many locations, there are actual penalties for _NOT_
participating (From higher collection costs for those w/o recycling bins
to actual fines).

The point has been pretty amply demonstrated that unless there is
coercion, widespread adherence doesn't occur unless it is essentially
cost-free (where cost is both convenience and monetary) or there is a
penalty that changes the break-even point.

As a prime example, the local County landfill went from no charge to
charging for dumping household goods and landscape trimmings in order to
recoup some of the costs of the EPA requirements placed on landfills.
As soon as that happened, living in the county on the same side of town,
we started receiving "gifts" of all kinds from the folks in town who
wouldn't pay $12 to get rid of the old couch or the dead limbs.

Of course, what makes this such a big pita is that when I clean up my
fields, now _I_ have to pay the dump charge as well as spend the time
and effort to pick the crap up.

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