Why are some people resistant to recycling and recycled products?

Question

recycling is one way of conserving our resources and minimizing wastage, yet recycling is not the way of life with many people.Why are these people resistant to recycling and recycled products.

Answer 1

probably because they are ignorant about the harms they are doing to the world...i understand that stars do die and planets "pop" and everyone dies...but still...i have to wake up every morning smelling the polution in the air. gross!  :(

Answer 2

Most people are too lazy to bother with it and the pollution problems are not at their house so they don't feel the affects of it.  When I go to a beach and see hundreds of recyclable items strewn all over the place it makes me realize how important it is for people to wake up to the fact that recycling is mandatory if we are going to have a fun planet in the future.  We have to think about our children and their children and future generations.  People are just too "Self Serving" to worry about anyone else.  They worry more about their Internet service and cable TV than they do about the quality of the environment in which they live.  Unfortunately the downside of life on Planet Earth is the human species.  Will we ever get it together?

Some of the Items I saw on the beach: pampers, plastic containers, styrofoam, bottle caps, tin cans, glass bottles, cigarette lighters, assorted plastic debris, pieces of PVC, plastic six pack rings, and more.

Where?

Gulf Coast beaches

Answer 3

some people might be very busy to find time to recycle and other people hesitate to use recycled products because  of unsure quality as they have already been used. . some also believe that when using recycled products such as garments and the like, the jinx of the previous persons who used them will be passed to the re-user.

Answer 4

for me its that my landlord makes WAY too many of his own recylcling rules

much easier life if I just throw away everything

other than that I can see how recycling is good thing

Answer 5

1. Some people refuse to recycle because they don’t care about it. It’s their human nature. (I compare them with shoppers who abandon their grocery carts in the middle of the parking lot, where they’ll block traffic, instead of bringing them back to the provided nooks.)

2. Some people actually forget that they could recycle instead.

3. Others pull the old non-voting excuse: "There are so many other people recycling, it won’t matter if I throw away the little garbage I have." And then there’s...

4. Those who are just too lazy to get off their butts and put their recyclable items into separate containers, then carry them down to the curb. Apparently bringing several containers down besides their garbage takes too much effort.

Which group do you fall under? I’m not perfect, but besides recycling paper, cardboard, glass, metal, etc., whenever I can get my hands on typewritten paper that’s only been used on one side, I save it until I have a boxful, then bring it to a nearby school. The students use it in their computer classes. When we use Campbell’s soup at home, I recycle the cans, but first I take off the labels and bring stacks of them to the same school. They save up and redeem the coupons to purchase items for the students that they otherwise would be unable to get. There are many nature-related organizations and groups that accept used ink cartridges for recycling. This in turn gives them extra assets to help further their causes. (Natureinfo.blogspot.com, has more ideas in the comments under “Reusable or recycle goods wanted or available” category.)

Also, to get rid of unwanted household items, check http://www.freecycle.org/ to see if your city has a freecycle program. The Freecycle Network was started in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson, Arizona's downtown and help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. Now there are freecycle groups around the globe. If you go to the site, you can find one in your location where you can receive lists of items people need or are giving away, or you can list things you need or want to get rid of that someone else would appreciate being able to get free. This pianos, fax machines…you name it!

And if you live in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, check out this listing service for residents. It is part of an effort to reduce the amount of reusable goods being thrown away. Go to the Free Market.

If you think it stinks when you dump your garbage in the garbage can, imagine what it would smell like if our planet became overrun with landfills!