I finally figured out why it’s easier to talk truthful trash with my conservative friends than with my liberal friends. Of course I’m speaking in generalities. My conservative friends are more inclined to look closely at expenditures. They want to know what they’re getting for their money. Common sense tells them that tossing unlike recyclables into a single compartment truck is questionable and likely to increase recycling fees.
My liberal friends, especially in their 30s and 40s, have an emotional attachment to recycling that prevents them from questioning beyond the bin. They’re accustomed to non transparent, single stream. Paying increased recycling fees, and having double digit contamination was normalized as they were becoming adults.
Liberals, please don’t be angry with those who don’t recycle. It takes time and transparency to restore trust, once you realize you’ve been conned. We all need to back up, and rethink our goals. Originally, the three Rs were about conservation of resources. Unnecessary, single use, plastic items are not about conservation of resources.
Greed and addiction to convenience have played a key role in the degradation of our conservation ethics. Yep, we really need to rethink our goals.
Louise Mann
Signal Mountain