Recycling by the numbers

Which Americans recycle most often? The answer might surprise you given the youthful faces often featured in the marketing of products and programs with green claims and a presumed heightened environmental awareness among America’s younger generations—this is the Live Earth audience, after all.

It turns out that folks 62 and older are the most avid recyclers while 18- to 30-year-olds are the least likely to recycle, according to a recent Harris Poll of 2,372 American adults: 81 percent of seniors recycle compared with 70 percent of young people.

Regional differences exist, too. In the East and West, 88 and 86 percent of adults recycle, respectively. There’s a noticeable drop-off in the Midwest and the South, where 70 percent and 68 percent recycle, respectively.

Nationwide, 23 percent of all adults do not recycle. Among their most commonly cited reasons are: recycling is not available in their area (15 percent); recycling takes too much effort (12 percent); it costs more to recycle in their area (12 percent); and they believe recycling doesn’t make a difference or have much impact environmentally (11 percent). Seventeen percent of poll respondents said they are not sure why they don’t recycle.

No matter the area of the country, Americans most frequently recycle aluminum and metal cans, paper, plastic, and glass bottles. But they rarely recycle materials and products like cardboard, batteries, motor oil, metal, and electronics.—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Essential information: Even if there is no municipal recycling program in your area, you do have alternatives to simply throwing out your old but still usable items. For example, search for a freecycling group near you, an online swap meet of sorts in which members offer items they no longer use to other freecyclers.

And be sure to visit GreenerChoices.org. The site features detailed information on recycling appliances, electronics, plastics, and more.

Comments

[Bill Moore]

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