Monday, January 28, 2008

Please Cast Your Vote!

There's still a week to vote on whether recycling lids really affect behavior. And I only have 11 votes so far! So if you've already voted, then get your friends to vote (no double voting, please!).

Right now, there seems to be a split between "I have no idea" and "having these lids on reduces recycling behavior," so let's see if there's going to be a tie-breaker this week.

Just to recap, I'm curious to know what you think about using recycling lids on top of recycling containers. Are they effective? Or do they somehow encourage folks to throw their items in the trashcan?

On one hand, maybe having the lids on increases the recycling rate because those lids prompt folks to toss their items into the appropriate container. On the other hand, however, maybe having the lids on decreases the recycling rate because a person has to consider where they should toss their discarded item; and maybe it's just easier to throw it away in the trash. (It's as though tossing something in the trash is the default option.) Of course, a third possibility is that having these lids on really doesn't matter, and is therefore a waste of money to purchase these lids. So what do you think?

I'm really eager to reveal this result to you, so get those votes turned in!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just cast my vote for "I have no idea." I've tried so hard to get the folks in my company to recycle properly, and all the signage and labels in the world don't seem to make any difference. We don't have those plastic lids, so I can't say for sure. I'm guessing that for some folks, they wouldn't make any difference. But maybe they are helpful for people who actually want to do the right thing.

Meghan said...

I'm going to go with "doesn't matter." I don't really think a *significant* number of people that are thinking of recycling are going to be put off by lids. But I also don't think that someone will be prompted to recycle if there are lids. I would probably spend the money on something else.

Sorry I've been gone so long, by the way!