Does Pride Affect Your Recycling Habits?

More than ever before, Americans feel strongly about the importance of recycling; however, recent research indicates we may want to keep some of those emotions in check.

“Recycling is so good that it makes us feel virtuous, and that can lead to problematic outcomes,” said Shankar Vedantam, an NPR social science correspondent.

According to the latest Curbside Report conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of waste per person peaked in 2000, but Americans still account for 4.4 pounds of waste per day. Of that total waste, approximately 34.6% is recycled or composted. By comparison, the recycling rate was less than 10% as recently as 1980.

While huge strides have been made, a series of recent experiments concluded that people are actually more likely to increase their waste if they know they have a recycling option. In one test, volunteers were asked to sample four beverages with either a single paper cup or multiple. People used more cups if a recycling bin was available. Similarly, people wasted more wrapping paper in another experiment when a recycling can was in the room.

“There's guilt associated with how much you're going to waste and how you're going to feel throwing that in the trash,” said Remi Trudel, a marketing professor at Boston University. “If that guilt is lower than the pride that you get from throwing something in the recycling, from doing the right thing, you're more likely to use more resources and waste resources.”

In the name of “doing the right thing,” a number of people are also guilty of trying to recycle too much. WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported that 10% of what comes into a local recycling center is actually garbage.

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