Americans are Proud to Recycle -- When They Can

Recycle with Pride

We know Americans are recycling today more than ever. But how do we feel about recycling? And can we be doing more of it?

For America Recycles Day (Nov. 15), the Environmental Industry Associations commissioned the respected research organization Harris Interactive to survey Americans on their attitudes and behaviors when it comes to recycling. The survey data showed that Americans are overwhelmingly positive about recycling—but that we also need to expand recycling in public places. View the report here.

Americans are proud to recycle and want to recycle

There is a positive, pent-up energy to recycle with pride in an overwhelming majority of Americans.

  • 82% feel proud when they recycle.
  • 62% feel guilty when trashing something they could have recycled.
  • 74% will make an extra effort to recycle outside their homes.

Americans are recycling at work, but less successfully “on the go”

  • Americans have mixed results recycling outside their homes, showing they may lack access to recycling options.
  • More than half are “often successful” recycling at work, but much fewer are successful in other public places.

Recycling isn’t yet a “no-brainer” for most Americans

  • Americans are split on whether they will toss recyclable items in the trash if they can’t find a recycling bin nearby, or whether they will keep the items until they can recycle them later.

What can we do about it?

Americans are recycling, want to recycle, feel good when recycling and will make an effort to recycle outside their homes. We need to make recycling options accessible to the point that recycling that can or bottle in your hand becomes a no-brainer.

We need more recycling options on our main streets and in our shopping malls, restaurants, theaters, airports, gas stations and other public spaces. Contact your local waste company, businesses, fellow residents and community leaders and let them know you are proud to recycle. Together, we can all partner to make more public recycling options a reality.

About the survey

This survey was conducted online within the United States between October 29-31, 2013 among 2,022 adults (aged 18 and over) by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Environmental Industry Associations via its Quick Query omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for The Harris Poll®, Harris offers proprietary solutions in the areas of market and customer insight, corporate brand and reputation strategy, and marketing, advertising, public relations and communications research across a wide range of industries. Additionally, Harris has a portfolio of multi-client offerings that complement our custom solutions while maximizing a client's research investment. Serving clients worldwide through our North American and European offices, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help our clients stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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