Recycling Articles : Community Recycling Initiatives

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Many have commented that our society has steadily become more private, self-concerned and insular, and particularly since the massive national collaboration of the war years. After World War 2, Britain was characterised by its community spirit with food-schemes and community-funded rebuilding programs finding massive support amongst the general population.

Now, in the new millennium, we are facing the threat of global climate change, slowly running out of space, the pollution of our drinking water and food and all largely due to the fact that we are using our resources BADLY. As our forebearers realised during the post-war period, the only way to change the world, or in their case our nation, is to work together as individual communities and take care of the problem on a local level.

Most people realise by now that recycling everyday materials and developing everyday habits can go a long way to reducing landfill waste and all of the horrid effects it is having on the environment. Saving paper saves trees and oxygen, saving metal prevents animal habitats being destroyed to make way for metal quarries. Recyling paves the way for future generations to live on an earth that somewhat resembles the earth their ancestors lived on - with land that is unspoilt by industry still existing and wild trees and animals still being allowed to live.

So, with all that being said, how can we co-ordinate our local communities in order to do our bit to make this possible? The first easy step would usually be to identify a community group such as a church, mosque, school, or even a village as a whole. Once you have found a group who are willing to listen to a talk on recycling or join in on a recycling initiative then you’ve already increased your impact exponentially. From recycling your own waste you can go on to encourage large amounts of people to recycle fairly quickly.

Other useful things to do to help your community to recycle more include encouraging local pubs, shops and businesses to use and offer recycling bins on their premises. The easiest way to sell this is often to explain how it could bring them more business.

Many boy scout groups collect paper to recycle from homes, producing income by selling this to manufacturers or processors and aiding the recycling effort as well as enabling the housebound to recycle at their own ease.

Overall, encouraging your community to recycle need not be difficult or demand funding although grants are usually available when a new scheme is set up. The important thing is to do what you can in order to encourage as many people to make a difference as possible.

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