Here’s Why Most Texans Simply Do Not Recycle

It wasn't until I was around 16 or 17 years old, hanging out with a cool older friend in college that I realized some people in Texas actually take the time to recycle in their own homes. I know it sounds stupid, but I didn't grow up in a home that paid any attention to recycling plastic, glass, cardboard, or anything else for that matter.

Honestly, we were pretty wasteful...

I remember my older pal having a series of different recycling bins next to her trashcan, and the way she would meticulous separated all of her trash. I thought it was pretty cool of her to care about it at all, BUT, seeing her recycle wasn't something that made me run home and do it myself. It just seemed like a lot of extra effort with no tangible return or incentive...

...and that my friends, is exactly why Texan don't recycle.

There just isn't an incentive to do so, nor is anyone forcing us to. It's the sad truth. Nobody around here wants to do a little extra for nothing. I don't blame us, I guess, but...it seems like we could come up with a couple of ways to get people to care about saving our environment and reusing certain materials instead of letting them rot in landfills.

You'll see recycling bins in Texas in bigger and more liberal cities, sure, but the majority of those are either stipulated by a person's HOA/lease agreement or simply owned by a private company. 9 times out of 10, you've got to physically make a phone call and organize to have a bin picked up and dropped off at your home, not to mention, most of them actually cost the recycling good Samaritan a little cash. Not a great deal if you ask me...

This is NOT the case for the rest of the United States. When I lived up in Minnesota, you were basically shamed and ostracized if you didn't recycle. It's just what people do there. They take it very seriously.

What would make you recycle? Tell me about it in the comments! Do you think the City of Lubbock should instill a citywide recycling policy, set us all up with the proper bins, and fine people who don't comply? Or do you think that would create violence in the streets? Haha. I'd love to hear your ideas. You can also feel free to email me at Chrissy.Covington@townsquaremedia.com if you'd like to chat about it.

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