Start Grassroots Recycling in Your Small Town

I spent last week at home with my family in West Virginia. I was astonished to uncover that their community doesn't engage in any sort of recycling program. I shouldn't have been surprised, though. After all, the small town in Ohio where I grew up didn't have a recycling program, either. I guess living in NYC is something I take for granted when it comes down to recycling. I have to, by law, recycle-and I recycle just about everything there is to recycle?happily.

I was only in town a couple of days before the truth about recycling in this modest West Virginia town came to light. It seems as though, for now, there just isn't enough demand for it. While horseback riding, my trainer actually laughed in my face when I verbalized my desire to build an eco-friendly home from the ground-up some day.

Nonetheless, some people there do want to recycle and therefore, where there is a will, there is a way. The local church accepts recycling and so does the college. Sure, collecting your things and taking them to the local church or college is definitely an extra step, but it is certainly not an impossibility. I've brought this to my family's attention and now that they know, they'll start recycling. (I have their word!)

So if you live in a town that still isn't gung-ho on the recycling frontier, try organizing a recycling program at your local college, church, gym, or even at your work. I think the main ingredient behind a functioning recycling program in a town is a demand for it.