Commingled curbside recycling, a system where household residents put all recyclable materials in one container, is a new form of recycling that has been initiated to decrease the amount of household waste sent to landfills. In a suburb with a new commingled program, a mail survey of environmental and recycling attitudes was sent to 603 households with a 76% response rate. Observations of actual recycling behavior showed a 68% average participation rate on five successive collection days, with a total participation rate of 91% over that period. Based on these observations, the level of self-reported participation was slightly overstated. Relevant recycling knowledge was the most significant predictor of observed recycling behavior, and content-specific motivations for or against recycling discriminated between frequent and infrequent recyclers. Relevant recycling knowledge and a few specific attitudinal measures were significant predictors of self-reported recycling behavior.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arbuthnot, J. (1974). Environmental knowledge and recycling as a function of attitudes and personality characteristics. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1, 119-121.
2.
Arbuthnot, J. , & Lingg, S. (1975). A comparison of French and American environmental behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes. International Journal of Psychology, 10, 275-281.
3.
Burn, S. M. , & Oskamp, S. (1986). Increasing community recycling with persuasive communication and public commitment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16(1), 29-41.
4.
Caplan, R. (1990). Our earth, ourselves. New York: Bantam.
5.
Couch, J. V. , Garber, T., & Campbell, D. T. (1978-1979). Response maintenance and paper recycling. Journal of Environmental Systems, 8, 127-137.
6.
DeYoung, R. (1986). Some psychological aspects of recycling: The structure of conservation satisfactions. Environment and Behavior, 18, 435-449.
7.
DeYoung, R. (1989). Exploring the difference between recyclers and non-recyclers: The role of information. Journal of Environmental Systems, 18, 341-351.
8.
Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and telephone surveys: The total design method. New York: Wiley.
9.
Dispoto, R. G. (1977). Interrelations among measures of environmental activity, emotionality, and knowledge. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 37, 451-459.
10.
Fishbein, M. , & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
11.
Forester, W. S. (1988). Solid waste: There's a lot more coming. Environmental Protection Agency Journal, 14, 11-12.
12.
Geller, E. S. , Chaffee, J. L., & Ingram, R. E. (1975). Promoting paper recycling on a college campus. Journal of Environmental Systems, 5, 39-57.
13.
Geller, E. S. , Winett, R. A., & Everett, P. B. (1982). Preserving the environment: New strategies for behavior change. New York: Wiley.
14.
Hopper, J. R. , & Nielsen, J. M. (1991). Recycling as an altruistic behavior: Normative and behavioral strategies to expand participation in a community recycling program. Environment and Behavior, 23, 195-220.
15.
Huebner, R. B. , & Lipsey, M. W. (1981). The relationship of three measures of locus of control to environmental activism. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 2, 45-58.
16.
Levenson, H. (1981). Differentiating among internality, powerful others, and chance. In H. M. Lefcourt (Ed.), Research with the locus of control construct (Vol. 1, pp. 15-63). New York: Academic Press.
17.
Lipsey, M. W. (1977). The personal antecedents and consequences of ecological responsible behavior: A review. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 7, 70-71.
18.
Luyben, P. D. , & Bailey, J. S. (1979). Newspaper recycling: The effects of rewards and proximity of containers. Environment and Behavior, 11, 539-557.
19.
McDermott, J. (1980). Recycling: New answers to NYC's big problem. Journal of Appropriate Technology, 1, 9-10.
20.
Milner, A. (1989). Building participation. Biocycle, 30, 88-89.
21.
Mohai, P. , & Twight, B. W., (1987). Age and environmentalism: An elaboration of the Buttel Model using national evidence. Social Science Quarterly, 68, 798-815.
22.
Olsen, M. E. (1981). Consumers' attitudes toward energy conservation. Journal of Social Issues, 37(2), 108-131.
23.
Oskamp, S. , Harrington, M. J., Edwards, T. C., Sherwood, D. L., Okuda, S. M., & Swanson, D. C. (1991). Factors influencing household recycling behavior. Environment and Behavior, 23(4), 494-519.
24.
Rathje, W. G. , & Hughes, W. W. (1975). The garbage project as a nonreactive approach: Garbage in...garbage out? In H. W. Sinaiko & L. A. Broedling (Eds.), Perspectives on attitude assessment: Surveys and their alternatves (pp. 142-158). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
25.
Spaccarelli, S. , Zolik, E., & Jason, L. A. (1989-1990). Effects of verbal prompting and block characteristics on participation in curbside newspaper recycling. Journal of Environmental Systems, 19(1), 45-57.
26.
Tracy, A. P. , & Oskamp, S. (1983-1984). Relationships among ecologically responsible behaviors. Journal of Environmental Systems, 13, 115-126.
27.
Van Liere, K. D. , & Dunlap, R. E. (1980). The social bases of environmental concern: A Review of hypotheses, explanations, and empirical evidence. Public Opinion Quarterly, 44, 181-197.
28.
Vining, J. , & Ebreo, A. (1990). What makes a recycler? A comparison of recyclers and nonrecyclers. Environment and Behavior, 22, 55-73.
29.
Webster, F. E. (1975). Determining the characteristics of the socially conscious consumer. Journal of Consumer Research, 2, 188-196.
30.
Weigel, R. H. (1977). Ideological and demographic correlates of proecology behavior. Journal of Social Psychology, 103, 39-47.
31.
Weigel, R. H. , & Weigel, J. (1978). Environmental concern: The development of a measure. Environment and Behavior, 10, 3-15.
32.
Yuhas, B. , & Hyde, J. (1991). Getting multi-family residents into the act. Solid Waste & Power, 5(3), 54-60.
