Lately I came across a post about people giving up on recycling. Have you ever known someone to take rubbish out and not even bother sorting through it?

Well here’s a simple opportunity to do something for the environment without actually doing anything yourself! Could it get any better?

Just have a chat with the person and tell them that they should go through the extra effort to sort their rubbish before throwing it out. Better still, sell them on the idea - ultimately they will benefit by leaving more room in their non-recycling bin (Not that you should encourage them to throw out more, but it does help convince them to do so).

If you need further help convincing them here are some facts about recycling which you could find useful:

• Well run recycling programs can cost less than land-filling and incineration
• You can earn money by disposing cans and bottles in some places
• Every tonne of paper recycled, saves 17 trees
• The energy we save by recycling a glass is equivalent to lighting a light bulb for 4 hours
• Recycling reduces air and water pollutants in your city
• You can reduce our dependence on oil by recycling plastics
• Products developed out of recycled goods use less water and energy
• If America recycled 30% of waste, the greenhouse gas emissions saved would be equivalent to removing 25 million cars from the road
• Lastly think of the baby seals - just kidding - but really, recycling prevents further habitat destruction.

As you can see there are many benefits to recycling. Just have a go at convincing those people who are giving up on recycling.