Archive for February 5th, 2009
Recycle: Bin Types
The talk of the eco-interwebz this week is a study by Sean Duffy and Michelle Verger, who work in psychology at Rutgers University. After noticing a pattern in the number of items recycled properly and the type of bin used, they completed a study; a series of experiments. Apparently, if a recycling bin has a hole in it to put the recyclable rubbish through, it is 34% more effective than a bin that looks like a regular rubbish bin. That is, the recyclables go into the right bin (not the general waste bin), but also that the general waste doesn’t go into the recycling bin.
Um. Weird. More organisational psychology craziness!
Seriously though, this seems legit. So I wonder why this is? I can see why people would have trouble recycling properly, if you get bins like the ones shown below, and described at Treehugger. They’re just so poorly signed.
Poor signage - picture from Steven de Sousa on Treehugger
But what if the bin is signed properly? Is it really the childlike delight at poking something through a hole that makes that type of recycling bin so much more effective, as suggested by Duffy? His study found that signage had nothing to do with it.
Our work recycling bin, the one my Environment Team colleagues and I organised, has a flip top lid. It is appropriately signed and the lid is green though. Perhaps it’s the colouring that is making these bins a success? Regardless, people are using them… even without a hole to poke the rubbish through.
Guess I don’t need to get out my stanley knife and cut a hole in the lid just yet.
4 comments February 5, 2009
