Recycling...more or less

About a year ago we started to pay to have recycling service.  Not because I'm especially "green" or big into environmental protection though I'm glad others are.  For me, it made financial sense.  The company we were going with gave us points according to the amount we recycled - by weight.  I got to turn those points into things.  For instance, I could earn $20 in cash to our local grocery store in a month.  I could get $5 coupons to restaurants, stores, get magazine subscriptions, free ice cream and so on.  All for about $7 per month.  I MADE money recycling.  And, it was easier than clipping coupons.

But, as many cities are now doing, our small town contracted with a competitor for trash service.  We can no longer use the company which rewards us for our recycling efforts.  We now recycle because we have a bin in our garage and we're in the habit of it.  But we don't recycle with quite the same energy as before.  If something needs washed out to be put in the bin, it's now going in my trash can more and more.  I'm just not willing to wash out a peanut butter jar (takes forever) when there's no reward.  It's not worth my time.   I know, Mother Earth is worth the time.  Well, with four kids and a busy  house, my priorities are not quite there.  So I'm wondering if I'm the only one who is recycling a little less now.   Maybe I'm the only lazy one out there.  But I really did enjoy getting rewards for my recycling efforts.  I think we should get rewards for more things we do.  Laundry done = reward.  Grocery shopping with kids in tow = rewards.  Scooping the poop out of the yard = big reward.  You get the picture. 

I know the benefits of the single contracted trash hauler. It's nice to see trash bins out on the street curbs one day out of the week instead of four.  Less trash truck traffic on our roads is a good thing -- especially the ones that come early in the morning and make my dog bark!  For many, they are spending less on their monthly bill.  All good things.  I've just lost some of my enthusiasm for recycling. Maybe one of the kiddos will catch the recycling bug and start rinsing things for me.  I'm not going to hold out hope though.