Abstract
This study aims to determine whether individuals feel there are benefits from paper recycling. A questionnaire consisting of a combination of open, closed, and multiple choice questions were distributed to 26 random participants. The results were statistically analyzed and they showed that while majority of the people considered paper recycling as a positive initiative and as something that would benefit the environment, the study’s results clearly showed that there was a lack in knowledge about paper recycling and its benefits.
Discussion
This paper investigated how individuals perceived the benefits of recycling paper. In particular, questionnaires that contained both open, closed, and multiple choice questions were used to collect data from 26 random participants. Descriptive statistics was then used to analyze the data.
In order to ensure that the respondents’ answers could be considered valid, it was important to first determine whether the participants had access to recycling facilities. The lack of access to such facilities may influence the respondents’ perception of the importance of recycling paper, that is, the respondents may consider recycling paper to be unimportant if they can’t participate in the initiative. According to the survey results, more than half of the participants had access to recycling facilities, which could be a good indicator that they had some awareness and knowledge on what recycling was and what its benefits were.
This was reflected in the positive response that was obtained from majority of the respondents with regards to the frequency at which they recycled paper. In particular, 30.8% of the respondents claimed that they always recycled paper and 46.2% claimed that they recycled paper sometimes. On the other hand, 23.1% of the respondents said that they rarely recycled paper while 3.8% said that they never recycled paper. These negative responses to the frequency of recycling paper could be attributed to the fact that some of the respondents possibly did not have access to recycling facilities and probably had no other means or knowledge of how they could recycle paper.
Similar inconsistencies can be seen from the responses to the question on whether the respondents thought recycling paper was a good idea. Again, majority of the respondents indicated that recycling paper was a very good idea. However, some thought it was only a fairly good idea while others were indifferent about it. In this case, it can be presumed that those who thought it was only a fairly good idea or those who were indifferent about it probably were not fully aware of all the benefits that can be obtained from paper recycling or they probably don’t get to see or experience these benefits in their own lives.
This would be consistent with the results for the question on the two benefits that the respondents expected to get from recycling. In particular, 33% of the respondents claimed environmental benefits to be one of the advantages of paper recycling while 15% cited economic benefits and 6% indicated sustainability as one of the benefits. Although more than half of the respondents did show some knowledge about the benefits of paper recycling, it is quite alarming that almost just as many have no idea about what its benefits are. In particular, 46% of the respondents claimed that nothing immediately came to mind when asked about the benefits of paper recycling.
It is evident from the results of this study that majority of the people see paper recycling as a positive initiative However, it is also clear that there is a lack of knowledge regarding the ways by which paper can be recycled, as well as the ways by which they can benefit from it. In particular, while it is true that environmental benefits, particularly the conservation of resources, is one of the main benefits of recycling paper (Green America 2013), it is apparent that majority of the respondents were not well informed about the economic benefits that could be obtained from recycling, which can be both on a local and national level (Department of Environmental Protection Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Program 2012). Moreover, very few seem to be aware that recycling paper promotes the sustainability of the paper production system (Bratcher 2013), which leads not only to the creation of more jobs but also to the conservation of our natural resources.
As well, it can be determined from the results of the study that the lack of accessibility to recycling facilities, as well as the lack of knowledge on how to use these facilities, may have contributed to some of the respondents’ somewhat negative or indifferent response to the benefits of recycling paper. Although the correlation between the accessibility to recycling facilities and the respondents’ perception on the benefits of recycling was not investigated in this particular study, it can be presumed that a relation exists between them. As pointed out by Isaac Walker (2012) in a blog post in the Voices of Youth website, which is an online forum created by the UNICEF, people tend to get discouraged from recycling when they don’t know how to use these facilities. An example is when people get confused about whether to put a particular piece of trash into the recycle bin or into the trash bin.
In this regard, the results of this study imply that there’s a need for raising awareness on what paper recycling is and what the various means for recycling paper are. Recycling facilities should also be made accessible to more people. Most importantly, people should be educated on the many benefits of paper recycling as only when they realize that this can have an impact in their personal lives will they be motivated to engage in such activities.
Conclusion
The research conducted for this paper provided some insight on the individual perception of people with regards to the benefits of recycling paper. Through a questionnaire that was distributed to random participants, and which were statistically analyzed, it was found that majority of the people perceived paper recycling to be a worthwhile initiative and that majority of the respondents recognized the environmental benefits of recycling as the top reason for engaging in this activity. However, the study also showed that a large number of the respondents still did not see as much value in recycling paper as would be preferred and that many of them were unaware of the positive effects that recycling could bring about. As such, it would be recommended that public awareness regarding paper recycling and its benefits be promoted on a wider scale.
References
Bratcher, R., 2013. What are the advantages of using recycled copy paper? [online] Available at: < http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/advantages-using-recycled-copy-paper-20029.html> [Accessed 16 May 2013].
< http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dshw/recycling/economic.htm> [Accessed 16 May 2013].
Green America, 2013. Study: Clear environmental benefits from using recycled paper in National Geographic, other magazines. [online] Available at: http://www.greenamerica.org/about/newsroom/releases/2013-03-20-Environmental-Benefits-from-Recycled-Paper-National-Geographic.cfm [Accessed 16 May 2013].
Walker, I., 2012. Barriers to encourage recycle awareness campaign. [online] Available at: < http://www.voicesofyouth.org/posts/barriers-to-encourage-recycle-awareness-campaign> [Accessed 16 May 2013].
