OK, it's simple to recycle right? Well, not really. The ownership of this responsibility is on the consumer, completely! And it's allot of work to recycle. It is simple enough in some communities that supply bins for paper, glass, and plastic. And each of these communities sets up it's own recycling services. It's not standardized. And this service is not available to all communities. And it costs tax payers money. You don't see it. Some people just don't care, can't be bothered. How come the benefits that are received from a town that recycles is not given back to the community?
How about when your out and about in town, how come there isn't trash bins for different types of trash? In order to ask people to do things, you have to make it available to them, otherwise it will be a long way to change peoples habits.
Now it is surprising to me that the ownership is on the consumer to recycle. Why can't companies find more economical ways of packaging their products to the consumer? Take all the toys you've just bought for the holidays for your children. They are very difficult to to un-package. They are wrapped in a very hard plastic, every single item in the package is wired together and the amount of cardboard and paper marketing material is overwhelming, not to mention the wrapping paper and the gift card. Think about the process it takes to make and print all the material in the toy product. Think about all the energy and material it takes to make the plastic mold and package. Think about the labor involved to wire all the pieces of the toy to the package. You pay allot for all this packaging for a cheapo product. But it's the thought that counts!
Here are some facts about how much we consume. I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. Think about this, the economy needs us to consume, there is a Zeitgeist of change the planet in our consciousness but in order for the economy to turn around, we need to consume. What happens when the wheels of the economy start moving again?

* Each print run of the New York Times newspaper consumes about 75,000 trees.
* Americans total yearly waste fills a convoy of garbage trucks long enough to wrap around the earth six times.
* Approximately 100 million trees are used every year for junk mail.
* A 15 year old tree produces about 500 paper bags at the supper market which gets consumed in about an hour.
* Mowing the lawn for half an hour produces as much smog as driving 172 miles.
* Americans throw away enough disposable plates and cups to give the world a picnic six times a year.
* You could circle the earth 436 times with all the styrofoam cups produced and consumed by Americans.
* You could build over 6000 DC-10 airplanes with the amount of aluminum cans Americans consume.
* Americans consume more than two million plastic bottles an hour.

Every country has tried to emulate the market of the USA, and.......?

Americans are 5% of the worlds population and consume 33% of the worlds resources and produce 50% of the hazardous waste. Whooooaaaa, compound this to other developing nations!