Recycling - Am I over zealous?

[ATJabberwocky]

I live with a large family, there are 12 of us. This means a lot of rubbish. I started a house recycling, seperating paper/card, and metal,plastic and glass (as per the local authorities recycling facilities).

I also wash all tins/jars/containers out, because i think that this is part of recycling. My dear family just chuck their rubbish in the bins, un-washed, unmixed and leave it to feaster,

AIBU to think this is wrong, just wrong and if they want to recycle (i don't force them, the bins are there to use if they want to) they should have the decency to wash and sort there things?

Good on you for doing so much! Yes, ideally you should wash out jars and tins although i think they do get washed in the plant. I just think it's nicer for the people who work there! If more people recycled and used degradeable products the world would be a better place.

Do you know what your local council does with the recycling? If it has to ne handled by people then I'd wash more thoroughly, but my London orange bags have contents separated mainly by machine, so I just do a quick rinse of sticky stuff, drinks cans etc just go straight in.

If your family are putting stuff that will be collected locally in the bin for recycling, I'd just let them. If it has to be separated then persist in encouraging them to use the right container. The stuff doesn't need to be squeaky clean, just not attract foxes.

Its an easy one to solve. Get everyone together and tell them how much your council fine for mixing rubbish. As you don't the onus is on the rest of them to pay.

I wash and sort all of our recycling, soaking the labels off etc and spend hours on it over the week. I'm not a family of 12 people though, there are only four of us.

Would you rather they piled it up on the side of the sink for you to wash and squash? Or would you rather they all washed and squashed themselves?

They will have to be trained properly or it could be better if it became an older child's responsibility for a DECENT sum of pocket money, as they'd have to retrieve dirty stuff from the bin too.

I fully expected more outrage and accusation of being a zealot, but thank you all :)

I will not feel so bad about my recycling habits now.

If something recyclable would need a lot of scrubbing and rinsing to get clean, is it more environmental to just bin it? I mean in terms of water usage .

Washed & right container is minimum operating requirements in this household.....to the point that 3yo minded child pointed out that tin hadn't been properly washed!

My parents became obsessed with recycling in the 80s when there wasn't a collection and you had to dispose of it yourself if you wanted it recycled.

It did my nut in when I was a teenager as I thought they were crazy hippies (dad also used to ride a bike everywhere, much to my embarrassment) but as I've got older and have my own family I'm tending towards it myself.

I think you should teach everyone to take responsibility for their own mess TBH and it'll soon become 'the way you do it' and they won't think twice about it.

We are hot on recycling in our house as well. Just keep at it, they'll get usd to it.