Dear Bureau Pat:
How do I convince a country club to recycle? There is so much wasted paper, plastic bags, etc. I thought they would do it in a second if it was made easier or worthwhile...
Dear Earth Conscious Aristocrat,
When dealing with a private entity, the best approach is to pinch the purse strings - just don't try anything like that in the locker room.
If you are a paying member of this club, you have some pull beyond your rowing machines and cigar smoking. The last thing the club wants is their member(s) unhappy and walking out over something as trivial as garbage.
Call a meeting with a manager, ideally at the highest level possible. Tell him/her you are unhappy about the fact they don't recycle and would consider leaving the club over your disgust of the problem. It's a club, so you must have worked on your poker face at some point in your business dealings or around back room, smoke-filled poker tables. Use it.
Now, if you want a little better hand for the meeting, you can do some homework before you talk to anyone. The first thing to do would be to find out if there is a recycling service provider in your area. There may not be, but that is unusual these days. It depends how removed your town is from the rest of the world and how far from society your club is to keep out the riffraff.
Do a Google search and see if you find anything that resembles a recycling service in your area. Try to find out their industrial rates if possible. That will give you an idea how reluctant the club will be to spring for the new service.
Remember, some garbage services charge by weight. So if an organization recycles, the cost of the landfill-bound garbage pickups will actually decrease since some of the garbage will be redirected elsewhere. In the end, the organization may save money or pay only a nominal amount more for recycling.
If you can't find a local recycling pickup service, check to see if there is at least a recycling center in the area through this website. Sometimes, areas have no service to pick up the recycling, but do offer a place to recycle.
Once you find a place, a community can band together to find someone or a business to physically bring the recycling to the center once a week. A local environmental organization could organize volunteers to provide this service if you got your club to collect the items. Alternatively, you could pay some young staff cash tips to make the weekly runs for extra money.
Now, if you find out there is no recycling in your area at all, your job becomes bigger: trying to bring a recycling service to town. This involves some politicking and canvassing, and for that, you'll need to partner with an environmental group, religious group or union, and at least one town selectman to get involved.
Let's assume there is recycling service available and you need only get your club to pay a bit more for a weekly pickup. What do you do? Utilize the power of numbers.
The Civil Rights Movement was made possible through mass numbers. Your club is no different. The more members you get to agree with you that recycling is needed, the more likely your complaints are to be heard.
By nature, clubs are social. So get social. Talk to others and find out if they care about recycling, how much they care, and if they are willing to sign a petition to show the club you are serious. You don't need the petition, but it does show you really do care.
Most club managers will take your complaints very seriously even if you just stated "and my opinion is shared by many other members." But if you want to have a rabbit in your hat when you walk into the meeting, collect as many signatures as you can get.
Sound like too much legwork? There's an easier way. When you meet, alert the club you think they should have recycling and believe other members would feel the same. Then ask the club to survey the members to find out if you stand alone. This places the workload on them and allows you to enjoy your steam in peace, followed by a guilt-free, bottled vitamin water.
A good sales pitch never hurt anyone either, and as these days environmentalism is trendy instead of crunchy, you could pitch your club that being more eco-friendly would really help their image and public relations. Were they to green their practices with more energy-efficient lighting and appliances, recycling services, toxic-free chemicals, and by eliminating disposable products, a savvy salesperson could use the change to create a media buzz in local and state-wide publications. That could draw more members and more member loyalty. And at the end of the day, the club wants to make money. It's called natural capitalism and these days, everyone is doing it.
The Only,
Bureaupat
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