Many people think staying ‘green’ is important – but what do you do if a loved one won't recycle?
A woman told So You Think You’re an Adult she is by no means an “eco-warrior” - but she does think people have a “shared responsibility” to follow some sustainable habits.
“For the past 10 years, my husband and I have been composting, and we are pedantic to a degree when it comes to sorting and using our green and brown bins correctly,” he told Moncrieff.
Her brother, on the other hand, is a businessman with a “gorgeous house” in Dublin.
“However, every time we go there for dinner, we're always horrified to notice that neither he nor his wife compost,” she said.
“They don't even use the green bin either, they just chuck everything in together to the black bin.
“I have mentioned to him how awful and entitled I find this, but he says I should mind my own business.
“It's got to the point now where actually don't want to go to their house anymore because it infuriates me so much.”
Broadcaster Declan Buckley said it can be frustrating for environmentally conscious people to see others not make the same efforts they do.
“There are obviously many people who are selfish enough or oblivious enough to not get involved with recycling or composting or using the right bins,” he said.
“[But] I don't think that there's any legal prescription on us that we have to recycle.
“There's nobody being called into the courts for putting stuff in the green bin which should go in the brown bin.
“From that point of view... while the letter writer is perhaps morally correct, they don't really have any leg to stand on.”
He said the woman should “get off the high horse a little bit” if she doesn’t want bins to destroy her relationship with her brother.
Recycling bins
Writer Barbara Scully agreed, adding that the woman is not the “recycling police”.
“It's everybody's responsibility to try and do our best to aid biodiversity and deal with climate change,” she said.
“But you can't force somebody to come around to your way of thinking.
She noted there could be a touch of jealousy also going on, since the black bin costs more money.
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