Read how finding and fixing any water leaks in your home can save money, save water and help you live a greener life.

Green Boot Camp: Week 22–Fix Any Water Leaks

A friend of mine, a New Yorker, used to tell me how he was too busy to recycle. In his old apartment building, there was a garbage compactor chute on every floor, and if he dumped canned goods, newspapers or plastic bags down there, no one was the wiser. Then he moved on up to the East Side, into a building where he was responsible for putting out his own trash and recyclables (ha!) each week. Suddenly, he wasn’t too busy to separate out his recyclables, but not because his conscience got the best of him. No, a fine from New York City for not recycling got to him. (For a first offense, you get a warning and a $25 ticket. Next time it’s $50, then $100, then it’s $500.)

It’s one thing to know you ought to recycle–and then figure out on your own that you’d better snap to it or you’ll be paying for your laziness. But what about when you see people who aren’t complying or who should know better? How should you handle a situation like that?

Given that I’m a certified etiquette and protocol consultant, and have written a book on etiquette (it’s called The Everything Etiquette Book, in case you’re interested), I figured I’d talk a little bit about the etiquette of being green.

I face this etiquette quandary every time we go to my mother in law’s house for supper. She always drinks Diet Coke with her meal and then promptly tosses the can or the bottle in the trash when she’s cleaning up. If we say, “Hey, let me put that in the recycling bin for you,” she’ll usually respond, “Well, that can/bottle doesn’t have a number on it so I figured I couldn’t recycle it.” Sounds logical, right? Well, when you’re in your 70s and recycling isn’t second nature, I guess that is logical. So we gently remind her that, yes, you can recycle a clear plastic soda bottle or an aluminum can, then we fish it out of the trash and put it in the recycling bin. (Thankfully, she’s got the recycling the newspaper part down pat.)

This is an instance where a gentle reminder doesn’t bruise anyone’s ego. However, had she already bagged up the trash, tied the bag closed and taken it out to the can, I wouldn’t have gone the extra step of making my point by ripping the bag open and retrieving the cans and bottles. That would have been borderline rude, not to mention dirty and disgusting.

There have been occasions where I’ve noticed my neighbors not recycling. In the interest of not being seen as the recycling psycho–and to maintain good relationships–I will bite my tongue about confronting them. However, when no one is looking, I will retrieve a recyclable from the trash and put it in the proper recycling bin. Heck, last January, when my street was deserted, I wrestled my neighbor’s discarded Christmas tree out of his trash pile, and dragged it down to my property where I composted it with the rest of our yard waste. If someone saw me, they may have shook their head and said, “There goes that crazy green Leah again.” But that’s OK. I doubt I offended anyone.

Now if I saw someone not recycling in my own home, I wouldn’t hesitate to step in and gently “redirect” my friend’s behavior towards the recycling bin or the compost bin. If I had my druthers, I would have a recycling station right out in the open, in the kitchen, so people would get the message loud and clear. But two things are holding me back from doing that. First, my husband can’t stand the sight of recyclables waiting around for trash day, though he is a faithful recycler. He just doesn’t want to look at it the stuff. And, second, the truth is, even if I broadcast our “we are a recycling home” message loud and clear, people who don’t care about the environment are going to ignore my message no matter what I say or do. And fighting with them just isn’t worth the effort.

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve had to exercise some green etiquette and you weren’t sure what to do? Or you decided to wing it and were successful? Nonetheless, if you find yourself in a green etiquette quandary in the future, please don’t hesitate to write for advice.