Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Does recycling work?
Position1 of 2›: Yes, recycling does work and improves the environment
Argument‹2 of 3›: Recycling teaches people not to litter

By learning more about how recycling works, people are thinking twice about littering.

The argument

Nowadays, people are becoming more aware of the benefits of recycling. Programs show people the process of recycling and how they can recycle. With enough motivation, people will be less likely to throw away trash and recycle it instead as they become more conscientious to the negative impacts of rubbish.

Premises

[P1]Recycling programmes make people more aware of how and why to recycle. [P2] As people learn the harm that rubbish causes, they grow more conscientious about waste. [P3] This awareness makes them less likely to litter and more likely to recycle instead. [C] Therefore, because it teaches people not to litter, recycling works and improves the environment.

Counter-arguments

No matter how much people learn about recycling, it’s ultimately going to be up to individuals to start recycling. Knowing something is different than living it. When people do learn something but never utilise it, they are less likely to retain that information. With that being the case, we shouldn't rely on individual people to make huge decisions to change the environment.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] People must choose to recycle. People might not be motivated to recycle even after learning about it.