Survey Questions
1) On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the easiest, how easy is it
to recycle:
outside on campus
in your room
in your hall
in campus buildings
3) On a scale of 1-5, 5 being easiest, on our campus, how
easy is it to recycle…
a.
b.
c.
d.
cardboard
cans
paper
bottles
5) You recycle…
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
always
usually
sometimes
rarely
never
7)The contents of your trash are mostly… (can we be more
specific here? Can we ask for a percentage?)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
plastics
cardboard
glass
paper
non-recyclable items
6) You fill the trash… (be more specific here)
a.
b.
c.
d.
monthly, or less frequently
bimonthly
weekly
more than 1 time per week
2)If you were reminded to recycle you would…
a. recycle more often
b. make no effort to recycle
c. You already recycle regularly
4) Your perception is that, in terms of conserving the
environment recycling is…
a. extremely important
b. somewhat important
c. a waste of time
) If you were given more information about why recycling
is matters, and/or that your individual recycling actually
makes a difference, you would recycle more.
a. strongly agree
b. agree
c. neutral
d. disagree
e. strongly disagree
) You feel like there are things that you want to recycle
but aren’t sure how.
a. strongly agree
b. agree
c. neutral
d. disagree
e. strongly disagree
) If there were clearer guidelines on what/how to recycle,
you would recycle more.
strongly agree
f. agree
g. neutral
h. disagree
i. strongly disagree
What other factors affect whether you recycle?
Background: In my experience, some people have specific
circumstances that lead to their not recycling. For
example, I know someone who is an RA who tends to not
recycle simply because as an RA she generates so much trash
with study breaks and such that she feels like she needs
two trash cans therefore simply uses her recycling bin as a
trash can (which also sets a bad example for the zees…)
Having an understanding of what specifically is making
recycling difficult for you will help us cater to your
needs.
Question: Are there any specific things preventing you
specifically from recycling? Please elaborate. We
appreciate your feedback.
Background: In my experience with recycling, even as an
eco-rep, someone who is presumably knowledgeable about the
process, I have sometimes been confused about recycling
guidelines. For example, apparently you are supposed to
remove lids from bottles, but I always wondered, how about
those little ring things around the mouth of the bottle
that are the same material? How can it be that that is
recyclable but not the lids? And is it true that paper with
staples in it is recyclable? But I always wondered how that
could work, particularly since paper clips apparently
aren’t. And how much do you need to rinse out containers
before you recycle them? I don’t want to not rinse them
enough but if it turns out it’s not that important, I
really don’t want to be wasting my time and the water to
rinse them if I don’t have to.
Question 1: Have you had similar questions? If so, please
share them with us.
Question 2: If research were to be done as to how the
recycling process works so that we could understand why
staples are fine but not paper clips, and bottle top rings
but not bottle tops, and put into a documentary or some
other form easily accessible on a website, would you be
interested in learning about this? Is this something you
wonder about also and/or think you might be curious about
now that we’ve mentioned it?
Yes
No
(or 1-5 5 = very interested)
Question 3: Would you be interested in taking part in such
research? If so we will contact you if we begin this
project.
Yes
No