Free newspaper anyone?
I have recently seen this ad in free newspapers like Metro and Lite. Commuters are now being asked to recycle the newspaper they get for free. I think this is quite absurd and calling the wrong people to order. The responsibility for all this newspaper mess is on the publishers. How many free newspapers do we really need?
The publishers are now forced to pay for recycling bins and to empty them which is good but not dealing with the source of the problem. There should be a limitation on how many newspapers can be given away each day and encourage people to share them rather than recycle them.
What I also find disturbing is the free newspaper distributing model. They pay people to stand outside stations and give them one by one. Sometimes they push the newspaper in your face because they really want to get the job done. They often stand in places which are overly crowded anyway and disrupt the flow of commuters. This encourage people to take a newspaper even if they know that they will get rid of it in seconds.
Metro distribution is less aggressive. The newspapers are placed on a stand. The problem is that after using the newspapers, people put it back on the stand which becomes a mess. The solution might be creating a space for collecting used newspaper on the tube. Currently, many used newspapers are dropped on the floor which makes them less attractive to be reused. If used newspapers will be nicely displayed they are more likely to be reused.
Asking people to recycle free newspaper seems wrong. It makes much more sense to encourage people to share them as well as restricting the number of newspapers given away everyday.
What about you?
What do you think we should do to stop free newspaper
from polluting our environment?
