Social Pulls to Recycle in Fargo, North Dakota Neighborhoods

Principal Investigator: Melissa Maertens, North Dakota State University

Introduction:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These are three words that everyone has heard, but does anyone
actually take it to heart? The idea of recycling dates back to as early as 400 B.C., and
archaeologists have found evidence of the Byzantines recycling glass, and the Romans recycling
bronze (All-recycling-facts.com, 2014). Society has come a long way since the Byzantines and
the Romans, but as humans today use up more fossils fuels at a faster rate than ever before,
recycling is more important than ever (Shafiee, 2009). So why has recycling never become a
habit for most people, and is there anything that can influence people to recycle? This proposed
research study is aimed at finding out important answers to these questions by studying social
and socioeconomic influences on recycling in todays neighborhoods. The questions that will be
answered in this research study are as follows:
RQ 1: Does perceived social class impact curbside recycling behaviors?
I hypothesize that perceived social class has a moderate impact on curbside recycling behaviors.
The upper-class neighborhood will have more households that participate in curbside recycling. I
believe the upper-class neighborhood households will participate more because the citizens
living in these households prefer convenience even if it costs more, and are at least somewhat
concerned about their reputation and how others in society view them.
RQ 2: Do neighbors participation or lack of participation in curbside recycling impact other
neighbors decision to participate in curbside recycling?
Based on previous research studies, I hypothesize that neighborly influence on curbside
recycling will have a minor impact on a neighborhoods curbside recycling participation. I expect
to see a sporadic pattern of recycling bins on recycling pick-up day, with no large clusters of
recycling bins that would indicate the possibility of neighborly influence.
Finding out what influences citizens to recycle will help improve recycling programs, thereby
increasing the amount of items recycled. Increasing recycling will decrease the amount of trash
being picked up every week which will translate to a longer lifespan for landfills. Increasing
recycling will also help reduce the amount of new materials needed to produce necessary
products and packaging.

Background:
Everybody knows that recycling is generally good for the environment, and this is true as long as
the fossil fuels consumed in the recycling process are lower than the amount of fossil fuels
obtained through recycling. However, not everyone knows all the benefits to recycling, of which
there are many. Recycling decreases pollution, energy usage, land fill size, conserves materials,
improves groundwater quality, increases city property value, and also can save money
(midcityscrap.com, 2012). These are just a few of the top reasons to recycle. Recycling requires
less mining, refining, and production of new materials, which saves money decreases energy
usage, and reduces industrial-caused air pollution. Recycling and reusing also saves products
from ending up in the city landfill. This extends the length of a city landfill. New landfills are
expensive to build and maintain, and take up space that can otherwise be used by the city in other
ways or left as animal habitat. Having less landfills in a city can also increase property values as
no one wishes to live near a landfill. Landfill waste can also leach harmful chemicals that can
end up in municipal groundwater systems, causing water pollution. In short, recycling is good for
your air, your water, the overall health of you and the planet you live on, and even your
pocketbook. Together, the benefits of recycling are incredibly valuable to all facets of life,
including economics.
There has been a fair amount of research done on influences regarding recycling behaviors. One
study by Hopper and Nielson in 1991 suggests that recycling is an altruistic behavior, meaning
that citizens recycle out of selflessness and concern for others well-being. However, a different
study by Bratt in 1999 looked at the influences of recycling as a social norm as well as the
influence of assumed consequences of not recycling. This study had the opposite conclusion, that
certain social influences do not support recycling as an altruistic behavior, rather these social
influences reflect an egoistic behavior. Egoistic behavior in the context of recycling refers to
citizens only recycling if it is convenient for them to do so (Ewing, 2001). A large amount of the
research done in the field of influences on recycling is regarding convenience. I think many
citizens can agree that convenience is a key factor in their recycling habits, and convenience can
certainly play a large role in the success or failure of a citys recycling program. In the proposed
research city of Fargo, North Dakota, the curbside recycling program is currently included in the
charge of regular trash pick-up. This convenience factor could play a role in citizens decision to
participate or not in curbside recycling.
However, convenience seemingly isnt enough to get citizens to recycle. The altruistic and
egoistic opposition of behaviors in past research coupled with the need to figure out what will
make citizens want to recycle is why future research is necessary in the field of social and socio-
economic impacts on recycling behavior. Researching the suggested influences of neighbors and
perceived social class on curbside recycling behaviors can provide an important, different angle
that will help to deduct what, if anything will influence citizens to do their part in saving the
environment for future generations.

Methods:
In order to study curbside recycling behaviors, my team of researchers will visit different
neighborhoods in the city of Fargo, North Dakota on recycling pick-up day. Fargo is a city in the
upper Midwest United States of America that debuted its curbside recycling program within the
last five years, and is continuously looking at ways to improve the amount of recycling picked up
every week. For example, starting this summer 2017, the city of Fargo will let citizens keep the
recyclables unsorted for an extra fee. This convenience feature is meant to influence more
citizens to participate in curbside recycling. Every neighborhood in Fargo, ND has curbside
recycling pick-up every other week on the same day the trash is picked up. The different
neighborhoods visited in this proposed study will be the Rose Creek neighborhood in south
Fargo, the Southpointe neighborhood in south Fargo, and the Madison/Unicorn Park
neighborhood in north-central Fargo. These neighborhoods were chosen based on the main
perceived social class of the neighborhoods. Rose Creek is perceived as being an upper-class
neighborhood, as current housing prices start around $350,000, and rise to over $1,000,000
(Zillow.com, 2017). Southpointe neighborhood is perceived as being a middle-class
neighborhood with housing prices between approximately $125,000 $350,000 (Zillow.com,
2017). The Madison/Unicorn Park neighborhood is seen as being a lower-class neighborhood
with housing prices approximately $19,000 - $299,000. (Zillow.com, 2017). On each designated
neighborhoods curbside recycling pick-up day, our research team will drive the streets of the
neighborhood before the recycling has been picked up. We will count how many city-designated
blue recycling bins are placed on the curb. Then, we will record how many neighbors (in a row)
recycled. For example, if there are five houses in a row that have their recycling on the curb, we
will mark the number 5 in this column. This is important in order to analyze the possible impact,
if any, on curbside recycling due to neighbors influence.
From the data collected, quantitative analysis will be done to determine if there is any difference
in recycling behaviors between the three neighborhoods that have different perceived
socioeconomic standings. Quantitative analysis will also be done to see if there is any social
impact on curbside recycling behaviors due to neighborly influence.
There are no foreseen ethical concerns regarding this research. When collecting data within
Fargo neighborhoods, no house numbers or personal information regarding the neighborhoods,
any buildings within the neighborhoods, or any citizens that may live within the neighborhoods,
will be recorded or analyzed. There is no conflict of interest between the principal investigator,
research team, and the city of Fargo or its citizens, and there are no risks or to the city of Fargo
or its citizens.
Timeline:
Submit proposal: March 7, 2017
Collect Data: March 7-29, 2017
Analyze Data: March 20-April 12, 2017
Submit Progress Report: March 30, 2017
Submit First Draft of Final Paper: April 13, 2017
Make Adjustments to Final Paper: April 13-19, 2017
Submit Final Paper: April 20, 2017
 Working Bibliography
All-recycling-facts.com, 2017. History of Recycling. Web. http://www.all-recycling-
facts.com/history-of-recycling.html. Accessed February 27, 2017.
Bratt, C., 1999. The Impacts of Norms and Assumed Consequences on Recycling Behavior.
Sage Journal, 31, 630-656.
City of Fargo, 2017. Your Neighborhood. Web.
http://www.cityoffargo.com/Residential/YourNeighborhood/. Accessed February 27,
2017.
City of Fargo, 2017. 2017 Fargo Recycling Calendar. Web.
http://files.cityoffargo.com/content/5cce27c4a7e57ffd3fb36e9a121857f5ceb6008e/20
17%20Recycling%20Card.pdf. Accessed February 27, 2017.
Ewing, G., 2001. Altruistic, Egoistic, and Normative Effects on Curbside Recycling. Sage
Journals, 33, 733-764.
Hopper, J.R., McCarl Nielson, J., 1991. Recycling as Altruistic Behavior. Sage Journal, 23,
195-220.
Midcityscarp.com, 2012. 7 Reasons Why You Should Recycle. Web.
http://midcityscrap.com/2012/08/7-reasons-why-you-should-recycle/ . Accessed
March 6, 2017.
Shafiee, S., Topal, E., 2009. When Will Fossil Fuels be Diminished?. Energy Policy, 37, 181-
189.
Zillow.com, 2017. Web. https://www.zillow.com. Accessed February 27, 2017.