Motivation to recycle

In the Asia section of today's Straits Times, there was a photo of a woman in Shanghai dragging a large trolley shopping bag across a pavement lined with rubbish and the caption reads "Cash in Trash". The woman was looking for materials for recycling and for her efforts she would be paid for items that could be recyled such as rubber shoes, glass and plastic. According to the article, she could earn up to 500 yuan or S$100 a month. If you could see the photo here or can imagine what this photo is about, you will not envy her or want to be in her shoes. She is not collecting these items to save the earth but to earn a livelihood and she is able to do that because corporations need these materials to save costs. There are two types of motivation - extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation stems from something that is dangled before you such as cash in the case of this Shanghai woman. Intrinsic comes from within us. We who have no need to earn a living by salvaging and selling materials for recycling purposes could take a second look at the picture and ask ourselves whether there is a better way to dispose of our rubbish and in our part of the world where such a scene is not seen, could we also be motivated to recycle our own trash not for cash but to reduce harm to the world.