My husband and I are orphans in Texas.  His parents spend 1/2 of their time in Nadym, RU and the other 1/2 in St. Petersburg.  My mother lives in Germany.  She is a Texan, but moved to Germany a couple of years ago.  Right now, I am at her home in a tiny village outside of Gangelt, just about 5 minutes from the Netherlands and Belgium.  Pictuesque doesn't even begin to describe the perfectly manicured lawns, chubby cows and agriculture.  There simply isn't any rubbish on the street. 

On our way home from a shopping excursion in Maastricht yesterday, (lovely, but the shops close on Sunday-I am such a heathen!) my mother grilled me on recycling.  "So, you've figured out where the wet paper goes? Do you know what goes in the yellow bag?" 

I think she has about 7 little bins, each a different category and subcategory.  "I can't remember, Mom, so my strategy is always to focus on making less trash when I am at your place."

Certainly, in my case, it is laziness.  I don't want to learn an entire system, only to use it 2 or 3 times per year. But, I did notice when I set up my own recycling at home in Houston (much less complex albeit much less convenient) my behavior was simmilar.

Thinking about where things come from and how difficult it is to find stuff and then transform it, the first time around, or the second can compel people (me) to use less. Can't that translate into the hydrocarbon arena?  I think it can!