Recycling enters battle of the sexes

It's official - women are better at recycling than men.

Members of Manchester City Council's environmental team made the claim after interviewing attendees at the Town Hall's recent International Women's Day event.

They found a massive 93 per cent of those surveyed believed women were better at recycling. Those questioned said they thought women were more organised and it was often female members of the household who were responsible for sorting waste into separate bins.

One Manchester resident, Amanda Warde, said: ''Women are better recyclers than men as they are more organised. My husband sometimes sneaks recyclables into the bin when I'm not looking!''

The recycling team acknowledges the respondents may have been biased, as the vast majority of them were women.

However, a study carried out by British academics in 2006 found women were more likely to begin and carry out recycling in the household, concluding that "green tasks, like similar chores, are much more likely to be pink than blue".

And a recent survey by the British Heart Foundation showed men were three times more likely than women to dump their unwanted clothes and shoes, rather than recycle them.

Not everyone at the event agreed. Manchester resident Sarah Vollam was one of the minority who thought just as many men recycled as women. She said: ''I teach an age group of 16-19-year-olds and boys are certainly as interested as the girls, if not more, when it comes to issues of recycling and the environment''.

Councillor Neil Swannick, Executive Member for the Environment, said: "The City Council is committed to making sure recycling services across Manchester are as good as possible and we are currently holding a consultation to ask the city's residents - both male and female - what we can do."

The City Council is calling on men to get in touch about recycling by ringing freephone 0800 995 1911.

Media contact:

Conrad Astley, tel 0161 234 4027.

Manchester City Council launched Challenge Manchester - 100 Days to a cleaner, greener city 2008 on February 14 at Manchester Town Hall.

The campaign will run until 24 May 2008, featuring 100 days of intense activity all over Manchester with the first 50 days focussing on green issues - primarily waste minimisation, recycling and climate change - and the next 50 days focussing on community clean-ups, local environmental improvements and planting schemes.

The council will also be asking residents and businesses about what they want the council to do to help them minimise waste and recycle more.

Challenge Manchester began in 2004 with "Challenge Manchester: 100 Days to a Clean City", and in its fifth successful year the campaign returns to its core aim to "clean up" the city.

More information about Challenge Manchester and how you can participate appears on our website http://www.challengemanchester.co.uk/

You can also e-mail campaigns.team@notes.manchester.gov.uk

or telephone 0161 954 9000.