by Dawn St John

     Recently, we were at a show where we were handing out flyers, both for the magazine and for Reverb. As expected, we later found a number of these flyers in trashcans around the venue. I didn't take offense to this, but it did make me think. Why would someone bother to take the flyer, if they weren't interested? Is it that difficult to just say, "No, thank you," and continue on? We weren't pushy about them, and indeed a number of people just walked past without seeming to even notice either of us.

     This made me curious enough to take a poll, questioning what the general public thinks when they are presented with this situation. Are they afraid to say no? If so, why?

     In the poll, I asked folks, "When someone offers you a flyer you are not interested in keeping, what is your most likely course of action?" I was pleased that 46% of my readers said they would politely say, "No, thank you," and only 15% would take it anyway but throw it in the trash. (Another 15% would take, read, and recycle the flyer.)

     On the subject of recycling, I also asked my readers whether or not they would recycle the flyer they had taken. To my delight, only 5% of them said they would not recycle it at all (one such person also qualified her response, "I answered the first part saying I wouldn't take the flyer. But if I did take the flyer, I would recycle it at home if I didn't want it anymore."). In fact, 28% of my readers even said they would go out of their way to take the flyer home, if there were no available recycling containers on site.

     As such, a word of advice to anyone who volunteers to hand out flyers at a show or other event: don't be pushy! When asked about his response (that he would take it, but throw it in the trash), one reader told me, "It's often just socially easier to take the flier and dump it then to say no. Sometimes, the pushers don't offer you a choice." If you give folks the option to only take a flyer if they're really interested, the flyers are less likely to end up contributing to the world's waste and pollution. And to anyone who is offered a flyer: if you don't want it, don't take it. And if you do, be sure to recycle it when you've finished with it!