Promoting recycling is great, but really, recycling is the last ditch effort to keep trash out of landfills and incinerators. First is reduce, then reuse (and kudos on the reusable bags, though not having seen them, I reserve judgment on just how reusable they are; a lot of "reusable" bags seem to be just heftier plastic bags that will still end up in the landfill relatively soon, and if they normally cost $1 I doubt they're all that great).

I have to wonder if providing cash incentives to bring in recyclable trash encourages people to consume more in the first place so they can generate more recyclable trash to bring in--especially with kids, and especially when there's a competitive angle to it.

I don't want to be too hard on them, because promoting the idea that recycling and reusing are important is a good thing, especially with kids, who will hopefully develop lifelong habits of doing both. I realize that promoting a reduction of consumption would be "bad for business," so in a way it's hard to blame them for not playing up that angle. It's just frustrating.