People make a lot of assumptions about today's youth--college and university students in particular. "Millennials are lazy, entitled and self-absorbed," an early Time Magazine article screamed. But the truth is far more complex, and the current college crowd continues to defy the stereotypes.

So, how do college students really feel about recycling?

The good news is that today's young people have grown up with a sense of global awareness about sustainability and the importance of green living. There are also aspects of their collective behaviors that, properly directed, can turn them into leaders for positive, sustainable change. The downside is that students still aren't recycling as much as they should, so we decided to take a look at their overall attitudes to see why this is the case. As it turns out, most of the barriers to recycling for students are much the same as everyone else's. The five key issues inhibiting student recycling are:

1. Education

‍There is both good and bad news regarding current students' awareness of sustainability and environmental concerns. A 2015 study for the Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research discovered that 86.4% of students surveyed had heard of sustainability, though only 35% felt they knew what it really meant. Only about 18% of the survey group felt they had a strong understanding of the concept. The study concluded that while media is bombarding today's students with information about environmental concerns, awareness remains superficial. In other words, they know there's a problem, but they aren't really clear what to do about it.

On the other hand, a 2014 study from the University of Iowa determined that 51% of students in their dataset recycle as much as possible, while only 9% said they don't recycle at all. Among the latter set, the two main reasons cited for not recycling were lack of available space and no available information on how and where to recycle. Taken in tandem, these studies suggest that while awareness and the desire to recycle exist, students need an actionable plan and facilities to help them see programs through. (For similar studies, see also: NIH, U.Guelph.)

2. Inconvenience

‍Like many of us, students won't recycle if they can't find an available recycling bin, if the ones provided are full, or if they lack instructional signage. A 2009 study from the National Institutes of Health found that a lack of available facilities was the number one reason students gave for not recycling regularly, and the same reason ranked number one or two in all of the studies we looked at.

3. Lack of information

‍The other top barrier to campus recycling is a lack of reliable, easily accessible information to tell them what goes where. For students, a lack of instruction affects their daily recycling behavior throughout the school year, but it is a particular concern when they are moving in and moving out. Even students with a strong education in recycling best practices might be at a loss when it comes to disposing of furniture shipping containers when they move in or offloading used mattresses and furniture at the end of the year.

4. Time

‍Students have their work cut out for them. Between juggling school work, social lives, and possibly a job or two, there's simply not enough time in the day to give their recycling behaviors critical thought.

5. Priorities

‍Students entering a college or university environment are often overwhelmed by change and unstructured independence, and the idea of recycling can take a backseat. As they mature as students, they might find themselves under increasing pressure to perform well in class or bowing to social pressures to party, which pushes recycling even further down the priority list.

Dealing with distractions

The one key differentiator between today's incoming college students and older generations is digital noise. As social media natives, young people today consider distraction to be normal. Social media, digital apps, online games, and quizzes all offer a steady stream of personalized information and activities that students juggle alongside their schoolwork and real-world activities. They are also notorious multitaskers to a degree not experienced by their elders. When it comes to recycling, this means municipalities and schools have to work harder to cut through the noise and ensure that recycling remains front of mind.