Although directed at the BP blowout, Catspaw has raised the question of personal attitudes and responsibility in reducing the 'carbon footprint' - but if my neigborhood is any criterion, most people care little, or don't think about their actions.
The city has distributed bins to homeowners in which to put recyclable materials. The Scouts and other organizations have bottle drives because glass bottles are worth a nickle and plastic drink containers (now including plastic milk containers) also are redeemable. Moreover, stores have to put a charge on these containers to encourage recycling.

But people often don't bother. Cardboard boxes are large, so they go into garbage rather than being cut up to fit in the recycle bins. After school, kids stop at dairy queen or whatever, buy a drink, and throw the container on the nearest lawn or into the street. Homeless people perform a service by collecting discarded containers and redeeming them at bottle depots.
Apartment buildings, etc., are outside of the home collection system.

Go to a mountain campground, and look at the trash thrown into the bush.

We encourage the use of plastics, most with hydrocarbon components. My camera is plastic, not metal. My backyard table and chairs are plastic. My computer body is plastic. In fact, much of the 'hardware' around my home is plastic.
We never think about these items, but they require hydrocarbons that come from oil.