It isn't easy to do the right thing for the environment.

Recycling, as an example, may infuse some folks with a feeling of well-being, but it can be a pain separating the stuff, hauling it, and dealing with frustrations at places like the bottle redemption center.

My most recent frustration was finding that I'd hauled a bunch of containers that had been mislabeled as redeemable. For instance, the gallon-sized plastic container of Crystal Geyser spring water is labeled redeemable in Hawai'i, meaning many stores will collect your deposit. But the redemption center won't pay the redemption because containers larger than 64 ounces don't count.

The folks at my redemption center tell me that some wine bottles are also marked for the deposit, but they are not redeemable either. State recycling coordinator Jennifer Tosaki said that's been a problem, but bottle redemption officials are trying to educate stores not to collect the fees on ineligible containers.

For all the trouble, the recycling continues, perhaps because people understand it has more benefits than just the cash you get back. There's the pleasure of not seeing so many containers littering the roadsides. And the satisfaction that you aren't paying through your taxes for the expensive landfill space taken up by the air inside that plastic container or glass bottle. And that the raw materials inside the aluminum and plastic may be re-used, so raw materials somewhere else in the world will not be drawn down so aggressively.

Other kinds of Earth-kindliness can be annoying, too. Standing under a waterfall may be a more energizing way to rinse off than waiting under a low-flow showerhead. Flicking off lights in empty rooms, avoiding partial laundry loads and all the other features of a low-impact life take time and effort.

But at some level this is about maturity — the ability to recognize that little measures taken today avoid big measures later.

A messy teenager may leave food wrappers and dirty clothes all over the floor, but an adult presumably realizes that at some point that stuff needs to get dealt with, and when it does, it's a big cleanup. It's easier to toss a soda can out the car window than to store it for recycling, but the unappealing, mosquito-breeding litter in the gutters gets more offensive as the volume of cans and bottles build up.

So if recycling, for example, is a pain now, at least it yields benefits later.

The price for doing the right thing comes due immediately. Not doing it simply means you pay the bill later.

If you have a question or concern about the Hawaiian environment, drop a note to Jan TenBruggencate at P.O. Box 524, Lihu'e, HI 96766 or jant@honoluluadvertiser.com. Or call him at (808) 245-3074.