Three years ago, the City of Natchez began an experiment to test whether or not curbside recycling could be a viable program in the city.

By all indications, the answer thus far is, “No.”

As much as we’d like recycling to be widespread in the community, it’s not now and making it so will be a long, sometimes uphill battle.

That’s not to say it’s worth giving up on the program at this point, but rather an acknowledgment that simply continuing with the status quo likely will not change habits.

In the city, few residents — less than one out of four — are taking advantage of the curbside recycling service offered to them.

As leaders scratch their heads and seek a solution to the problem, we urge them to realize humans will take the path of least resistance. At the moment, only residents who are concerned about the environmental impact of burying recyclable items in a landfill bother with recycling.

For others, the habit of simply tossing such things in the trash is too fixed to easily change.

If city and county leaders truly opted to lead, they would consider doubling down, as it were, on recycling.

Rather than tossing the recycling plans into the “tried and didn’t work” pile, we urge them to consider ways to encourage more participation.

Reducing trash pickup to once a week would help, as would providing larger recycling receptacles to residents.

One has to think technology exists for the waste companies to help track which households recycle and which don’t. If so, let’s provide an annual rebate to residents that recycle 75 percent of the year.

With some ingenuity and determination, recycling can be made to work, but not simply by offering it. It must become a solution that makes residents’ lives easier or more economical.