

Technology in the Trash - indiejade
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/technology_in_the_trash/

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indiejade
_While US cities only recycle about 30 percent of their waste on average,
Seattle recycles 50 percent. This impressive figure is largely due to their
sophisticated recycling complexes which are able to process everything from
food scraps to motor oil, but it is also a product of greater awareness among
individual citizens about the impact of trash. Since Seattleites pay by the
load for garbage removal, they already have an incentive to waste less.
Biderman believes that if more people were exposed to information about how
much waste they produce and its impact on the environment, they would be
prompted to change their behavior. “In this closing of a feedback loop, I
think there is an essential opportunity to raise awareness,” he says._

The more urban an area, the more likely it is that it has a sophisticated
waste management systems. For the most part, any densely populated cities that
are near the coast tend to have pretty good recycling systems.

Where this project could gather more interesting data would be on the interior
areas of the country . . . places where the big-box WalMarts and wide open
spaces lull people into thinking that the solution to waste management is to
just dig another hole, cover it up, and hope the problem all just disappears.

