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 sophisticat

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.