KPLU Local News
(2009-08-25)
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SEATTLE, WA
(KPLU) -
Have you ever wondered what happens to that candy-bar wrapper or paper cup after you toss it into the trash bin? You can soon find out. Seattle Public Library is collaborating with a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to track local trash.
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It's all in the interest of intelligent urban planning, says the team from MIT. They're collaborating with public entities in Seattle and New York to create an exhibition that will display trash patterns as items move through the waste stream.
City Librarian Susan Hildreth says Seattle was approached by MIT, and the Public Utilities department suggested the central library as a high-profile venue, where an accompanying art exhibit with could also be put up later.
"So it's really just a way for us to continue our role in providing public information about a variety of topics," Hildreth says.
The team from MIT will put wireless location markers on garbage that people bring to the library, and then they'll track it all on-line. Their motivation is environmental. They say if people think about where their trash goes after they toss it, we might think twice about what we consume. And the discoveries made by tracking trash once it enters the waste stream could influence city engineering.
The trash-tracking team from MIT will be at the Seattle Central Public Library Plaza on Fourth Ave tomorrow (Wednesday) from 10:30 -12:30. They say it takes about ten minutes to get your piece of garbage labeled. Their exhibit about the project will go up in about a month.
For more information:
Seattle Public Library Web Site
MIT's Trash Track Project
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