A team of MIT researchers are tracking exactly where your empty bottled waters and Starbucks cups go from the intitial toss into the can to its final resting place in a project called Trash Track. Using an advanced system of electronic tags, the trash is monitored revealing the patterns and costs of urban disposal. With volunteers in New York and Seattle, thousands of “trash tags” attached to waste samples will calculate their location through triangulation and report it to a central server, where the data will be analyzed and processed in real time.

So, would revealing the inefficiencies in our waste and recycling system change your decision to buy disposable razors or plastic water bottles?  Researchers are hoping it will not only raise awareness and change consumer behavior, but ultimately lead to a 100 percent recycling way of life.  

Story via Inhabitat.

This article was written in July & is part of the Archives , Lauren sections.