• About
    • About the FIA
    • Priorities
    • Our Team
    • Brainstorming Board
    • Partners and Affiliates
    • Contact Us
  • News + Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Videos
    • Newsletters
    • @FIAumd
    • In the Media
  • Spark Grants
    • Spark Grants Overview
    • Spark Grants FAQ
    • 2012-2015 Seed Grants
    • 2012-2015 Seed Grant Winners
  • Special Topics
    • SearchReSearch
    • Curated Topics
FIA

SearchReSearch

SearchResearch Challenge (2/27/19): Where does your recycling go… really??

Dan Russell • February 27, 2019
 SearchReSearch
Republished with permission from SearchReSearch
SearchResearch Challenge (2/27/19): Where does your recycling go… really?? Dan Russell

Where does your recycling go... really??

A recent spate of stories about how lots of supposedly recycled stuff actually ends up in the trash (NPR story; NERC story; Wired story) made me start wondering about where my trash and recycling really REALLY goes.

In my city (Palo Alto, CA), all of my neighbors and I religiously separate our compost from our recyclables and trash. On Thursday morning, we set out the big plastic containers for the trucks to come by...


.... and pick up the contents--green is compost, black is trash, blue is recycling (single-stream) ....


.... and.... then... what happens?

Our SearchResearch Challenge for this week is simple, but possibly tricky:

Where does YOUR recycling go? How much of the stuff you carefully put into the recycling bins actually makes it into a recycled product vs. into a landfill?


From an SRS point of view, the question is how can you find out?? It's very possible that the trash/recycling organization has a page about what their practices are, but how do you fact-check what they say? How do you really know??

I'm curious about what happens where you live. How much of our "recycling" actually ends up being recycled (as opposed to being put into a landfill or being burned)?

Can you do the research for your town / city / village and let us know? (And, as always, be sure to tell us HOW to figured this out! Where you able to do it all via online research methods??)

Search on!


Share

Comments

This post was republished. Comments can be viewed and shared via the original site.
16 comments

About the Author

Dan RussellDan Russell

I study the way people search and research. I guess that makes me an anthropologist of search. While I work at Google, my blog and G+ posts reflects my own thoughts and not those of my employer. I am FIA's Future-ist in Residence. More »

Recent News

  • Deepfakes and the Future of Facts
    Deepfakes and the Future of FactsSeptember 27, 2019
  • Book cover for Joy of Search by Daniel M. Russell
    The Joy of Search: A Google Insider’s Guide to Going Beyond the BasicsSeptember 26, 2019
  • The Future of Facts in a ‘Post-Truth’ World
    The Future of Facts in a ‘Post-Truth’ WorldMay 15, 2018
  • The Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Storytelling
    The Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive StorytellingJune 6, 2017

More »

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events scheduled. Please check back later.
Event Archive »
Video Archive »

Join Email List

SearchReSearch

  • SearchResearch Challenge (3/22/23):  What do you call the sediment that blocks a river from flowing to the sea?
    SearchResearch Challenge (3/22/23): What do you call the sediment that blocks a river from flowing to the sea?March 22, 2023
  • Answer: What do these everyday symbols mean?
    Answer: What do these everyday symbols mean?March 15, 2023
  • SearchResearch Challenge (3/8/23): What do these everyday symbols mean?
    SearchResearch Challenge (3/8/23): What do these everyday symbols mean?March 8, 2023
  • PSA:  Read Clive Thompson’s article about how he does research
    PSA: Read Clive Thompson’s article about how he does researchMarch 3, 2023

More »

University of Maryland logo
Robert W. Deutsch Foundation logo
Google logo
Barrie School
Library of Congress logo
State of Maryland logo
National Archives logo
National Geographic Society logo
National Park Service logo
Newseum logo
Sesame Workshop logo
Smithsonian logo
WAMU
© 2023 The Future of Information Alliance, University of Maryland | Privacy Policy | Web Accessibility