Recycling at Hinds Plaza in Princeton, NJ

There's been discussion of improving recycling in Princeton's Hinds Plaza, next to the public library. It's easy to figure out whether the current system is working:

One drawback to the existing system is that the trash and recycling containers look very similar. Function in upscale locations is often sacrificed for uniform, stylized appearance.

One thing helping to overcome this drawback is that the recycling and trash containers are paired for the most part, so that people are presented with a choice. A recycling container off on its own is treated by pedestrians as a trashcan.

Some of the containers have lost their tops, which need to be secured with wire so they don't walk away. Altogether, four tops have wandered off. Trash cans outnumber recycling receptacles 6 to 4.

Despite the similarity in design, there's still pretty good separation going on. This snoopybird's eye view shows some contamination with nonrecyclables but not much. The question is whether even this small amount of contamination is allowed by the hauler, or if these bags end up in the trash.

Next door, in the public library cafe, the contrast between the trash and recycling containers was enhanced by putting a new, clearly marked and small aperture top on the recycling container. Separation improved greatly after this was done.

Since some tops are missing from the receptacles outside, perhaps this sort of retrofit could be used in the plaza as well. Four new tops are needed anyway, and there are four recycling containers outside--a convenient coincidence. Since rain would get in, something other than plastic bags would need to be used inside the receptacles so that water doesn't accumulate.

Princeton Borough Parks Start Recycling

With new recycling receptacles arriving in township parks, I sent an email to the borough to ask if they could also begin recycling again in borough parks. A week later, maybe by coincidence, these buckets showed up, hooked to existing trash cans.

I've often thought that the most cost-efficient way to get recycling receptacles widely available in public areas would be to design a receptacle that simply attaches to existing trash containers. This bucket, distributed by Mercer County, is a simple version. It is attached with wire to the trash can to keep it from "walking away".

The receptacle's presence doesn't mean that recycling is actually happening. We can hope that park users will pay attention and put recyclables in the right container, and that the staff that collect the recyclables will keep the recyclables separate from the trash. There are plenty of points in the necessary chain of events where recycling can break down. But at least a functional receptacle is in place.

Recycling Containers in Princeton Parks

The typical approach to recycling outdoors is to not provide the recycling option, which characterizes most town streets.

In Princeton parks, 35 gallon yellow recycling bins have been common. Though they work pretty well if paired with trash cans, their large openings make contamination with trash more likely.

A more expensive approach was tried at Turning Basin Park, where many pairs of wood-framed trash and recycling containers were installed for a total of $12,000. They're built to last, and won't walk away, but their subtle visual cues--particularly the similarly sized holes--may prevent distracted users from noticing which is which.

Dysfunctional Recycling Containers -- Part 1

They say you can't judge a book by its cover. This recycling container looks perfectly sensible, clearly labeled as to what should be thrown into it. But in practice it fails miserably at its intended use, and has been doing so ever since the Princeton Public Library's cafe opened several years ago.

A functional recycling container would 1) provide abundant visual cues to the user, and 2) be paired with a trash container. The absence of either of these attributes almost always insures the "recycling" container will get filled with trash.

Designers of buildings and plazas typically choose aesthetics over functionality, which often means the trash and recycling containers are both expensive (as much as $1000 each) and stylishly similar in appearance. The library cafe's recycling container fails because it is placed far from the trash container and looks just like it (2nd photo). Though the container is labeled, no one stops to read labels, and the container's wide mouth is an invitation for trash.

Here you have a high profile public building in a progressive town, no doubt run by people with environmental sympathies, and everything but cardboard is being thrown in the trash dumpster out back.

You'd expect institutions like schools and libraries to use recycling as a way to educate children to be good environmental stewards, but my experience has been the opposite. Far from being unusual, this "recycling in name only" is more the rule than the exception in public places, institutions and businesses.

Only an extremely persistent volunteer effort was sufficient to get recycling up to speed in Princeton's public schools last year. This fall, multiple emails over several months to the library have at last yielded a recognition by the library's management of this and other recycling problems in the building. Princeton township and borough have mandatory recycling ordinances, but these by themselves do not make recycling happen.

In the plaza outside the library are some more gleaming containers, sometimes paired. The openings are at least different--for those that still have tops--but there's a good chance that people don't distinguish, and that all contents get carted off to the landfill.