I learned about so many innovations over at Smithsonian Magazine in the article, How Taiwan Has Achieved One of the Highest Recycling Rates in the World.

“Stories like this one give me so much hope. What could be better than using post-consumer waste, like aluminum cans, shoe soles, and cigarette butts into building materials?! So much creativity at work in Taiwan. The keys to success: innovative minds, government buy-in, and pressure on residents (via fines among other things) to recycle. The same innovator who engineered Taiwan’s program tried first in New York City but discovered that the people living there were unwilling to participate in large-scale recycling and incentives for them to do so did not exist. Once again, we see that all of us, the consumers, are the ones who control our own fate, but our own apathy is usually too great. We each choose to be part of the problem OR the solution. The people of NYC (and most cities) chose not to be part of the solution. The people of Taiwan chose to do their part.

The result:

“Today, the average Taiwanese person produces 850 grams (1.9 pounds) of waste daily, down from 1.20 kilograms (2.6 pounds) 15 years ago. Recycling rates have been reported to exceed 50 percent, although those numbers have been disputed. Many of the island’s incinerators are now running below capacity. Overall, the island produces more recyclable waste than non–reusable waste.”