Fox News: Cities Increasingly Turn to 'Trash Police' to Enforce Recycling Laws

_______________________________________

From FoxNews:

Cities Increasingly Turn to 'Trash Police' to Enforce Recycling Laws

Beware the green police. They don't carry guns and there's no police academy to train them, but if you don't recycle your trash properly, they can walk up your driveway and give you a $100 ticket.

They know what's in your trash, they know what you eat, they know how often you bring your recycles to the curb -- and they may be coming to your town soon. That is, if they're not already there.

In a growing number of cities across the U.S., local governments are placing computer chips in recycling bins to collect data on refuse disposal, and then fining residents who don't participate in recycling efforts and forcing others into educational programs meant to instill respect for the environment.

From Charlotte, N.C., to Cleveland, Ohio, from Boise, Idaho, to Flint, Mich., the green police are spreading out. And that alarms some privacy advocates who are asking: Should local governments have the right to monitor how you divide your paper cups from your plastic forks? Is that really the role of government?

The irony of this story is that our very County Council proposed that we be fined if we didn't meet a 25% recycling goal. (Later reduced to 20%, then later dropped as a plan)

For the full story see:

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/07/trash-police-invade-thanks-government-stimulus/