Dumpster Diving!?!

And you thought your job was bad!!!!! If you live in Seattle, don't discount the classified ad recruiting Dumpster Divers just yet, it could turn out to be a highly paid government position; however, I am assuming they gave it a more "PC" term such as Conservation Inspector. Last night, Fox News depicted fines given to businesses by the city resulting from their trash not complying with the mandatory percentage standards for recyclables. You ask what the consequences are for individual violaters? Their trash will simply not be picked up and they will be issued a nasty note left in view for their neighbors to see.

Visit http://wasteage.com/news/Seattle_recycling_law/index.html for details!

My confusion is this - the goal is to save the city $2 million a year by having a 60 percent recycling rate by 2010. During an economics class in college I recall evaluating if recycling was beneficial to the economy. Although I can not find the exact article we dissected, the following depicts some of the main points addressed. http://www.mises.org/story/1911

Will the fines (and the costs associated with enforcing them) really save the city? Factor in the budget increases necessary to sustain the program including but not limited to the following:

• Salaries for Inspection Workers
• Salaries for Management of Inspection Workers
• Salaries for people to enforce the fines given by Inspection Workers
• Computer, Cellular, Travel, & Office equipment & expenses related to fines
• Benefits for all employees
• Cost of HR to administer benefits to Employees
• Paper the fines are written on (irony huh?)
• etc.