Transparent Recycling Bins: Confronting Our Waste

Can transparency make us better citizens? Future Perfect ponders this question in a recent post about transparent recycling bins in Tokyo’s Shibuya station. The  bins force passers-by to acknowledge the amount of waste they and others are contributing, bringing the idea (and guilt) of over-consumption into public consciousness.

The bins suggest that stigmatization, often used to maintain status quo or prevent deviance, can also be used to promote more responsible and conscientious living. If every trash bin on the street were see-through, would we think twice about the stuff we’re mindlessly chucking throughout the day?

[via Future Perfect]