“You just composted 2.31 ounces,” the screen reads. “If everyone on campus composted this amount today, 91探花would save $1,181.00.”

An interactive recycling and composting station installed this spring at PACCAR Hall is showing the 91探花 community exactly how much money can be saved by composting and recycling correctly. And it seems to be doing its job well.

Installed in early April in , the interactive system was dreamed up by an interdisciplinary research group led by and , professor and associate professor, respectively, of the in the .

Their system consists of three receptacles, each fitted with a weight sensor, microcomputer and digital screen. When people toss items into the receptacles, the screen shows how much money is saved by proper composting and recycling, as well as the hypothetical savings campuswide if everyone did the same.

When the bins aren’t being used, their screens remind people which items belong in each category, including items such as bottle caps and foil lids.

Several student and alumni talents went into the project. Four graduate students from the 聽program proposed the initial concept in a course co-taught by Cheng and聽, who directs the program. Cheng and Matthews collaborated with 91探花design students and alumni to create the on-screen animations and photography.

Cheng and Matthews collaborated with anthropology professor and doctoral candidate to study the installation’s impact. They found that incorrect sorting of items went down from 48 percent to 40 percent, and that waste correctly diverted to the landfill container rose by 10 percent since the installation opened.

This project was supported by the Royalty Research Fund at the 91探花. The project is open to the public, and located at 聽in聽PACCAR Hall.

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View and other of the installation’s setup and use. To learn more, contact Cheng at 206-685-2773 or kcheng@uw.edu. Video below by Carly Lynch.