Students in the class of Kansas University design professor Michael Eckersley created a multipoint plan for Lawrence to implement a curbside recycling program without increasing monthly trash rates. Here are some key points from their plan:

¢ By 2015, convert all the city’s trucks to automated trash trucks. Use the employees who previously staffed the trucks to operate a new recycling sorting center and other recycling-related activities.

¢ Reduce trash service to every other week. In other words recycling pickup would happen on one week, while trash service would occur the next. The class said this may require individuals to begin composting their food scraps.

¢ Sell advertising on the side of trash trucks to generate more revenue for recycling operations.

¢ Create a system where recycling collection trucks are weighed after each route. Households on routes that produce the most recycled material would receive a reward.