Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proposed raising the city's garbage collection rates by 6.2 percent in the next year. Announced on July 27, the move comes in support of a series of other changes Nickels and the City Council recently initiated to improve Seattle's waste management.

Last month, prior to the new proposal, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to adopt a "Zero Waste Strategy," increasing recycling goals to 72 percent by 2025. Seattle recycles 44 percent of its waste. This strategy initiated a scheme to modernize the city's two waste transfer stations and reduce landfilled waste from 2006 levels (440,000 tons), which would provide the ancillary benefit of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The original resolution included plans to build an intermodal facility in Georgetown that would transfer garbage to the mile-long train that carries Seattle's waste to an Oregon landfill six days a week.

"However, the Georgetown community really turned out, and after some discussion that facility has been taken off the table," Councilwoman Sally Clark said.

The City Council and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) changed their plans and settled for an update to the existing facilities.

A north transfer station is located two miles east of campus, near the intersection of North 34th Street and Stone Way. Another station is in South Park, just west of Boeing Field. The gray concrete warehouses are covered with assortments of chips and cracks, showing the need for an update.

"Both transfer facilities are falling apart and have been antiquated for some time now," SPU spokesperson Andy Ryan explained.

The stations were built in the late 1960s, a time when they accepted one commodity: trash. Today, the transfer stations are responsible for 15 materials ranging from conventional garbage to a multitude of recyclables, including glass and yard waste.

"That provides unique challenges for workers," said Jeff Neuner, an SPU manager. "The planned updates to the facilities will improve traffic flow and simplify operations, ultimately making conditions safer and more efficient for customers and staff alike."

Reactions around campus have focused on implications of the increase.

Anna O'Brien, a member of the UW club Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED), expressed excitement that the city is "getting serious." She added that "commitment takes money, and this shows that they're working on [reducing waste]."

She also explained how the city's efforts would help echo SEED's own initiatives at the UW, such as the composting pilot program it started in select UW residence halls last year.

Michael Kucher, an associate professor of History of Technology and the Environment at UW Tacoma, was enthusiastic but gave qualification.

"If we accept waste as a symptom, [the city's actions] are admirable," he said. "Most waste is generated upstream of the consumer, so local governments and citizens are somewhat limited in their power to address larger issues."

"Nevertheless, it's good that the city is raising consciousness throughout the community," Kucher said.

The broader Seattle community will get its own chance to respond to the proposed increases when the City Council discusses them at a meeting August 10. A vote on the measure is scheduled for mid-September.