Tracking a Trail of Trash in the Pacific Northwest

By Patrick Oppmann, CNN

Link to Article

Trash study tracks how pieces of garbage may travel hundreds of miles

MIT researchers hope study will help people better understand impact of garbage they produce

"Can we create a situation of minimum waste?" researcher says

Seattle, Washington (CNN) -- The plastic Ziploc bag thrown in the trash in Seattle, Washington, spent a week traveling 300 miles to an Oregon landfill. The old Apple iBook that was recycled is a month into its journey. And a pair of worn Asics running shoes is still logging miles even after being dropped in a bin for used shoes.

Those are just some of the trails of trash exposed in a high-tech trash study.