Since the first official meeting of Team GREEN JUSTICE in September 2009, we have been making steady progress towards several key goals. Specifying a clear direction and creating a timeline were our first tasks as a team. During the fall 2009 semester, we determined that we would be focusing on analyzing waste collection data and synthesizing attitudes on sustainability within the city of Hyattsville Maryland. This location was chosen because of its proximity to the University of Maryland Campus and because we felt that its cultural and socio-economic diversity would allow us to uncover more unique findings with relation to environmental behaviors and attitudes.

We have made many accomplishments since our first semester as a team. In just one year, we have constructed and administered a survey tailored to the Hyattsville community, we have conducted focus groups that will give us more insight into the local point of view, we have conducted interviews with Hyattsville residents ranging from Mayor Bill Gardiner to the Director of Public Works to sanitation workers. We have worked closely with the Hyattsville Environmental Committee have gathered data concerning the trash and recycling routes in the city of Hyattsville (below.) We are currently analyzing the raw trash and recycling data as well as the survey, focus group, and interview data from this area in an attempt to understand and form conclusions and recommendations for Hyattsville and similar cities.

The data for both the tons of solid waste (via the Hyattsville Department of Public Works) and recycling (via the PG County Waste Management group) produced per month in the city of Hyattsville in 2009 are in the table below. According to the data, the city of Hyattsville has recycled 16.6% of its total waste, while the average American recycles 33% (according to the EPA.) That means Hyattsville residents recycle half as much as the average American, and the average American does not even recycle as much as they could!