A journey through LA:
Mexico City is trying something different:
The government’s environmental agency recently launched the Mercado de Trueque, a barter market where recyclable materials are exchanged for fresh food to support the city’s farmlands. "This innovative program is designed to show citizens directly and tangibly how what we call trash becomes raw materials. If solid waste is properly separated, it still has value," writes the Ministry of Environment (in Spanish). The market accepts glass, paper and cardboard, aluminum beverage cans, PET plastic bottles, and returns "green points" redeemable for agricultural products grown in and around Mexico City, including lettuce, prickly pears, spinach, tomatoes, plants, and flowers.
If you think that's innovative, get a load of Poo Wi-Fi:
When dog owners [in Mexico City] throw away their excrement in a special box, the device calculates the weight and then gives everyone in the park free Wi-Fi for a period (usually a few minutes.) Of course, there’s a way to rig the program by tossing garbage in the box instead of poo, but the ad agency behind the effort, DDB Mexico, told Creativity Online that it’s fine if people are cleaning trash from the park to access the service. However, during the day, hostesses stand by the boxes handing out poop bags to ensure that the device is being used as promised.
The Dish 