Problem-finding

Metro International daily newspapers are popular among Boston commuters due to their convenience. Free copies are dispensed from boxes or hawked by staff at myriad MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) train and bus stations. Readers discard their papers on empty seats at the terminus of their ride or add to a typically overflowing trash bin at the station. Stations do not support recycling. With a daily paper circulation of 620,000 in Boston and a daily T ridership of 792,600, a lot of energy is wasted, and available resources not renewed.

Prior to arrival in certain high-traffic stations such as Park Street, T conductors have resorted to reminding passengers in tongue-in-cheek announcements to gather “all their belongings, bags, metros, magazines, children, dogs, and cats”—as if the litany of commuter artifacts weren’t already cumbersome. More work has been created for the T janitorial staff, who are employed with public tax dollars.

Schwadesign solution

We wish to close the loop, bringing awareness to the opportunity of re-using, re-reading, and recycling all commuter newspapers.

We seek to develop incentives, making clear the need to respond by every Metro reader (or non-reading T rider) to the recycling or sharing of their newspapers. We seek to involve local art school students to create noticeable recycling bins. We seek to employ additional Metro-identifiable volunteers to take back the papers as commuters exit.