Recycling police go too far

Chicago Tribune: We support recycling, and our bins fill quickly and often. But if a nonrecyclable strays into the recycling, we don’t consider it a crime. Seattle does.

Its garbage collectors leave behind a Sticker of Shame to warn scofflaws of their trash-sorting transgressions.

And now, the Emerald City has authorized cash fines if 10 percent of items intended for the yard-and-food-waste container instead wind up in recycling. The fines could range from $1 for a single family home to $50 for a business.

The prospect of garbage collectors eyeballing trash and making a 10 percent calculation on the fly has prompted privacy advocates to sue the city to stop enforcement.

There’s much to admire about greener-than-green Seattle, but peering into people’s garbage is a bit much.