The Green Police Are Already Here

In San Fransisco, at least.

Out of all the commercials played during Superbowl 44, I thought this was the most disturbing.



Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco, made it a reality a couple of years ago. The mandation of people separating out their recyclables and compost material from the trash.

while there are fines associated with noncompliance of the recycling and composting ordinance, fines are not expected to be handed out except in extreme cases. The potential for fines is meant to increase awareness and add a sense of urgency to the matter, but they will only be implemented after repeated notices and phone calls. Additionally, a moratorium on fines is in effect until 2011. [emphasis mine]

See, it starts off as small fines to raise 'awareness'. As more and more people
become complacent with recycling, more 'awareness' will need to be raised, by way of heftier fines.

And the moratorium will be lifted because people just aren't aware enough, gosh darn it.

Soon there will be a 'Green Police' out there inspecting the garbage to make sure that you didn't throw away any plastics that could be recycled.

And people think social conservatives are bad.

MORE: From the FAQ that San Francisco's Environment Department produced:

Residents and businesses want to do the right thing, and will do so once they know how. Warnings are opportunities for education, and fines to be levied only in egregious ongoing situations.[bold mine]

No choice but do it their way. Or the city will modify the behavior of the populous by way of fines and fees if they didn't shape up.

In essence, the city of San Fransisco deputized their sanitation department. The trash collectors will report on the citizens to make sure that they are separating out the food from the paper (PDF file. Starting on page 10).