Page One

City offers to pay each week if garbage is indeed garbage 

This Earth-friendly city plans to pay residents at least $250 if their trash is clean — of recyclables, that is. 

The city is launching a “Cash for Trash” contest next month that will see inspectors sift through the garbage of one willing household each week. If the trash is free of recyclables — from the obvious glass bottle to the less celebrated milk carton — the household wins the cash. 

Should inspectors from the city and the nonprofit Ecology Center find recyclables, however, the money will roll over into the next week. 

Berkeley featured a similar initiative in 1988, when the jackpot swelled to $4,000. This installment will last five months. 

“This is a fact: If you don’t do promotions, then your recyclables go down,” said Kathy Evans, an adviser to the campaign. “People loved it the last time. They would come up to me all the time and say, ’I’m going to win.”’ 

Actually, the chances of being chosen are quite slim — Berkeley has 38,000 eligible households.