Berkeley offers to pay residents who recycle

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.

Each week's contestants will learn they have been selected only the night before two judges show up and start sifting. The city hopes to divert more than 1,300 tons of curbside waste and plant debris from landfills this year.

Berkeley has long considered itself a haven of environmentalism. Residents have a bevy of choices when it comes to recycling, from curbside pickup to several recycling centers.

The city's recycling rates reflect that convenience. Berkeley reported that it diverted half of its overall waste in 1999, according to figures the city provided to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

But those rates are not uniform. In more affluent areas of the city, the rate nears near 50 percent. Other areas fall to a 20 or 30 percent recycling rate.<