Peter Lobin of Solid Waste Solutions Corp. calls himself a "Garbologist." He was visiting San Francisco's Embarcadero when he noticed the public recycling set-up: One 90-gallon toter for "Recyclables," one for "Trash" and one for "Organics."

Since his company's motto is Integrated Environmental Solutions for a Sustainable Future, Lobin was interested. He noticed that there was a female attendant standing nearby, and he started up a conversation.

"How is this working?" he asked.

"Very well — now that we have attendants," was the answer. "See, when these were first installed, people mixed everything up," the attendant continued.

"So with you standing here, people are recycling properly," Lobin replied.

"Yes, they see us watching them and they're much more careful."

OK, we understand that it takes awhile for Americans to form new habits, but the future of the planet is at stake. This simple story begs the question: Do we still need Mom around to remind us to clean up after ourselves?

Questions can be sent to Jim Parks at jrparks@mac.com. To find out more about Jim Parks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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