Fitbits, wearable electronic devices that measure a person’s activity, are on the rise due to their interactive nature and ease of use. Two UGA College of Engineering professors have taken the Fitbit concept and applied it to recycling with their WeRecycle bin.

“When you’re active with a Fitbit, the device smiles at you,” said Jenna Jambeck, an associate professor in the College of Engineering. “You get automatic feedback for doing something good. We used the same kind of idea when creating WeRecycle.”

First conceived in 2010, the WeRecycle bin is the invention of Jambeck, assistant professor Kyle Johnsen and former graduate student Eliana Mozo Reyes.

By using lights and sounds as well as counting the number of items recycled, the creators of WeRecycle have developed a rewarding and entertaining device to encourage recycling.

“The bin works by attracting attention through lights and sounds, detecting the deposit of an item into the bin, and then providing feedback in the form of a current count of items recycled in the bin and additional lights and sound,” Johnsen said. More