Urban Park Pavilions: Lessons Learned

The pavilions provided the opportunity to look into some specific assumptions about behavior and accessibility that could then be applied to other city pavilions.

For example, on days when the pavilions were reserved to a specific person or group, the recycling rates were higher. Also, when the ratio of recycling bins to trash cans was closer to even, the recycling rates went up as well.

In fact, when the ratio was one to one (seven recycling bins paired with seven trash bins), and the pavilion was reserved, 85% of the recyclables were captured. In contrast, during a free-for-all holiday where there were ten trash bins available and only seven recycling bins and only 30% of the recyclables made it into the recycling.