New Game Aims to Give Garbage a New Life

Think for a moment about all of the trash produced in a week, in a month, or in a year. Instead of all that trash going into a landfill, could more of it be recycled and given a new life? As a part of Keep America Beautiful and the Ad Council’s “I Want To Be Recycled” campaign, St. John & Partners has created a new interactive online game called Super Sorter that educates gamers on the different ways items can be sorted and recycled.

The Super Sorter game takes place in a material recovery facility (MRF) where mixed recyclables are separated by different types of sorters. The goal of the game is to sort all of the materials in the queue as they progress down the conveyor belt and send the recyclables on their way to becoming something new and valuable. If you miss too many recyclables, and they end up in the landfill, you lose the level. Complete all seven levels and you are a Super Sorter!

The game is free and can be played at iwanttoberecycled.org/game.

The “I Want To Be Recycled” campaign builds on a great legacy of environmentally-focused public service announcements (PSAs), targeting sporadic recyclers and aiming to generate awareness and understanding of how, where and what to recycle. The Super Sorter game was created to engage a new generation of environmental stewards, building on data showing that 97% of teens (and more than 4 in 5 young adults) play computer, web, portable or console games.