Starting next week, the city is enforcing a new Seattle law that says your garbage cannot contain more than 10 percent recyclables.

"We see a lot of cardboard, glass, and plastic bottles in commercial garbage bins that should be recycled," says senior inspector Peter Russell. "We're more than happy to work with businesses to get them started with recycling and we hope they'll cooperate."

While 9 out of 10 single family homes in Seattle participate in the free recycling program, only half of all businesses, condos, and large apartments sort their garbage.

To enforce the new rule, three Seattle inspectors will randomly inspect commercial garbage bins.

"We're not sorting through the garbage and looking in garbage bags," Russell explains. "This is just a visual check and we're going to assume what we see on top represents the garbage beneath."

Offenders will be warned the first two times and inspectors will take photographs to state their case. The third offense comes with a $50 fine.

The new law only applies in Seattle and while inspectors won't be checking residential garbage bins -- the garbage collectors will. If a trash collector looks in a bin and sees more than 10 percent of material that can be recycled, the trash won't be picked up. A tag will be left on the can instructing the customer to separate the recyclables and try again next week.

Russell encourages all families to sort their recyclables from the trash, help save the Earth and $50.