Congratulations to the Fort Bliss (Texas) Recycling Program, which recently received a first place award for Waste Reduction (Government Category) from Keep America Beautiful. Fort Bliss, the first U.S. Army installation to offer single-stream recycling, was profiled in the June issue of Waste Age. You can read the article here.

Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum has found a great way to encourage e-waste recycling. According to TreeHugger, from Jan. 15-24, the museum is offering free tickets for the IMAX documentary “Wild Ocean” to people who turn in an old cell phone for recycling. Given the film’s eco-friendly message, the offer is probably preaching to the choir, but it’s a good idea nonetheless.

What are some similar, simple ways we can get people to recycle key items they might otherwise toss in the trash?

No one who witnessed Archie Lee Wells’ casket rolling slowly toward the graveyard on the forklift of a garbage truck would question the man’s devotion to his profession. A garbage truck driver for 20 years, Wells succumbed to a malignant brain tumor in December at age 43. Before the end, he made it clear that he should be conveyed to his final rest by the Mack truck he drove for Western Waste Services (WWS) in Twin Falls, Idaho.

“That was his final wish,” Wells’ 21-year-old daughter, Melvina Patterson told the Magic Valley Times-News. “My dad told me from the time I was a little girl that he was not a rich man. He didn’t want to be carried in a hearse.

“‘I’m a garbage man and I want to be carried on the forklift of my garbage truck,’” she said he had told her. A procession of WWS vehicles proudly carried out that last request.

Wells leaves behind seven children, 12 grandchildren and a host of garbage men striving to live up to his legacy.

Source: Magic Valley Times-News

Depending on how enthusiastically you rang in the New Year, you likely spent the first morning of 2010 enjoying the annual spectacle that is the Tournament of Roses Parade. But it’s after the 750,000 spectators clear out and the television cameras switch off that the real show begins: the cleanup.

“I think it’s become a tradition [for spectators] to leave their trash behind. It’s kind of like movie-theater syndrome,” Ann Erdman, spokeswoman for the city of Pasadena, Calif., told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

The 70-person Pasadena Department of Public Works is tasked with collecting the 65 to 75 tons of trash left along the 5.5-mile parade route. According to the Tribune, crews start at either end of the route, removing large items that might impede foot or car traffic. From 10:30 p.m. New Year’s Day to 7:30 a.m., Jan. 2, the remaining debris is swept into the street and scooped up for collection before street sweepers make a final pass. Given the tremendous volume of trash that must be cleared in a short amount of time, none of the material is recycled.

Still, it’s better than cleaning up after the elephants.

Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune