Last week, the New York Times featured “Answers From a Garbologist,” a three-day Q&A column by Dr. Robin Nagle, the anthropologist-in-residence for the New York City Department of Sanitation. You might remember Nagle as the author of a terrific column for Waste Age last July about the anthropological value of landfills or from other pieces we have written about her.

The questions and responses in the Times column cover a broad swath of waste science and lore, from the pedestrian to the profound. All three segments are well worth your time:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Another report, this time from CNN, confirming what we all already suspected: oil collected on the Gulf’s coasts is winding up in nearby landfills. This time, it’s the Pecan Grove Landfill in Harrison County, Miss., owned by Waste Management. It’s one of nine landfills BP has contracted with to accept spill waste, despite voluble objections from the communities surrounding them. True to form, BP declines to comment on the story, leaving a Waste Management rep to cover on their behalf.

It is a well-known fact that you can make anything more endearing by endowing it with the ability to sing. It’s true for frogs. It’s true for raisins. And it’s apparently true for waste receptacles.

In a public service campaign adopted by municipalities around the country (most recently by Jackson Township, N.J.), young recycling bin Mikey is mentored by his older, wiser cohort, Herb, a trash bin. The spots, developed by Artisan Media Studios, a San Diego-based marketing and media firm, often result in one or both of the containers breaking out into song, such as a rendition of the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B” with recycling-centered lyrics.

The spots work on two levels: Either you find them delightful and are compelled to recycle, or you want to shove recyclables into the bins’ mouths to shut them up.

Source: Artisian Media Studios

Perhaps taking a cue from The Heap, which regularly reports on precious items inadvertently thrown away and miraculously recovered, San Bernadino County, Calif., is thinking about getting into the trash sleuthing business. Under the proposed plan, customers who lose items in the trash could call the county’s public works department, which would identify the truck servicing that area and pull it aside when it reaches the landfill. Then customers would be charged $25 for every 15 minutes workers spend searching the load for the item.

The value of this service as a revenue stream is debatable. But its potential as a game show is undeniable.

Source: The Mercury News

The Waste Age crew is decamping to Atlanta (OK, we’re actually just commuting down the road) for WasteExpo 2010. If you’re not going to be able to make it to the convention this year (or even if you are), we’ll be providing updates direct from the show. Be sure to sign up here to receive our WasteExpo Online Show Daily e-newsletter. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you at the show!

With sweeping recycling legislation pending in New York City, it’s no wonder trash has been on the minds of New Yorkers. In case you missed them, two recent pieces in the New York Times took on the issue of waste-to-energy (WTE) and disposal of waste. First, a lengthy debate over whether the country should burn or bury its trash. And this week, an op-ed argues for halting export of the city’s waste in favor of burning it in WTE facilities.

Waste Age has reported on stirrings in the WTE sector. What are your thoughts on wider adoption of the practice in New York specifically and in the United States in general?

I am a fan of the PBS anthology series Independent Lens, which features independently produced films that may or may not have had a theatrical release. Beginning today (depending on when the show airs on your local PBS affiliate), Independent Lens will be featuring the film “Garbage Dreams.” The documentary follows three boys who live among Egypt’s Zabaleen or “garbage people,” a segment of the population that sorts trash for their livelihood. Despite being responsible for an 80 percent recycling rate in the country, their way of life is threatened by incursions from multi-national waste handling corporations.

To see when the film will air in your market, you can check local listings here.

As you’ve no doubt been reminded 500 times by now, today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the event created to draw Americans’ attention to environmental issues. Lately, it seems like it’s become more of an occasion for companies to issue press releases touting relatively transparent attempts to swath themselves in green. But we should not let that tarnish a holiday that has actually help drive some real environmental progress over the last 40 years. This video from the Mother Nature Network offers a brief (and amusing) summary of how far we’ve come.

What are you doing to honor Earth Day? Will you still be doing it tomorrow?

We are exactly one month out from WasteExpo 2010 in Atlanta. As Waste Age plans its coverage, we’d like to know what you want to hear about. We’ll be providing updates here on The Heap, via our e-mail show daily (sign up here), and of course in the magazine after the show.

What aspects of the show most interest you? How do you generally consume news about the show? Would you be interested in Twitter or Facebook show updates? Let us know!

A recent story in the Las Vegas Sun reveals that the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cashman Center recycled more than half of the waste material collected at those facilities in 2009. That gives the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), which operates both facilities, one of the highest diversion rates among U.S. meeting facilities operators.

From the article:

[Taryle Spain, director of client services for the LVCVA and leader of its “green team”] said overall, the LVCVA recovered 2,665.9 tons of materials of 4,070.7 tons processed for a recovery rate of 66 percent. That percentage is well ahead of most of the city’s convention rivals and just ahead of the Orlando convention center’s reported recycling rate of 65 percent.

Waste Age is well acquainted with the Las Vegas Convention Center, as it seems like WasteExpo is held there every other year (but not this year). While I have not spied any separate recycling receptacles during those shows, it’s likely most of the material is being separated post collection.