I remember reading an article not long ago, a street-level slice of life about the workaday grind faced by sanitation workers here in America. A question was posed to one of those workers along the lines of what´s the most frightening thing that has happened to you on the job. The worker replied that every now and then he´ll grab an open can and a raccoon or opossum will jump out of it.

Now, granted, that certainly is the type of encounter that would stop anyone´s heart for a beat or two. But it´s a walk in the park compared to what Baghdad´s sanitation workers are going through. A second or two´s heart stoppage is vastly preferable to a, shall we say, more permanent condition.

Make Up Your Mind: Great, Or Dismal?
Waste Industries USA´s plan to build a big landfill in the northeastern corner of North Carolina near the Great Dismal Swamp (Inbox´s Oxymoronic Place-Name of the Week®) is meeting stiff resistance from area citizens groups, according to a recent article from the Virginian-Pilot. Just a hunch: I wouldn´t be surprised if New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his crew are monitoring this tiff closely.

Nice Job; Now Get To Work
The Christian Science Monitor last week ran an interesting story that includes a recent historical overview of paper recycling in the U.S. The verdict: When it comes to recycling paper, we´re getting better all the time, but we still have plenty of room left for improvement.

Opposites Day At Reuters?
Yesterday, Reuters posted a story about the U.S. Supreme Court´s decision to review a lower court´s ruling that Duke Energy Corp. did not violate clean air laws by modernizing eight coal-burning power plants in North and South Carolina without obtaining a permit. The story was well executed, complete, accurate. As was the headline -- not. "U.S. Court Won´t Review Duke Energy Clean Air Ruling," the headline writer didn´t write. I mean, wrote. Oopsies.

What About Heavy Pollution During The Day?
"Light Pollution In Night Skies Object Of New State Legislation" -- Headline, Carroll County [Va.] News, May 15

Others Plunge Right In
"Septic Tanks Can Baffle Some" -- Headline, Houston Chronicle, May 13

Their Smile Is A Ruse
I´ll close today with a goofy tidbit that admittedly has little to do with waste or the environment. (I guess I could invoke wildlife regulation, but that would stretching it.) It comes from -- where else? -- The Onion. The headline: "Study: Alligators Dangerous No Matter How Drunk You Are."

The story entails a breakthrough in science´s understanding of the nature of alligator-drunkard relations. As one of the study´s principals summarizes, "Our data strongly indicates that human intoxication does not transform an alligator into a docile creature that enjoys wrestling."

Pete Fehrenbach is assistant managing editor of Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.