Very Hazardous Waste Duty: Even up at the top of the
world, where few bipeds dare to tread, some people canīt
resist leaving their piggish mark. Scientific American
reports that a group of climbers from Japan
and Nepal recently scaled Mount Everest and cleared about
1,000 poundsī worth of old tents, food tins, medicine
containers and such that climbers have left scattered around
the peak over the decades.
The leader of the group, Ken Noguchi of Japan, has led
several Everest cleanup campaigns through the years. Noguchi
says he has collected 8.8 metric tons of litter from the
mountain to date.
Trash Plan Side-Railed: The Mid-Hudson News
Network
reports that the town of Middletown, N.Y.,
and the owner of a rail line that runs through the city have
agreed on a 20-year host community arrangement that will
avert the rail-hauling of garbage through the city.
Renters Outrecycle Owners: Apartments.com, a
national rental-property listing service,
found in a recent survey that 63% of
apartment dwellers say they recycle regularly. Conversely,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that 32% of
the U.S. population participates in recycling programs.
Very interesting. Is it me, or does that data suggest
that Americans who live in apartments are, on the whole,
highly motivated to recycle, and that their zeal is lifting
the overall rate, which is being weighted down on the other
end by -- ostensibly -- a bunch of lazy, apathetic
homeowners?
Please go easy on the e-mail trigger, people. I did say
ostensibly.
Present Company Excluded: Speaking of surveys,
letīs end today with
this one, from Americaīs self-professed
finest news source, The Onion. A recent University of
Chicago study found that 38% of the U.S. population is
neither qualified nor entitled to have their own opinions.
Letīs all thank our lucky stars we have The Onion out
there on the trail for us hunting down the truth, capturing
it, and then, most importantly, blasting it to bits for
sillinessī sake.
Pete Fehrenbach is assistant managing editor of
Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected
in
the Inbox archive.
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http://www.wastenews.com
