Waste_Inbox

Picking Trash, Packing Heat: A startling sight greeted motorists along Minnesota Route 55 in the Twin Cities suburb of Mendota Heights last weekend: About a dozen Adopt-A-Highway volunteers picked up litter for a few hours Sunday while carrying guns on their hips.

According to a report in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, this event was all on the up-and-up. It was the inaugural litter cleanup by a group that calls itself Minnesota Carry Permit Holders.

I find this story fascinating, even though I am not -- and never will be, even remotely -- a gun guy. Because the one situation that sometimes makes me wish I had one is when I see a motorist toss a piece of litter out a car window. That type of action begs for a loud response, and a car horn just doesn’t send the same message that a nice, big bazooka would.

"The Rollout Ain't Rolling": Chicago's budget woes have hampered and slowed the launch the city's blue-cart recycling program, prompting some City Council members to worry loudly that the program's wheels might be falling off. Read the Chicago Tribune's account of the situation here.

Correction: Last Tuesday's column included a quote from one "John Rathbone," general manager of solid waste for the city of Toronto. As a couple readers pointed out, Mr. Rathbone's first name is Geoff, not John. Sorry about that.

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

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