everydaytrash

   How do you throw away an old war ship?  Apparently there are a bunch of ships docked around the country suffering from disrepair or simply outdated by newer models (you know how we love to create bigger and better military equipment).  Waste News reports that two out-of-commission pieces of a long-abandoned fleet in Virginia are headed for that great recycling plant in the sky.  I find it interesting that it takes one corporate contract to construct and another to dismantle the machines of war—to say nothing of the contracts commissioned to repair what we destroy using those machines.  Anyway, “ghost fleet” is a cool term for ships in reserve.  You gotta hand it to the military, you just can’t beat the lingo.

Photo from Wikipedia 

Travelling for a couple of days, the weekly compactor will be posted over the weekend.  Excuse the delay!

  As someone who reads a lot of garbage headlines, I can say with authority that Toronto is way into trash.  Media stories about how to green a community, waste export policy debates and grassroots organizing around reducing waste quite often carry Toronto datelines.  So, I wasn’t that surprised to see the local weekly, Eye Weekly focus on trash for an Earth Day special in a stellar compilation of blogworthy articles (thanks for the link, mom).

My favorite piece is an overview of the publications recent design challenge to build a better trash can.  Check out what the judges had to say about the three most innovative contenders.  The idea behind the contest was to build a vessel that would allow consumers to separate their waste, recognizing the diversity of what we throw away and the various places it should go.  Too cool.
I’m torn between the “JUSTDESIGN” and “TRASHIE” models.

  Check out this hip little video from Current TV.  Episode “World of Trash” takes a closer look at what we throw away, where it goes and what can be done to reduce the flow.  Sound familiar? 

 It’s great to see trash out there as a hot topic in an ever greener world.  This is a great 101 to share with friends new to the wonky fascination.

  Tuesday wasn’t as trashtastic as one might have hoped this week.  I’m hanging on to this week’s interview until it’s good and ready.  I hope, with the long weekend and still-fading buzz of the first weekend of summer (sort of), you’ll cut me some slack.

And speaking of slack, Alina over at Closet Environmentalist has been picking it up on the garblogging front.  Check out her freshly posted guide to recycling, including tips on when NOT to recycle. 

Tune into NBC Nightly News this evening for a short but sweet segment on my favorite repurposed trash team, Bead for Life.

Photo from the Beader’s newsletter.

  When he discovered his local mangrove full of trash that had floated downstream, noble Floridian and kayak guide Kurt Zuelsdorf took action.  Among his many clean-up projects is this simple and innovative trade: he offers free kayak rentals in exchange for bringing back a bag of trash.  So far this project has collected 11,000 pounds of waste, to say nothing of Zuelsdorf’s larger interventions with a local nonprofit.  Kudos, Kayakin’ Kurt.

Photo by Scott Keeler for the St. Petersburg Times

  I’ve been collecting bits and pieces on the Zabbaleen lately, Christian rag pickers in Cairo who got the short end of the governmental stick when Egypt reformed trash laws.  This Christian Science Monitor piece offers some good background.  More to come…

Among the many sites QE2 gazed upon during her visit to America was a collection of armor and weapons found in a trash pit from old Jamestowne.

Photo from Reuters.