Garbage

Mayor Sheila Dixon's proposed "One Plus One" sanitation plan would limit garbage pickup to a total of 64 gallons once per week, while allowing for unlimited recycling. On the surface it may seem like a good plan; after all, who would oppose increasing recycling and sending less waste to landfills? However, once we look at the math behind the plan, it no longer makes sense. According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an average person in this country produces 4.6 pounds of garbage daily, or a total of 32 pounds per week.

I remember the first wave of guerrilla Dumpster divers. They wanted to feed the hungry of Baltimore, and they detested the practice of supermarkets throwing away so much food. So they raided Dumpsters on behalf of needy men, women and children who turned up at the city's soup kitchens, shelters and charitable pantries looking for food. Now comes a new kind of Dumpster diver: They scavenge through the American food chain on behalf of the planet - and their backyard gardens. Lizz King is one such Dumpster diver.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's bill to reduce trash pickup to once a week must be cleaned up before it can become law, City Council members and community leaders said at a hearing Tuesday, warning that it could have unintended consequences and prove too restrictive. For example, the bill as written "effectively eliminates" all trash pickup for some renters because their buildings, which could include up to seven townhouses, would be eligible to use only a single 64-gallon trash can, testified Amy Macht, president of Regional Management Inc..

Baltimore officials are developing plans to distribute 64-gallon trash cans to all city homes as a part of a proposal to reduce garbage pickup to once a week. The green heavy-duty plastic receptacles would include an attached lid to keep rats out and wheels for easy movement. Each city-owned can would have a bar code, assigning it to a specific address. The design of the cans enables garbage trucks to lift and empty them automatically, helping the city to "efficiently and effectively provide better services," said Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Ah, twice-a-week garbage collection. It was nice while it lasted - 55 years, apparently - but it's time to give up this municipal luxury. It's time to hold our noses and pry this one out of our cold, Hefty Cinch Sak'd fingers. As the city looks to slash spending - Mayor Sheila Dixon on Friday projected a $65 million gap in fiscal 2010 between what the city will take in and what it will spend to provide the current level of services - going from twice- to once-a-week garbage pickup is an idea whose time has come.

Wars have given us the Jeep, the computer and even the microwave. Will the war in Iraq give us the Tiger? Military scientists at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground hope so. The machine - its full name is the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery - combines a chute, an engine, chemical tanks and other components, giving it the appearance of a lunar rover. It's designed to turn food and waste into fuel. If it works, it could save scores of American and Iraqi lives.

South Florida isn't exactly known for its rolling hills and varied landscape. Most of the area is low-lying flatland, so golf course architects have had to go to extreme measures to create elevation and contour. Case in point: The Park Ridge public golf course in Lake Worth is built atop a huge landfill, which gives golfers a pretty nice view of the West Palm Beach area from some holes. Of course, teeing off on a huge pile of garbage might not appeal to some, but it seemed apropos for my game.

The Copy Cat building might be the only place in the city where a professional dancing banana could feel at home. In one apartment, a tire swing dangles between a drum set and a bar. In another, food salvaged from garbage bins fills the refrigerator and a bottle of turquoise hair dye sits in the bathroom. Everywhere you look in the former factory in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District there are interesting things -- an old wheelchair, a maze of hand-built walls, an orange cat named Fettuccine -- and countless works of art. "I consider it my own personal playground," says Carabella Sands, 21, the dancing banana in question, who retreats there after a long day luring customers to a Timonium smoothie stand.

A county plan to expand Harford's waste-to-energy plant awaits a decision on funding and bids from manufacturers, who will offer proposals to boost the energy output of the facility in Joppa. The county recently spent $10 million to upgrade air pollution controls at the 19-year-old plant and has asked the County Council for $60 million for an expansion. Officials say the project would extend the life of the county's landfill in Street and help protect the Chesapeake Bay. Contractor bids on the project are due by the end of May. "It is where we should be heading," said Robert B. Cooper, county director of public works.

The wind whipped through North Bradford Street, lifting trash off the pavement like an invisible hand and pushing it onto a sidewalk. Through yesterday's clutter of flattened fast-food cartons, crushed beer cans and empty bags of chips walked 16-year-old Deshawn Batson -- on a mission. Wearing shiny black shoes and a black suit and tie, Batson had heard about Thursday's lunchtime quadruple shooting in the 1700 block. He knew about the 10-year-old boy and two 15-year-old girls who were struck by stray bullets, and the 20-year-old man who was the intended target.