A Century of Waste

Melanie A. Lasoff

If you think cleaning up after a family is a chore, imagine you're a member of the New York Department of Sanitation's cleaning crew the day after the city hosted a New Year's party of 2 million revelers.

Before the clock struck 12, city employees passed out 20,000 balloons and 30,000 pompons and mylar leis to the crowd as it waited for the giant Waterford crystal ball to drop. Additionally, 3,500 pounds of confetti were dropped from the sky at the stroke of 2000 - plus food and drink waste accumulated over the course of 18 hours.

To tidy things up, 65 sanitation employees used 10 sweepers, three collection trucks, 21 backpack blowers ... and a lot of caffeine.

Source: Schwarze Industries' American Sweeper Magazine

Bugging the Ritz Next time you're in one of the five Ritz Carlton Hotels in Southern California, you may have a reason to say, "Waiter, there's a bug in my soup." After all, the hotels are using the tiny critters for waste treatment and odor control.

Armed with microbial blends manufactured by U.S. Microbiotics Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., the hotel's housekeeping, kitchen and engineering departments pour the powdery solution into guest room bathroom drains to loosen shampoo, lotion, hair and other materials. Kitchen employees use the microbial blend for "grease trap maintenance." U.S. Microbiotics' bugs also have become an odor eliminator in the bathroom and kitchen.

For all that work they're doing, let's hope those bugs at least get free rooms.

Source: U.S. Microbiotics Inc.