Is automated collection for you?

摘要

One of the first (and worst) public works jokes I heard when I started with PUBLIC WORKS magazine was about solid waste. It goes something like this: A father is driving his young daughter to her first day of school and asks what she wants to be when she grows up. He's anticipating "ballerina," or "doctor," or "astronaut." The little girl thinks for a moment, and says, "Daddy, I want to be a garbage man." Puzzled, the father asks why. "It's simple, Daddy. They only work one day a week!" If only it were that easy. Living in the large city of Chicago, I'm very aware of how much solid waste there is-on the streets and in the alleys, where my trash is collected. Those refuse collectors stop by my house only on Tuesdays, but I see the giant blue Streets and Sanitation trucks scattered around the city's neighborhoods every day of the week.