Recycling in the Village

Large bins like these will be used to recycle glass, metal, plastic and paper in the Village.

Beginning this week, residents in the Fermilab Village will be able to recycle everyday glass, metal, plastic and paper from their houses and dormitories. The recyclables will be picked up in designated green bins from residents' backyards every Thursday, which will also be the new trash pickup day. "We want to make it as easy as it would be in your own home," said Eric Mieland of ES&H.

Since last summer, a subset of Fermilab's Environmental Protection committee, along with experts from several areas of the lab, has been developing a plan to improve waste disposal on site. Although the lab has traditionally recycled scrap metal, paper products, and a variety of other items, this program is the first to implement a comprehensive personal waste recycling program. The recent renewal of the lab's contract with Allied Waste includes provisions for recycling clean metal, glass, paper and plastic (with recycling codes 1 through 5) in the same bin; no sorting will be required in the Village.

Jack Hawkins of Accommodations is anticipating changes in the way people dispose of their waste. "The size of the trash bins might go down as we start to recycle more. There will certainly be adjustments as we move along," he said.

Mieland said an upcoming challenge will involve making the program work across the entire site. The new initiative will include recycling bins installed in the Wilson Hall cafeteria over the next few weeks. Over the next year, the laboratory will conduct monthly meetings with the Custodial Department and representatives from each division and section, to explore the most effective ways to expand this recycling program across other buildings on site.

"We've reached a critical mass," said Mieland. "People really want this to happen."

--Christine Buckley

From MSNBC, March 23, 2007:

Elegant physicist makes string theory sexy

Brian Greene does theoretical physics ... and Hollywood as well

If you're trying to impress the geeks, being a professional string theorist would have to put you pretty high up on the coolness scale. And if you're a string theorist with books, movies and TV shows to your credit, so much the better.

By those measures, Columbia University physicist Brian Greene has already achieved superstring stardom: His book about string theory, "The Elegant Universe," broke onto bestseller lists and spawned a "Nova" documentary series by the same name (which you can watch online). He has consulted with - and taken cameo roles in - movies ranging from "Frequency" to "Deja Vu" to "The Last Mimzy" (which opens Friday). He's made the talk-show circuit, from "Nightline" and Letterman to "The Colbert Report." And as if all that wasn't enough, he's also organizing a World Science Festival in New York City.