03/18/13 2:00pm

POOP SCIENCE COMES TO FAIRMONT MUSEUM DISTRICT APARTMENTS And one of the “amenities” that the doubling-in-size Fairmont Museum District wasn’t ready to announce would seem to be that poop detection service picking up steam in Dallas: Houston Chronicle’s Carol Christian reports that the Richmond and Dunlavy apartment complex that’s right beside Ervan Chew Park has already asked tenants to submit their pets’ DNA to hasten the resolution of these mistakes most foul: The main reason we decided to try [PooPrints] was because we had a specific issue on one of our floors with accidents,” Fairmont manager Molly Kalish tells Christian. Still, the whodunit service seems to have a few bumps, since it provides no way to sniff out a motive or track a rogue agent: “ . . . DNA testing did not identify any [Fairmont] tenant’s dog as the recent accident-prone culprit,” reports Christian, “suggesting that a visitor might have been responsible.” [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Fairmont Museum District: Allyn West

03/15/13 1:30pm

DNA TESTING HELPING TEXAS APARTMENTS DELIVER JUSTICE TO UNSCOOPED DOG POOP Up in Dallas, reports Click2Houston, dozens of apartment complexes are requiring tenants to file their dog’s DNA. That way, any poop that’s not cleaned up can be directed to the proper authorities — that’d be PooPrints, which uses as-seen-on-TV crime-fighting technology to test the waste for DNA and finger any owner who’s not minding his dog’s business. PooPrints CEO Cedric Moses says that his company doesn’t have any contracts yet in Houston, but he has a distributor headquartered in League City who has a nose to the ground. [Click2Houston] Photo: Houston Pooper Scoopers

03/15/13 11:00am

ACTUALLY, SAY CRITICS, ‘ONE BIN FOR ALL’ MAYBE NOT BEST IDEA Mayor Parker’s prize-winning garbage program was questioned yesterday by activists and environmentalists, reports Hair Balls’ Vanessa Piña — especially because the $1 million the city won from Mayor Bloomberg seems awfully puny in light of the expected $100 million the new sorting facility could cost. And, reports Piña, critics are suggesting that “One Bin for All” seems kinda unnecessary: “There is a successful partnership between the city and waste management, and material is daily being handled. Waste Management’s single stream sorting facilities are running at an estimated 50 percent of capacity and can easily handle more if the city will only provide more carts to our citizens,” says Leo Gold. And here’s Dr. Robert Bullard, public affairs dean at Texas Southern: “For someone who has done research and written more than 18 books on this stuff it is rather odd that we would be opting for an unproven, risky idea.” [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot] Photo of recycling bin in the Heights: Charles Kuffner

01/29/13 4:30pm

LEARN BY UNDOING Bellaire City Council voted today to spend an extra $8,000 to allow Habitat for Humanity to practice “whole house recycling” and, in lieu of the usual one-fell-swoop, whiz-bang demolition, “deconstruct” over a 14-day span this home at 5119 Jessamine, reports Robin Foster; the ayes argued that deconstruction can reduce the amount of wasted reusable material — but there remained at least one unconvinced nay: “‘Demolition is recycling, recycling is demolition,’ said [Bellaire mayor Phil] Nauert.” [West U Examiner] Photo: West U Examiner

02/07/12 12:13pm

NEW ROTATING GARBAGE TRUCKS WILL KEEP ON TOSSING YOUR TRASH Behold the new German-made Rotopress collection trailers, now making their North American debut — in Houston. Local refuse braintrust Waste Management is introducing the new vehicles in a pilot program here, before rolling them out to 4 other U.S. cities. The natural-gas powered tumblers hold 40 percent more waste than conventional collection trucks, are quieter, have fewer moving parts, and separate from their truck cabs, which the company can switch out and upgrade independently. The rotating drum helps distribute the load more evenly on the trailer, and mixes wet and dry materials, which the company tactfully says “reduces the amount of free liquid in the system.” That should result in fewer leaks and a less pronounced rotting-garbage smell. [GreenBiz] Video: Waste Management