Colo. Resort Town Mulls 'Pay as You Throw' Trash Plan

Camera phone posts pictures of garbage on Facebook, encourages recycling

(AP) - Now on Facebook: Your garbage. Or at least, the garbage of five households who signed up for a Newcastle University program that posts photos of every item dumped in one garbage can on Facebook. Hoping to raise consciousness about recycling efforts, it uses a sensor and a camera phone to snap an image each time the garbage can lid shuts. The person who does that is not photographed, and households that participate will be rated on how efficiently they recycle. So far, researchers say it's working. Non-recyclable garbage has diminished in the weeks since the program began. More»

Actor appears in Colorado court to answer to domestic abuse allegations

(NEWSER) - Charlie Sheen was arraigned today in Aspen, Colo., on a felony charge of menacing and two misdemeanors after a Christmas Day fight with his wife, Brooke Mueller. The judge also lifted a restraining order that had been in place since Mueller summoned police, saying the actor had threatened her with a knife. Sheen did not enter a plea and is due back in court March 15, Radar reports. More»

Cities who divert the least from landfill named and shamed

(NEWSER) - The average American city recycles about a third of its waste, but the lack of any unified national standard for trash disposal means some cities rate way, way, below average. Mother Jones lists those with the biggest trash piles:

• Oklahoma City recycles only 3% of its waste. Households have to pay a steep price to recycle, resulting in the worst recycling rate in the land.

(NEWSER) - Despite their reputation for being unfriendly to the environment, several ski resorts have become more sustainable, says Treehugger, which lists seven of the nation’s greenest mountain getaways.

1. The Aspen Skiing Company, Colorado: This four-mountain resort said to be at the center of the green movement began eco-friendly initiatives in 1997 using wind power and biodiesel.
2. Smugglers’ Notch Family Resort, Vermont: Green initiatives here include energy efficiency, recycling, water conservation, and wildlife protection.

Pair of threats paralyzed resort town for New Year's Eve

(NEWSER) - Jim Blanning, the 72-year-old parolee police suspect sent threatening notes and mysterious packages to a pair of Aspen banks yesterday, was found dead east of town this morning, having apparently shot himself, the Denver Post reports. Police identified Blanning, a former Aspen native now living in Denver, from bank security footage, during an investigation that shut down 16 blocks in downtown Aspen. More»