The EPA claims that Americans generate a whopping 4.5 average pounds of garbage per person, of which 1.5 pounds get recycled. This staggering figure climbs miles higher than any other nation’s, but who’s surprised?

At least some people have started doing something about it. A company in Northern California called Four Course Compost cures yard and food waste for three months and the resulting nutrient-rich spread for $8-10 per cubic yard. A winemaker interviewed for the article said she loves using the compost to enrich her ten acres of vines.

Back to Wal-Mart—wonder how the two prototype superstores in Texas they opened in 2005 are doing. These allegedly rely on solar and wind power for about 8% of their energy, re-using heat generated by refrigeration equipment to heat the water in restroom sinks, using T5HO lamps, and laying pervious pavement down in the parking lot to allow rainwater to infiltrate the ground. These are terrific initiatives, but the Wal-Mart galaxy could use a lot more than two special stars, so hopefully we’ll see more.

For another take on waste, check out Wim Delvoye, the avant-garde Belgian artist also known for his faux-marble salami floor, who’s been making waves with his Cloaca project (pictures here) since he started feeding it exquisite meals twice a day in 2000. The machine is hardly necessary—haven’t we made clear that enough waste exists already?—but strikes the more puerile among us as pretty funny, especially the punch line: that the bags go for well over $1000.

But on a serious note, the recycling fanatics among you ought perhaps consider the Bio-Lux composting toilet, which uses sawdust to decompose human waste through aerobic fermentation. Toss the contents of the bin into the garden and watch your flowers fairly explode out of the ground.

Isn’t it spiriting to think that we live in a world where artificial poop costs a grand and recycling your own through Bio-Lux costs ten times that?

Although I must confess: There’s something about the existence of that salami carpet I find oddly cheering.

Nathalie Jordi's appetites keep her bouncing between between County Cork, New York, London and the French Alps.  When not slinging curd or interviewing farmers, she writes for Travel&Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Gastronomica, and her blog at www.autobiogeography.com.  Her dreams of a life spent baking, drinking margaritas, and sitting in the sun are gathering steam during her current stint as a waitress in New York City.