If nobody stopped me, I could talk about urban sanitation for hours on end. Unfortunately, somebody (normally my wife) always stops me – usually in the first minute or two. It seems few people share my pathological fixation with littering and ways to optimise waste management.

Until recently, that is. Now every single resident of Philadelphia, my home town, is talking trash. Almost 10,000 city workers, members of the city’s largest blue-collar union, went on strike for eight days, affecting everything from libraries to public swimming pools. But the most visible signs of the strike were the huge piles of trash that accumulated (nicknamed “Parker Piles” after mayor Cherelle Parker) because there was no garbage pickup. Did I mention it has been boiling hot? You can imagine the situation. The rats are in heaven; I am in hell.

Early on Wednesday, a deal was finally done. The trash is still there, however. While I have been a........

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