7 December, 2001

"Return to McMurdo"

Our return to McMurdo was uneventful, but we welcomed the hot showers, real toilets, and "home cooked" meals.

Thursday was spent attending the required "Waste Management" lecture. Every attempt is made in McMurdo to reuse, recycle, and reduce. Useable clothing and edible food is also sent to "Skua" (named after the scavenger bird of McMurdo) where it is checked and

sorted. Anyone is welcome to go through ad take what they might be able to use.

Special effort is also made to have several labeled waste containers in each building so that everyone can help with the recycling effort. Special containers are also set up in the cafeteria to separate "food waste" from "burnables". We are told that all waste is shipped out of Antarctica and disposed of properly.

Friday was spent as a "catch-up" day: last minute preparations, laundry, and probably our last showers before leaving for the field.

Friday evening the team was invited to be the guest speakers as the weekly informal "Science Club". Each week science teams are invited to a session of informal sharing for the work staff at McMurdo: cooks, custodians, clerical staff, etc. Without these wonderful people, science would be very difficult to accomplish in Antarctica.