Smart Trash Cans with a Small Footprint

Tomorrow is garbage day in Bethlehem which brings me to rather dirty subject... trash collection. Yes, it's a rather slow travel week for PilotGirl but my second favorite subject besides travel is the environment so today's blog is all about municipal solid waste. Hey now, don't laugh, this is very serious issue.

Did you know that on average, Americans throw away 30lbs of trash per week? Some of the neighbors in my suburban ozone look like they contribute twice that much! 30lbs a week totals 245 million tons a year. When fuel, labor and equipment is factored in it's no wonder that some city governments want to curb illegal dumping and pilfering.



Voila! The solution - the BigBelly Solar. While in Philadelphia last year I noticed these receptacles but thought nothing of their significance. It turns out that the trash cans reduce collection trips up to 80% saving the city huge amounts of diesel costs.

It works like this: the sun provides the energy for a mechanism to engage inside the BigBelly and crush the garbage every time it reaches a certain limit. This allows the can to contain 4 to 8 times the trash load of conventional wire trash cans. Ultimately the increased capacity of the BigBelly mean less trips by noisy garbage trucks, hence reducing noise and air pollution as well.

Also, these smart trash cans contain a wireless device that alerts home base when they need emptying.

To date, over 2,000 BigBellies have been sold across the U.S. and in 17 countries around the world. Might Albany, Troy, Schenectady or Saratoga be in need of a few? It sure would be nice if my neighborhood trash bins could do the same.