Solar trash
Apparently everyone else but me knows about these solar-powered compacting trash cans now dotted around Pasadena, but I saw this one at Lake and Green for the first time the other day, and was amazed, and you'll just have to call me late to the party.
I guess it saves on staff hours because its solar-powered engine compacts trash that passersby drop in every day and so it doesn't have to be emptied as often. Saves on landfill space, too -- except where it doesn't.
Because that's my beef with these. Nowhere around them is a recycling bin. So everything -- aluminum cans, glass, paper, other stuff that could avoid a trip to Scholl Canyon -- just goes in. And is compacted. And not reused.
Whereas up in wacko-Green Berkeley:
where I was this weekend for a campus board meeting at the old alma mater, not only do they have public recycling bins everywhere -- they've taken it to the Nth degree with composting bins on streetcorners as well. Eating an apple? Toss its core in to the future mulch.
Berkeley will always see you -- and raise you.
Comments
you should do your research first:
http://www.ci.south-pasadena.ca.us/publicworks/trash.html
[excerpt below taken from site above]
All customers are participating in a program whereby the entire waste stream is taken to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) where virtually all recoverable and recyclable materials are extracted from the commingled trash. The MRF process involves the recovery of recyclable materials first through a series of elaborate sorting and separating machines and then by hand along a convenyor belt system.
so in essence people should just tell their city they want in the MRF program, i mean if they are not already in.
we do not need 6 different bins around our house, or streets-one bin and recyclables get sorted out--more efficient saves the ozone so we dont need 6 different trash trucks going down our streets on trash day
Posted by: Christopher R. Glaze | May 18, 2009 10:59 PM
i'm quite sure i should do my research first -- but i went to the link and so far don't understand the connection between athens, the private trash hauler in south pas that the link discusses, and a public trash can in pasadena, which uses its public works department for pickups. maybe the compressed trash in pas is indeed separated out for recyclables. lw
Posted by: larry | May 19, 2009 9:57 AM