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Somerville's Trash Cans Are Rad, Getting Radder

The city of Somerville, Massachusetts, has 50 of these BigBelly Solar Trash Recepticles. Unlike normal city trash cans, the BigBelly units...

Andrew Price
By Andrew PriceMar 19, 2009
Andrew Price
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The city of Somerville, Massachusetts, has 50 of these BigBelly Solar Trash Recepticles.Unlike normal city trash cans, the BigBelly units function as trash compactors themselves. Because trash is compacted where it's deposited (rather than piling up and spilling out), each BigBelly can hold five times the trash a normal can could, which substantially reduces the number of pickup trips necessary. And the energy is clean: the compacter is powered by solar panels on top of the can which are, apparently, efficient enough to work in cloudy Somerville.Now the BigBellys in Somerville are getting rigged to send text messages to waste management headquarters when they're full so there's no more need to drive around checking if cans are full at all. If your city's in the market for some new trash receptacles, lobby for these.

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