PHA has added a new twist to its beautification campaign, becoming the first public housing authority in the country to install solar powered trashcans. The agency has installed 25 Big Belly cans at nine of its sites as part of its ongoing “Sparkle” program.
This is the world’s first and only solar-powered compaction system. It’s made by Big Belly Solar based in Needham, Mass. The containers use the sun’s energy to automatically compact trash at the point of disposal, dramatically increasing capacity of ordinary receptacles by 5 times. Increased capacity reduces collection trips and can cut related fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%.
“PHA is finding every way possible to be good stewards of the environment. Using trashcans that have to be emptied less often is another innovating way of saving gas in our vehicles. That’s why we chose Earth Day to make this announcement. The cans with the ‘Keep PHA Beautiful’ signs on them are also are a unique way to encourage residents not to litter,” said PHA Executive Director Carl Greene.
The trashcans are bolted to the ground and weigh 300 pounds. They open like a mailbox, preventing animals and people from getting at the trash. Big Bellys send out a wireless notice when it’s time to empty the trash. They also seal themselves once they’re completely full, so no one can stuff more trash into them.
“This is a very demonstrable way of showing folks what you’re doing for the environment,” says Bill Eddy of Big Belly. “By reducing the number of collection trips, Big Belly reduces the use of fossil fuel and carbon emissions. At 2.8 miles per gallon, garbage trucks are some of the least efficient and most polluting vehicles on the road.”
Eddy points out that in the U.S., garbage trucks burn over one billion gallons of diesel each year picking up the trash. Each gallon of diesel burned produces approximately 22 lbs of carbon dioxide (climate changing green house gas). In addition, diesel fumes contain nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, which is especially bad for young and old people and those with respiratory ailments.
“The compacting of trash makes daily removal of the can’s contents unnecessary,” says PHA’s Dan Quimby, Executive General Manager of Operations. “ We figure we’ll empty these trash cans 33% less often than traditional wire baskets. That’s critical because we have fewer maintenance workers now than we did just over a year ago and we have to work more efficiently.”
PHA first saw the Big Bellies when the manufacturer displayed them outside of City Hall. Big Belly Solar than lent one to PHA to test it out for several months at its Wilson Park site.
“It worked very well. We’re hoping that by placing them in high traffic areas, residents will take advantage of them, helping us make our developments sparkle,” Quimby says. “We’ll watch the usage of these cans for the next year, and we may buy more of them, depending upon the results.”
Big Bellys are safe and easy to use. They have a mechanism that keeps a person from putting his or her hand inside while the compactor is running.
The solar-powered containers also seal themselves once they’re completely full, so no one can stuff more trash into them. Bolting the cans to the ground prevents someone from pushing them over or removing them and turning them into personal property or a collector’s item.
“Anywhere there’s a large number of people that are generating a large amount of trash, our product makes sense,” Eddy says. “Because it’s solar-powered, it can be located anywhere as long as it can ‘see’ the sky.”
And, yes, this product is American made at a factory in Vermont. Eddy says they should last at least 10 years.
PHA residents at Bartram Village, Blumberg, Fairhill, Germantown House, Harrison Plaza, Hill Creek, Raymond Rosen, Westpark, and Wilson Park have the Big Bellies in several locations at those sites.
The new trash cans feature a “Keep PHA Beautiful” message to residents. The message is contained in special windows on two sides of each Big Belly. PHA could decide at some point to sell advertising in that space to defray the cost of the containers.
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