Who wore it better trash can trial#

could fill a football field 10 stories high. The 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year in the U.S. If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week! She’s hopeful that the public-engagement process will not only get the public to support what could add up to a $9 million investment in thousands of trash cans, but will also help create a trash can design that better meets the needs of complex urban environments.Q: How much extra waste is created during the winter holiday season?Ī: Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time of year. “We’re working out the issues before it gets to mass production,” Rubenstein says. A closed-drawer design may deter people who don’t want to touch the handle, while a foot-pedal mechanism might be harder to maintain over the can’s lifetime, which could be 15 to 20 years. A too-big hole may lead to rummaging issues. A too-small hole in one design may lead to items like pizza boxes being dumped alongside. Rubenstein says the evaluation process may end up favoring one design over the others, or lead to a new design that combines elements from two or more.

The off-the-shelf options include the conventional open-top mesh basket, a rectangular bin with two large openings on either side, and a sturdy box modeled after the bear-resistant trash cans of national parks and campsites. Each design is equipped to handle a rolling can inside, making them easier to unload, and space for the sensor to monitor trash levels.

The third design is named Soft Square, for its four-sided shape, rounded top to prevent stacking of garbage, and mailbox-like hopper drawer that opens either with a handle or a foot pedal. Then there’s Slim Silhouette, an oval-like shape reminiscent of a deodorant stick, with a large round hole for trash that snorkles down into the can to prevent rummaging, and a smaller hole leading to a recyclables area. There’s the Salt & Pepper, a slightly tapered cylinder, reminiscent of a diner salt shaker, with ribbed steel fins around its perimeter a compact rectangular slit for tossing trash and a round hole at the top for recyclables. Whittled down from 15 concepts presented by the designers at the Institute for Creative Integration, the three new designs could almost be called sleek. “We have to have them fully functional, but they also have to be a visual asset on the street.” There are more than 3,000 city trash cans spread across San Francisco, and Rubenstein says they’re inevitably part of the way the city presents itself to the public. The pilot project is about more than functionality, though. “I think we’ll get a lot of feedback on how they’re functioning on the street,” Rubenstein says. In addition to the regular complaints and feedback the public already submits via email and the city’s 311 app, the pilot trash cans also have QR codes that link to a detailed survey, available in five languages. The city is hoping to collect public feedback on their usability, design, and trash-collecting prowess. “The public wants to have proof that it’s necessary to spend that money, which is thoroughly understandable,” Rubenstein says. Rubenstein says this won’t be the final cost of mass-producing the new cans, and the off-the-shelf options were included in the evaluation to give locals at least some cheaper alternatives. The cost of the proposed trash cans has rankled some, especially those noting that the price tag for producing one of the bespoke prototype models was more than $20,000. A few off-the-shelf options are also being evaluated, including one basic mesh-cage design that retails for $700 and a mailbox-style alternative that costs more than $3,000.

Who wore it better trash can trial#

Now, the city’s Department of Public Works has just started a 60-day trial period to field test 15 of these custom trash cans, which each has the same 32-gallon capacity as the city’s existing garbage cans. With an estimated per-can production cost of between $2,000 and $3,000, the three prototypes may be as close to perfect as San Francisco can get.

They balance ease of use, ease of unloading, durability of locks and hinges, and an integrated system for automatically detecting when they’re getting full. In consultation with various city departments, the city’s contracted garbage hauler, and industrial design firm the Institute for Creative Integration, the city has unveiled three prototype designs for a new city trash can. So the city set out to design a better solution.