Boston Adds Solar Powered Trash Cans

The City of Boston is in the process of adding solar powered trash cans in its downtown. Despite early confusion from pedestrians, Mayor Tom Menino praises them for their cleanliness and ability to save on labor costs.

1 minute read

July 27, 2006, 10:00 AM PDT

By Mike Lydon

"They're boxy and green and, at first glance, don't even look like garbage cans; as Mayor Thomas M. Menino demonstrated their use yesterday, some people downtown mistook them for mail drops or traffic-light switch boxes.

They are Menino's latest idea for keeping the city litter-free: solar-powered, self-compacting trash receptacles. Delivering a rant about overstuffed trash cans, while trying to scrape gum off the bottom of his shoe at a Downtown Crossing unveiling, Menino described the virtues of the new devices. They need emptying only once or twice a day, not the 15 or more sanitation worker visits required by some downtown trash cans. They don't spill. They smell less. And, they hold some 150 gallons of trash, about five times more than a standard city receptacle."

FULL STORY: Solar-power compactors press the mess in Boston

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 in The Boston Globe

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