Last night I was talking to a fine young lady and I caught myself saying “taking photos of waste receptacles is one of my favorite things to do”.  Wow, it really is.  And she didn’t run away, either.

Last time I was in Denver, I thought to myself “wow, they have really nice waste stations here.”  I had a surprisingly easy time taking photos of them, too…very laid back in comparison to Philly where I would have been perceived as a terrorist.  I want to make a book of photos of airport waste receptacles from around the world…well, I guess it has to happen now.

Anyway, Denver is clearly on top of their game.  Each container looks consistent while remaining different.  They’re labeled very clearly as to what they are and the shapes of the disposal holes are excellent.  The commingled one has not only a large hole on the  top (although not as big as the Trash hole), but also two on the sides that make you think of putting your drink in there.

[side note: a few months ago, I had a drink when I was going through the security checkpoint (yes, I know this is obviously a no-no) and they made me dispose of it there on the spot…no recycling to be found.  Better yet someone behind me complained there was nowhere to recycle it so I’m not alone on this complaint…I’m one of two people.]

Another key factor is that they’re all different heights, too… definitely an excellent design.  However, I’m surprised the Paper top isn’t blue instead of black like the Trash top.  I’m more of a fan of having the entire container be one color, and different from the others next to it…no more ugly swirly silvery things.  Now I’m just nitpicking so I will end it now.  Kudos, Denver Airport!

Next in the series will be one of my favorites in the ‘creative ways to dispose of your trash’ category…stay tuned!

I’d say this can is among the most confusing I’ve ever seen…I’m not sure if it’s me overthinking it in combination with being nerdy, or if it really does suck that bad.  I’m biased…whenever I see a stone waste receptacle, I instantly cringe.  Is it really necessary?  Especially this one, which appears to be PAINTED stone.  It looks like it used to be gray stone, and then they rattle canned it green to hint that you might be able to recycle stuff here.  I’ll give it the benefit and move on.

So what happened here?  These cans were all over the place… were they originally trash receptacles, and then a crafty welder came along and made tiny recycling amendments for all of them?  Glass and Cans only?  No plastics accepted, although you have a commingled program?  All right.  Why does it say Trash on the underside?  Mixed messages equal crappy compliance and dwindling confidence.

Is this design meant to only hold 5 glass containers or cans?  That’s about all the top can hold.  There’s actually a hinge in the bottom of that thing, and its purpose eludes me.

I’m complaining so much about this that I don’t want to read my writing anymore.  I’m going to try full throttle optimism here: Maybe the can was originally for general waste, then modified for full-on recycling at a time when the city could not accept all the basics.  Maybe all their waste goes to a Material Recovery Facility, therefore triumphing over mixed messages.

Let’s hope this is the case…and if so, make it known.  Scrap all the tops for metal, make little signs on all of your city receptacles that say “This material is sent to a Materials Recovery Facility for Optimal Waste Segregation and Recycling.”

Headache.  Bedtime.  Happy holidays.

Hi.  It’s time for another installment of Waste of the Week.  This one, like the first edition, is also from San Francisco.  So how do I feel about it?  It’s a tough call… I love the effort here, but there’s some simple improvements that can be made.  Actually, now that I think about it, this setup is pretty darn nice for those on the cheap.  Businesses take note.

Pros:

1) Cans are all different colors.  Different colors = less thinking = good.

2) Basic descriptions of each clearly posted…and with manners!

3) They’re composting.  Always good.

Cons:

1) Black bags.

Well, this one is more of a con for waste nerds and trash pickers…black bags aren’t easy to see into, and waste haulers aren’t going to know what’s in them either.  Bottom line, it leaves room for negative thoughts about the end result of the contents (actually, it makes me think of black garbage bags being used to throw away millions of tons of yard waste into landfills each year, which then gives me a serious headache).

2) No lids!

I need the two circular cutouts side-by-side on the blue one (commingled) for sure.  As for the black and green cans… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a special lid for compost cans of this size/model (aka the “slim jim”).  A compost lid should be a funky star-shaped cutout (that’s what you are when you compost), or maybe a simple oval would make more sense.  Anything to keep it from being an open void while remaining distinctive from the other two is fine by me.

3) It’s situated next to a bench.

HA!  Personally I don’t care about this at all, but there was actually an old lady complaining to another old lady that she didn’t want to sit on the bench because the “smelly rubbish bins” were right there…seriously.  This isn’t the first time I’ve witnessed this, either.  On top of that, I think she was imagining the smell because all three cans were empty, which was a bummer because I was really curious if customers were using this setup properly.

Yeah, I like this setup.  Pretty nice.  I would be totally happy if most businesses took this on.

The next Waste of the Week installment is going to be the lamest waste receptacle I can find… oh, the suspense!