Chicago (and Coca-Cola) do(es) recycling

thanks to Renee Mak, "while gallivanting around Chicago":

This makes me wonder about the marketing behind the label and flashy association of coca-cola with recycling.

A quick google search sounds like this is part of their "goal to recycle 100 percent of plastic bottles in the U.S." ...(by no determined date). ...Which makes me think a little about greenwashing and that old saying about how 'recycling is like quiting smoking on you death bed'.

modern design

This first image had me thinking about product sustainability specs. And so, a post dedicated to product sourcing - the start of a list of companies to investigate further if I ever need to buy / recommend some waste receptacles :D

the "Lakeside® Litter Receptacle" - 54 percent post consumer / 29 percent pre consumer content.
And others by the same company here: http://www.landscapeforms.com/en-US/site-furniture/pages/all-litter-ash-recycling.aspx

Another company I just learned about with some other modern-type individual bins:
here: http://www.maglin.com/products/trash/index.html
and here: http://www.maglin.com/products/recycle/index.html


Recycled plastic. Saw this bin during a bike ride somewhere in Kitchener, Ontario. The company can be found here: http://generation-line.com/

Also, used to pass by another place (which sells recycled plastic products - including garbage bins) on the way to Peterborough, Ontario:
http://www.taylorsplastic.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=35




Better yet, you can also default to an old oil-type barrel:

Form meets Function (maybe)

After much thought and consultation the City of Toronto installed these waste/recycling bins downtown. I'm waiting to see how the foot press (which opens the bin) pans out in the winter months.

Berlin by trash

Photo credit to Linda Swanston!

What can you dispose of today?

Notice the German green dot on the left.
(Learn more here)

Signs and designs

Photos from China sent by Emily Cho!

Yuexi Garden

Baiyun Mountain

Something a little different

From Adrian Hegedus-Viola in Thailand.

Something painted

At a school in Waterloo, Ontario.

Bags replace cans for the G20

I suspect that somewhere in the billion dollar security budget for the upcoming G20 is a note about how garbage cans could be used as weapons, pried from the ground by angry protesters or used to conceal bombs...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/charmgirl/4658013605/in/pool-1418026@N24

Keen on Recycling

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) sent from Cécile:

Specific kinds of waste

Collection boxes for cell phones and inkjet cartridges.

Electronics recycling in Leeds. Photo from Tim.

Electronics collection bin in Prague.

Electronic waste collection event at the University of Waterloo.

Dead battery collection bin in Spormaggiore, Italy.

Used prescription/medical containers, etc. in Spormaggiore, Italy.

"Tune in to battery recycling" bin in London.

 Dead battery collection make-shift bin at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Garbage bin for used face masks in Hong Kong MTR (subway) station. Photo by Tania Cheng.

Bins for used kitchen grease, found behind many restaurants.
Both images from Kitchener, Ontario.
...need some veggie oil to power your car?

Vegetable oil collection bin in Venezia.

Big Brothers Big Sisters clothing donation bin

Red Cross collection bins for shoes and clothing in New Minas, Nova Scotia.

Canadian Diabetes Association collection bin for clothing.

More on this here: http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/supporting-us/clothesline/find-a-dropbox/

The anonymous nature of a drop-off bin like this does create some challenges for those sorting through the materials. Unfortunately some read 'clothing donation' as 'throw whatever you want in here'...

STEPS (Society for Permanent Recovery) clothing donation bin in Markham, Ontario

Donations bin in Innsbruck.

Clothing collection bin in Paris.

Shoe collection in Leeds. Photo from Tim.

Steel (ONLY!) dumpster in Kitchener, Ontario.

 Newspaper only slotted bin built into a bench at the Hamilton, Ontario GO bus station.

Dumpster dips

Rachel sends this along: I'm not sure if it technically counts as a garbage receptacle anymore, but this is so damn cool: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/07/20/arts/design/20090720_POOL_SLIDESHOW_index.html

Amsterdam

Amsterdam airport and train station from Cécile:

Amsterdam Airport

They show little movies in the airport insisting on the fact that everybody should help recycling, and showing people using these recycling bins appropriately- I thought it was a good initiative :)

Amsterdam central train station

Holland

Thanks to Amanda Hooykaas for these photos from Holland:

"Both large and small towns... the entire box (90% is underground) gets lifted up and dumped into the truck as sorted goods... very clean... very organized."

Visual Appeal

The symbols, colours, shapes and images that remind us or attract us to these static objects in the landscape. Thanks for these photos sent from Tania!

Recycling bins from Singapore Changi Airport.

Recycling bins in Macau (China).

Garbage bins at Ocean Park in Hong Kong.

Shape and Design

Kitchener, Ontario. There was a boy sitting on the corner of the bottom part of this garbage can - reading and presumably waiting for a bus while pretending to be comfortable.

Guelph, Ontario. I'm not sure about this one. Maybe it's meant to stand out. Our eyes notice things that don't make sense?

Waterloo, Ontario. The picture on the bin means that the receptacle extends far below the ground - a design to minimize the number of times it is emptied.

Swiss and German Receptacles

Thanks to Cécile Henrot for sending this photo and description: "A picture of the kind of recycling bins you have in downtown Lausanne- they have this color code with red for aluminum, green for glass, yellow for plastics, blue for papers and gray for other garbage- and they "mix" the recycling bins together, this series shows all the colors but you can have various combinations:)"

This one is from Morges, a smaller municipality on the lake just west of Lausanne.

This one taken in Munich. I wonder how easy it is to empty those?