Beauty and the beastly

Not on the regular circuit of any refuse collection services, they tend to get forgotten until somebody complains loudly and persistently. The smell, flies and vermin are off-putting, while the surplus matter tends to get blown around by the wind to pollute the landscape: a particular problem, if the area is a site of special scientific interest where efforts are being made to prevent contamination. Draconian penalties and 'rubbish police' do little to contain the problem. After all, people like to have picnics in nice places and why shouldn't they? And they are reluctant to take smelly, wet rubbish with them into their clean cars. If the visitors are backpackers, the problem is worse, because they often find it difficult enough to carry the essentials they need, without any added burden. One alternative is to have a camp fire and burn the waste. But that is liable to lead to even bigger problems, if the fire gets out of hand, and is definitely not something to be encouraged. The Challenge Our challenge this month is to come up with a technological solution to rubbish in parks, beauty spots and places of especial interest. Whatever that might be, it must fully contain the rubbish and ensure it does not escape into the environment until it is collected. Also, the solution should preferably include some means of ensuring the rubbish is collected when necessary. Since many of the sites are remote, mains electric power is not an option. Solar, wind or nuclear power can be considered, but the solution must not cost too much. It also needs to be as foolproof as possible. The solution offered below solves the problem with panache and has already gone into service, although we have yet to see one in the UK. Once you read what it is, you will consider it all too obvious, no doubt. But isn't that the beauty of most solutions to vexing problems? For those without access to the web, the solution will be described fully in our April issue. Meanwhile, can you suggest an even better resolution? If so, we would love to hear it. Solution The solution to our March Coffee Time Challenge comes from Needham, Massachusetts, in the US, where a company originally called the Seahorse Power Company was set up in 2003 with a mission to reduce fossil fuel consumption. It came up with the idea of a solar-powered, rubbish-compacting bin, which they called BigBelly. The device can hold 567 litres of rubbish and its compaction mechanism exerts 5.3kN of force, despite its power consumption, supplied by the sun, being no more than 5 Wh per day. By using compaction, it increases its effective capacity by five times and, when it does need emptying, the next generation of products coming to market will call the contractor. The standard black machine is made of recycled ABS. The machine cannot be operated if either the rear access panel or the waste access door is open. It is not possible to gain access to the compaction area via the litter aperture. The compaction system is chain driven and uses no hydraulic fluids. Maintenance consists of lubricating the chains every six months and, at the same time, checking the tension on the chains. The batteries are standard, which can be recycled when they come to the end of their life. The first machine was installed in Vail, Colorado in 2004. Other locations include Fanuel Hall, Boston, Baltimore Inner Harbour and The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. It has a UK distributor, Environmentally Friendly Solutions in Cheshire, so hopefully it will soon be making an appearance in the UK. The product has been so successful, the original manufacturing company now calls itself BigBelly Solar. The bin was designed using SolidWorks.