Energy News  
Helsinki trash cans to thank bin users for not littering

by Staff Writers
Helsinki (AFP) Aug 19, 2008
In an attempt to curb littering, Finland's capital will distribute rubbish bins that say "thank you" in celebrity voices when they are fed trash, city project managers said Tuesday.

"We are always thinking about different ways to stop littering. And this idea is great and fun," Helsinki project manager Elina Nummi told AFP.

Four ordinary-looking talking rubbish bins will be placed around the city centre from August 22 until the end of September, she said.

A detector in the bin will activate a loudspeaker as soon as rubbish is put in, and the conscientious bin user will hear the voice of a city leader or Finnish celebrity thanking them for their effort.

The detector will also monitor the number of times a thank you message is played, and thus how many times the bin is used.

"It is great that you care about the city. Cool, isn't it?" says city mayor Jussi Pajunen in one message.

The project was drawn up by a company called Public Side as part of a broader campaign aimed at animating the capital.

"The idea is to make a thing that is considered lifeless alive," company project manager Janne Wrigstedt told AFP.

Talking trash cans have previously been used with great success in other European cities, including Berlin and in Britain, he said.

In the centre of Helsinki, the talking cans will be moved to a new location once a week.

"We hope it will encourage people to put rubbish in the bin to see if that can is the one that talks," Wrigstedt said.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Dirty Smoke from Ships Found To Degrade Air Quality In Coastal Cities
La Jolla CA (SPX) Aug 19, 2008
Ah, nothing like breathing clean coastal air, right? Think again. Chemists at UC San Diego have measured for the first time the impact that dirty smoke from ships cruising at sea and generating electricity in port can have on the air quality of coastal cities.







  • Customers Evaluate VIASPACE Lithium Batteries For Light Electric Vehicles
  • Bosch Calls For Accelerating Development Of Alternative Energy Sources
  • Startech Environmental Receives Hydrogen Engine
  • Oil giant Shell evacuates 425 staff amid Tropical Storm Fay

  • Iran picks firms to hunt for new nuclear plant sites
  • Spain to deal 'firmly' with nuclear plant over radioactive leak
  • Analysis: S. Korea looks to nuclear energy
  • Japan signals approval of India-US nuclear deal

  • Dutch town tests 'air-purifying' concrete
  • Scientists Search For Answers From The Carbon In The Clouds
  • Air Monitoring Helps Anticipate Possible Ecosystem Changes
  • Air Travelers And Astronomers Could Benefit From Atmospheric Turbulence Research

  • Corruption killing Bangladesh forests: watchdog
  • Extinction Most Likely For Rare Trees In The Amazon Rainforest
  • Old Growth Giants Limited By Water-Pulling Ability
  • Climate Change Caused Widespread Tree Death In California Mountain Range

  • China's top lawmakers to review food safety law: state media
  • Metropolitan Wastewater Ends Up In Urban Agriculture
  • CSIRO Enlisted To Avert Global Wheat Supply Crisis
  • PTC's Pro/Engineer Used Indian Irrigation Project

  • China sees brisk growth in auto imports, exports slow: state media
  • Energy Storage For Hybrid Vehicles
  • Towards Lower Fuel Use - Technologies For Lighter Cars
  • BMW Hydrogen 7 Hits The Road With The 2008 Hydrogen Road Tour

  • China's Tianjin building runway for Airbus test flights: report
  • NASA evaluates new wing sensor
  • Russia And China May Co-Design New Passenger Plane
  • China Southern Airlines managers take paycut due to oil prices



  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement