The fight against pollution in Baltimore, Maryland has a face — in fact, it has a pair of googly eyes too. In case you didn't already know about this local celebrity, who has over twenty thousand Twitter and Instagram followers, you're in for a treat.
His name is Mr. Trash Wheel, and he's taken the Baltimore harbor by storm, cleaning up the waterways, one piece of garbage at a time.
Garbage interceptors are becoming increasingly popular in large cities, especially the ones with tons of trash in their waterways. But none of them are quite as popular as Mr. Trash Wheel and his Trash Wheel family.
These interceptors are practically celebrities!
Mr. Trash Wheel was created by John Kellet, a Baltimore native and founder of a logistics company, Cnet reports.
After noticing the amount of garbage that floats into the city's waterways after rainfalls, he decided to build a contraption to intercept it before it spread out too far. Thus, Mr. Trash Wheel was born.
The technology is actually really simple. Mr. Trash Wheel is pulled along the waterway via currents pushing the large water mill attached to his side. This also powers the conveyor belt upon which trash moves, straight out of the water.
Buoys help to guide the waste onto the conveyor belt. The whole thing makes it look like Mr. Trash Wheel is eating the trash, which is made even more comical with his large googly eyes.
He also has solar and battery backup (in case the currents aren't strong enough), which Kellet can switch on remotely using his smartphone. And there's a camera that Kellet can tap into to see what's going on. He really thought of everything!
The Trash Wheels are able to track what kind of garbage they collect, giving the city valuable insight into its trash problem.
Despite being such a large structure, Mr. Trash Wheel isn't invasive or harmful to the local wild life. A duck even laid her eggs inside of the interceptors!
The city of Baltimore loved the idea, and Mr. Trash Wheel was eventually installed. They decided to make more of them, and there's now an entire Trash Wheel family.
Other Trash Wheels include the female Professor Trash Wheel, non-binary Captain Trash Wheel, and the newest cousin, Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West. They all have a social media presence, each with their own personalities.
Despite Mr. Trash Wheel and his Trash Wheel family's love of eating garbage, their message is clear: don't pollute the waterways!
There's even a common slogan, "Don't Feed Mr. Trash Wheel," which reinforces the idea that, while the Trash Wheels' deeds are good, no one should continue to contribute to the problem.
In addition to the Trash Wheel social media presence, these interceptors have made a splash in local pride. There's a ton of Trash Wheel merchandise including t-shirts, a beer named after Mr. Trash Wheel, and fan fests. The whole city has Trash Wheel fever! And they have so many fans from around the world, too.
h/t: Cnet.
