The sidewalks are a mess...

**loveisnoise** · 12-06-2011, 02:12 PM

The new sidewalks on girard look like the gameboard for CandyLand. Absolutely bizarre with no rhyme or reason, and the new corners flood upon the slightest amount of rain.

Additionally, since the new cans have arrived, the trash trucks go right by them for some reason and refuse to empty them.

**3rd&Brown** · 12-06-2011, 02:30 PM

Report the cans to 311.

**loveisnoise** · 12-06-2011, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Report the cans to 311.

I'll do it tomorrow. Can't remember where the 2nd can is that's just as bad. They haven't been touched since they were put in.

**mixiboi** · 12-06-2011, 03:09 PM

Sucks to be Fishtown Girard right now...its only going to get worst when they blow up the Girard Bridge to I-95.

**RainboTeabagger** · 12-06-2011, 03:20 PM

Why didn't they put the solar belly trashcans Frankford Ave got?

**thetalkingmule** · 12-06-2011, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by RainboTeabagger

Why didn't they put the solar belly trashcans Frankford Ave got?

Only Philadelphia would spend $4,000 on ONE TRASHCAN.

**mixiboi** · 12-06-2011, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by thetalkingmule

Only Philadelphia would spend $4,000 on ONE TRASHCAN.

*cough*

Big-Bellied, Text-Messaging Trash Cans?(Somerville, Mass) - NYTimes.com

Solar-Powered Trash Can Munches Garbage(Manhattan) | NBC New York

Brooklyn Cleans Up Trash With Big Belly Solar Powered Cans | Inhabitat New York City

The Big Belly conspiracy goes beyond Philly...Tho, we did start it.

Customers | BigBelly Solar

**loveisnoise** · 12-06-2011, 06:23 PM

Big Belly trashcans are the biggest joke ever.

I watch them every night on south street. The trashmen use them as an excuse to not do their job. Now they'll just go down the road, and if they don't see them blinking to state that they're full? They don't empty them, and keep going. This typically leads to overfilled cans during the weekends, which causes the cans to lock up and then people throw trash all around them. It is equally humorous to watch them all shut down when the slightest amount of snow covers the solar panels up top. Oh, and for quite a while, bums have been ripping the handles off the doors to sell as scrap metal.

**loveisnoise** · 12-06-2011, 06:25 PM

Not only did we start it, but we did a no bid contract with the company, which cost the city something like 30% more than if we would have just gone online and bought the same exact cans from a reseller.

Originally Posted by mixiboi

*cough*

Big-Bellied, Text-Messaging Trash Cans?(Somerville, Mass) - NYTimes.com

Solar-Powered Trash Can Munches Garbage(Manhattan) | NBC New York

Brooklyn Cleans Up Trash With Big Belly Solar Powered Cans | Inhabitat New York City

The Big Belly conspiracy goes beyond Philly...Tho, we did start it.

Customers | BigBelly Solar

**loveisnoise** · 12-06-2011, 06:31 PM

Controller's report trashes city's BigBelly compactors - Philly.com

**cutter** · 12-07-2011, 11:02 AM

Those trash cans are maintained separately from the trash trucks that pick up residential garbage. At least that's what I observed at the public trash can at 6th and Girard.

**RainboTeabagger** · 12-07-2011, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by thetalkingmule

only philadelphia would spend $4,000 on one trashcan.

wrong! Get on your mule and leave if you don't like it!

**hubba1** · 12-07-2011, 09:36 PM

Not a big fan of the bigbellys, apparently most of them don't actually compact anymore, a bunch have no handles... and those that do, are disgusting and I hate touching the damn things... I watched a lady try to force a cvs bag full of garbage into one a few weeks ago, I finally flipped out on her "THERES A GOD DAMN REASON THAT BAG DOESN'T FIT IN THAT LITTLE DOOR!!!" and she ran off... lol, but it's something, better than the wire cans I guess...

**mixiboi** · 12-07-2011, 09:53 PM

Its a lose lose situation as people don't respect public property and don't care about trash on the street.

This sadly isn't just a Philly issue but an urban issue.

**bonzombiekitty** · 12-08-2011, 08:39 AM

I like the concept of the Big Bellies. You can cut back on the number of trash collections needed, which can save money in the long run and hopefully mean that since the cans don't get filled up as quickly, less trash gets thrown on the ground. Less trash on the ground would mean cleaner streets, which would hopefully translate to more people coming into the city. That's just with the basic compacting and routine emptying.

With a bit of good engineering, you could have them signal whether or not they should be emptied based on projected use rather than just if they are currently full or not. For example, you program a given can to know collections occur once a day. On a given wednesday it's 25% full at collection time. It knows that historically it will only get 25% of its capacity between wednesday and thursday collection (it projects it will be 50% full on the thursday collection if it's not emptied now), so it doesn't signal it should be emptied. So on thursday, it's 50% full. But this time it knows that typically, people will put 75% of it's capacity in between thursday and friday, which means it will be at 125% capacity by friday's collection if not emptied. So it signals to get emptied.

If you want to get even fancier, the capacity history would be recorded in a central location so patterns can be found to find the most efficient schedule for emptying the cans. Even better, there would be wireless communication for reporting said usage data, errors, and mechanical malfunctions.

That'd be a bit of a pricey upfront cost and there would be some added maintenance cost, but over the long run it could save a bunch of money. Fewer collections and an efficient schedule can save a bunch of money in manpower, gas, and vehicle wear & tear over the long term. Of course, that's assuming a well engineered system that's utilized well.

**cjm1971** · 12-08-2011, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by bonzombiekitty

I like the concept of the Big Bellies. You can cut back on the number of trash collections needed, which can save money in the long run and hopefully mean that since the cans don't get filled up as quickly, less trash gets thrown on the ground. Less trash on the ground would mean cleaner streets, which would hopefully translate to more people coming into the city. That's just with the basic compacting and routine emptying.

With a bit of good engineering, you could have them signal whether or not they should be emptied based on projected use rather than just if they are currently full or not. For example, you program a given can to know collections occur once a day. On a given wednesday it's 25% full at collection time. It knows that historically it will only get 25% of its capacity between wednesday and thursday collection (it projects it will be 50% full on the thursday collection if it's not emptied now), so it doesn't signal it should be emptied. So on thursday, it's 50% full. But this time it knows that typically, people will put 75% of it's capacity in between thursday and friday, which means it will be at 125% capacity by friday's collection if not emptied. So it signals to get emptied.

If you want to get even fancier, the capacity history would be recorded in a central location so patterns can be found to find the most efficient schedule for emptying the cans. Even better, there would be wireless communication for reporting said usage data, errors, and mechanical malfunctions.

That'd be a bit of a pricey upfront cost and there would be some added maintenance cost, but over the long run it could save a bunch of money. Fewer collections and an efficient schedule can save a bunch of money in manpower, gas, and vehicle wear & tear over the long term. Of course, that's assuming a well engineered system that's utilized well.

whoa whoa whoa, you trying to take union work away? please remember this is Philly. We should just put trashcans underneath sewer grates since that's where too many people think trash is supposed to go anyway.

**loveisnoise** · 12-08-2011, 10:14 AM

If wishes and buts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a merry christmas.

There's not a single part of your statements that are true. Sure, they're the words used to sell us $4,000 trash cans. Sure, if unicorns and rainbows ruled the world, this is how things would be. Instead, here is the daily reality of these cans...

And despite erroneous press releases, there are radio transmissions on the devices to announce when a trash can is full, and there are lights to say when it is full. That's part of the problem. The trash guys run down the street and if they don't get the signal or don't see the light? They keep going. Then, an almost filled can gets filled after they leave, and is overflowing for the entire next day. I see it on a weekly basis. Trash goes everywhere, no energy is saved because the trashmen are still working 8 hours and the truck is on whether they're collecting trash or sitting at wawa whistling at drunk women.

edit-oh, and all those 'recyclables' that the bigger ones collect? They just get thrown in with the regular trash thanks to lazy workers. See it every week. No savings, bloated repair contracts, and a lot more trash on the streets. That's the reality that I see everyday, instead of some engineered press release.

Originally Posted by bonzombiekitty

I like the concept of the Big Bellies. You can cut back on the number of trash collections needed, which can save money in the long run and hopefully mean that since the cans don't get filled up as quickly, less trash gets thrown on the ground. Less trash on the ground would mean cleaner streets, which would hopefully translate to more people coming into the city. That's just with the basic compacting and routine emptying.

With a bit of good engineering, you could have them signal whether or not they should be emptied based on projected use rather than just if they are currently full or not. For example, you program a given can to know collections occur once a day. On a given wednesday it's 25% full at collection time. It knows that historically it will only get 25% of its capacity between wednesday and thursday collection (it projects it will be 50% full on the thursday collection if it's not emptied now), so it doesn't signal it should be emptied. So on thursday, it's 50% full. But this time it knows that typically, people will put 75% of it's capacity in between thursday and friday, which means it will be at 125% capacity by friday's collection if not emptied. So it signals to get emptied.

If you want to get even fancier, the capacity history would be recorded in a central location so patterns can be found to find the most efficient schedule for emptying the cans. Even better, there would be wireless communication for reporting said usage data, errors, and mechanical malfunctions.

That'd be a bit of a pricey upfront cost and there would be some added maintenance cost, but over the long run it could save a bunch of money. Fewer collections and an efficient schedule can save a bunch of money in manpower, gas, and vehicle wear & tear over the long term. Of course, that's assuming a well engineered system that's utilized well.

**Neb** · 12-08-2011, 11:29 AM

On Girard Ave, didn't they just spend an entire year "fixing" the sidewalks and the sewers so the drainage would be better? The flooding is so much worse than it was before the... whatever they did.

**Bobbie3Sheets** · 12-13-2011, 10:39 PM

I think the problem with drainage stems from the trash building up inside the sewers, at least thats what I see from the few I pass. One in particular, is in the bed of the small street just west of McDonalds. It would be good if there were a screen of some sort that would prevent people from being able to throw their trash into the sewers. However then trash would just build up at the entrance, thus still creating drainage issues. It doesn't help that the cans are overflowing allowing for more trash to blow or drain towards the sewers.

**loveisnoise** · 12-13-2011, 10:42 PM

Bobbie,
You're correct for some of the drains, but for that one by McDonald's, the slope of the road is completely wrong. It pools up everywhere around and none of it goes near the drain.

Originally Posted by Bobbie3Sheets

I think the problem with drainage stems from the trash building up inside the sewers, at least thats what I see from the few I pass. One in particular, is in the bed of the small street just west of McDonalds. It would be good if there were a screen of some sort that would prevent people from being able to throw their trash into the sewers. However then trash would just build up at the entrance, thus still creating drainage issues. It doesn't help that the cans are overflowing allowing for more trash to blow or drain towards the sewers.