2010 August | BigBelly Solar

Oregon Zoo

  • August 31, 2010 10:01 pm
The Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo

Portland, Oregon has always been known for its lush parks and flower gardens, but these days, the city’s green reputation stems from its innovative urban planning and citywide commitment to sustainable living. The Metro agency – responsible for transportation planning, facilities, and solid waste – exemplifies Portland’s commitment to sustainability. In 2006, Metro’s solid waste director, Mike Hoglund, learned about a new innovation – the BigBelly® solar-powered trash compactor – that promised to reduce trash collection costs and environmental impacts by reducing the number of trips made to high frequency or remote locations. Hoglund selected the Oregon Zoo for the agency’s first BigBelly installation.

Improved Customer Service

The Zoo was collecting trash three to five times a day from 50 garbage cans. In addition, there was tremendous variability in the amount and timing of waste generation, making it difficult to plan ahead. Not surprisingly, trash piled up when the zoo was at its busiest and staff members were the most pressed. The Zoo’s attempt to solve the problem – dispatching available workers to slowly weave through the crowds in small collection vehicles throughout the day – wasn’t working. The operation was time consuming and ineffective, leaving patrons to sit among overflowing trash cans until a staff member was alerted to service them.

Time Savings for Staff

In 2007, the Zoo installed five BigBelly solar trash compactors in high-traffic locations. Garbage collections at these sites were instantly reduced from 3-5 times a day to just one. Collections could now be planned for times when the Zoo had its least number of visitors.

“I’ve been doing waste services at the Oregon Zoo for 12 years, and the BigBelly machines have changed my life for the better,” says Mark Newberg, Zoo Custodian. “I have to make less frequent trips, it’s easier on my back, and it even makes me take more pride in keeping the area clean. They’ve been great.”

Michael Weatherman, Custodial Supervisor for the Zoo, expects the BigBelly solar compactors to pay for themselves in just a few years, “from the reduction in labor and also the fuel it takes for a vehicle to come and empty the containers.”

Environmental Education

BigBelly also offers an opportunity for the Zoo to augment its environmental educational efforts, which include an animal manure composting facility and discounts for visitors taking mass transit.

“This is a great example of ways the Oregon Zoo is using alternative-energy technology to lower costs and help improve the environment,” says Tony Vecchio, Zoo director.

To learn more, and download or print a PDF flyer, click here.

Bergen County Zoo

  • August 31, 2010 9:53 pm

Bergen County Zoo

Bergen County Zoo

Bergen County Zoo

The Bergen County Zoo in New Jersey, a nationally accredited zoological park, is part of the Bergen County Parks Department. A relatively small facility at 10 acres, but located near New York City, the zoo gets heavy traffic with about 400,000 visitors annually. The Zoo runs a very active environmental education center for kids of all ages. It is in this setting that solar powered trash compaction was deployed to help keep the Zoo clean and litter free.

There are a number of trash receptacles placed throughout the Zoo to provide visitors with ample opportunity to dispose of their trash properly, but the main concentration of trash is near the food court—a paved area with a food concessionaire. This area had six 35-gallon trash cans spaced out around the food court. Staff would empty these cans daily, and twice per day on busy days. The trash collection burden is a significant demand on staff time, as the main visitor areas must be kept clean and litter-free. The Zoo also has had a major problem with bees around the trash cans.

A Real Time-Saver

In 2006, the Zoo placed two BigBelly® compactors in the food court to replace the six traditional cans that served the area. As a result, the zoo has reduced its trash collection frequency from twice a day to every two or three days.

Before BigBelly: 6 cans, 9 times per week 54 collections per week
After BigBelly: 2 units, 3 or 4 times per week 7 collections per week

Savings: 87%

“Keeping up with the trash is a real challenge for time—we had to empty six cans daily in the food court, and twice a day on nice weekends,” said Timothy Gunther, Zoo Director. “We replaced the six cans with two BigBellys and now only have to empty them every other day. It’s been a tremendous time savings.”

Improved Visitor Experience

Mr. Gunther also reports that staff never have to empty the BigBelly units during the day, thus avoiding collection activity during peak periods—freeing up staff for other tasks, and providing a better aesthetic environment for visitors. “We also have a pest problem with bees – a big problem,” said Mr. Gunther. “But it’s
much better with the BigBelly, since it’s enclosed.”

Based on this early success, the Bergen County Parks Department bought an additional ten BigBelly solar compactors, which were installed in the Zoo and other high-traffic park locations. “The machines have been problem-free —not a single hiccup,” said Mr. Gunther.

To learn more, and download or print a PDF flyer, click here.

Patriot Place

  • August 31, 2010 9:45 pm
BigBelly Solar Kiosk at Patriot Place

BigBelly Solar Kiosk at Patriot Place

Adjacent to Gillette Stadium – home of the New England Patriots – is Patriot Place, a 1.3 million square-foot super regional lifestyle destination. At Patriot Place visitors come to enjoy major fashion retailers, live and interactive entertainment, eateries, a four-star hotel, state of the art theatre and much more. Opened in the fall of 2008, Patriot Place is committed to environmentally responsible and sustainable design practices.

And since Patriot Place attracts thousands of guests, management needs to provide them with a convenient, tidy way to dispose of trash and recycling, while minimizing the time workers need to spend on collection runs.

Patriot Place found the perfect solution in the BigBelly Recycling Kiosks from Waste Management, which comprise a solar compactor and an attached recycling bin with openings to accept “single stream” recyclables (bottles, cans and paper). With fifteen units deployed throughout the facility, Patriot Place has found a system that promotes sustainability while reducing operating costs. During peak periods, Patriot Place management wants to minimize disruptive and unsightly trash collection activity, both as a convenience to guests and to save time for the workers by allowing them to avoid navigating through crowds as they pull bags of trash and recyclables.

“Our WM Solar Powered Compactors are an important piece of Patriot Place’s overall sustainability and recycling initiatives,” said Brian Earley, general manager of Patriot Place. “In addition to promoting recycling and reducing our waste volume and energy consumption, we have realized significant operational efficiencies and cost savings for waste removal.”

While Patriot Place is committed to continuing the environmentally responsible and sustainable design practices that began with Gillette Stadium, and included numerous sustainable design initiatives in the Patriot Place project, many of these initiatives are not readily apparent to visitors (such as white roofs to reduce “heat island” effects, low-emitting materials, bio-fuels, water reuse and energy management systems in the commercial buildings – for more detail, visit http://www.patriot-place.com/greenefforts.aspx). The WM Solar-Powered kiosks, which feature their solar panel at eye level and promote recycling, are visible and used by visitors, making the machines both educational and practical.

The WM Solar-Powered kiosks have helped improve the experience for visitors, showcase sustainable initiatives, keep the grounds clean and reduce worker time spent on waste collection activity. At Patriot Place, truly “Everyone Wins”!

To learn more, and download or print a PDF flyer, click here.

Ames Tribune: Iowa State University Adds 11 Solar Trash Compactors

  • August 31, 2010 2:12 pm

Taking out the trash at Iowa State University is about to get a whole lot greener.Student using a BigBelly solar compactor at ISU

Eleven new BigBelly solar compactors are being installed across the campus this week, in areas where traditional trash receptacles used to need to be emptied multiple times a day, said ISU Director of Sustainability Merry Rankin.

ISU placed one of the compactors in front of Curtiss Hall in the fall of 2009, the first ever in the state of Iowa. Facilities crews closely monitored the compactor to see what difference it would make and were satisfied with the results, Rankin said.

“Compared to the trash can we had before, we cut our collection costs by 90 percent,” she said. The university expects the turnaround to financial gain from the solar compactors to be within one or two years, according to Rankin.

Another feature of the new compactors is that they are equipped with the CLEAN wireless monitoring system that notifies facilities, planning and management when the containers need to be emptied. This will save workers the trouble of constantly checking the bins, Rankin said.

The machines are covered in colorful, informative decal wraps.  The designs are meant to draw attention to the compactors, but they also include information about the technology and ISU’s LiveGreen Initiative. Each container has its own theme, depicting ISU’s mascot, Cy, portraying different parts of the student experience.

Rankin said the success of the solar compactors demonstrates that sustainability efforts don’t always have to be large and far-reaching projects.

“This is an instance where we can still do very important things without spending a lot of money,” said Rankin. “You can do great things without spending millions of dollars on a big project.”

See the article.

Read a related article in the Iowa State Daily.

Read an earlier article (2009)

Trash Put In Its Place In Downtown Laredo

  • August 25, 2010 2:09 pm

(Laredo, TX – Laredobuzz.com) Recently, the City of Laredo Environmental Services Department has placed some new, and very interesting, trashcans throughout downtown Laredo.  These sleek, “BigBelly” trashcans are equipped with a solar-powered trash compactor, designed to compact the trash to help cut down on fuel costs and greenhouse emissions.

BigBelly solar compactor in downtown Laredo, TX

BigBelly solar compactor in downtown Laredo, TX

Thanks to an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the US Department of Energy, the Environmental Services Department is purchasing 45 solar trash compactors.  According to the manufacturer’s website, these trash compactors can reduce fuel costs and greenhouse emissions by up to 80%.

“The purpose of the trash compactors is to reduce the number of trips for emptying downtown’s trash cans, thus reducing fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions,” said John Porter, assistant director for the Environmental Services Department.  “Another purpose of these trash compactors is for public education on energy conservation.”

Rene Ramos, Building Maintenance Supervisor for City Hall states that the trash bags inside the two trash compactors, located in front of City Hall (south entrance) will be changed every Friday and Monday.

“On Fridays, that is a whole week’s worth of trash from visitors and passer-byers to City Hall,” Ramos stated.  “On Mondays, the trash is from the weekend shoppers who utilize the free parking at City Hall for downtown shopping,” he added.

The trash compactors will be placed throughout downtown and at various City of Laredo facilities within the next few months.

Read the article

Watch the Pro8 News video

Larry Prospect, White Plains Road BID, Bronx, NY:

  • August 5, 2010 12:48 pm

“The BigBellys are tremendous asset for our Shopping streets.  They require less attention from our sanitation people so they can place more attention to other areas. There is no visible garbage and people do not bring their household refuse to drop in the BigBellys.”

Mark Sylvia, Mass. DOER Green Communities Division Director:

  • August 5, 2010 12:48 pm

The Commonwealth’s 35 inaugural Green Communities are receiving BigBelly solar compactors, including recycling units, as they support key grant program goals to promote the use of renewable technology and reduce carbon emissions and energy costs.

Margaret McAustin, Councilwoman, City of Pasadena:

  • August 5, 2010 12:47 pm

“There’s a savings to be had because they require less frequent pick-ups. They were very successful and they were very well received, and because they can accommodate more trash they result in less garbage around the trash cans.”

Michael Whalen, GW Memorial Parkway:

  • August 5, 2010 12:47 pm

“I have been extremely pleased. The BigBelly is replacing 3 regular trash receptacles that were picked up 3–4 times per week. With the wireless monitoring system, we do not have to send anyone to pick up the trash until the unit is almost full which we expect will be only once per week. It is a big savings in time and gas.”

Jim Massie, Lake Mead National Park:

  • August 5, 2010 12:46 pm

“We were skeptical at first, but soon realized the BigBelly was able to eliminate all together our overflow trash problem. We are definitely looking into purchasing more units.”