Beijing tackles trash stench with 100 deodorant guns

by Scott Carmichael on

Fed up with the smell from their largest trash dump, municipal authorities in Beijing are installing 100 deodorant guns aimed to reduce the stench.

The guns can spray about ten gallons of deodorizing liquid up to 175 feet away, but there is no information on what scents will be used. The Beijing landfills are overflowing beyond capacity due to public opposition of 6 incinerator facilities that had been scheduled to open as early as 2007.

Recycling programs are still very rare in the city, and even projects that do sort their trash end up combining the sorted sources once they reach the dumps.

Part of the growing trash problem is being blamed on the “Western lifestyle” adopted by many Chinese, and the move to a more “throwaway culture”.

Now, can someone please develop a deodorizing gun that I can use when I’m sitting next to someone on an airplane who has no sense of smell (or hygiene)?

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Finnish trash cans talk back

by Tom Johansmeyer on

This summer, the garbage cans of Helsinki will have something to say … to you … in six languages. The strange people who brought you wife-carrying contests and team berry-picking (you just can’t make this stuff up) are happy to present the talking trash receptacle – which comes with a musical “thank you.” Nowhere else in the world is litter discouraged with such positive reinforcement. Maybe that’s why I didn’t see much trash on the ground when I was over there.

Last year at this time, Helsinki put four of these devices in the center of the city. They were so unbelievably successful that the Finns have doubled tripled down on the concept. Look for eight more of these contraptions in the Finnish capital this year. Simo Frangén, a popular Finnish TV personality, was kind enough to give his voice to the cause. The new trash cans will be located near Esplanadi, Senate Square, Sibelius Monument and Temppeliaukio Church.

These crazy devices will speak Finnish, Swedish, Japanese, English, German, Polish, and Russian.Also, some will provide fun musical sounds created by high school students from the Kruununhaka district of Helsinki as part of the Helsinki City Public Works youth campaign.”