The lawmakers in Maryland were the first to approve a statewide ban on Styrofoam containers for food.
And, one local Baltimore “celebrity” may have had something to do with their policy.
Mr. Trash Wheel, together with his cousins Professor Trash Wheel and Captain Trash Wheel, have gathered million Styrofoam containers since the installation of the first one into the Baltimore Harbor in 2014.
During that time, the “trash interceptors” of the city and their charming personas developed loyal followers on social media.
The Important Role of the “Trash Interceptors” in Reducing Waste
The director of the Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative, Adam Lindquist, explained that over the years, the volunteering teams have helped sort out the collected garbage and counted the containers from Styrofoam and bottles from plastic.
He added that the photos they took from the event, along with the collected data, was shared with the elected officials. They got angry too and didn’t want Styrofoam and plastic to threaten the waterways.
The cleaning wheels have collected more than 11 million cigarette butts, more than 850,000 bottles from plastic, 627,000 bags from plastic, a guitar, and a beer keg.
Mr. Trash Wheel Helped Change the Behavior of Baltimore Citizens
According to Lindquist, the Styrofoam ban has contributed to a behavior change in the city of Baltimore and changes in the legislative in the city and in the state.
The inventor of the technology, John Kellett, spent 20 years working near the waterfront of the city and watched big amounts of trash entering the iconic waterway.
This is what inspired him to build a machine that will help clean it. Kellett added that they’re the last best place to prevent it from spreading into the larger harbor and the Chesapeake Bay.
How Does Mr. Trash Wheel’s Tech Work?
This tech is quite simple. The two booms extend from the floating barge on the Jones Falls, an almost 18-mile stream that goes into the harbor.
The booms extend to the concrete banks of the stream. Water can flow onto the bay, but the waste can’t.
All of the bottles, cups, floating debris, and plastic bags go into the mouth of a conveyor belt on the barge. This trash is then moved to a dumpster.
The wheel uses the river’s current to power the machine along with several solar panels as backup.
Where Does the Trash Come from?
Almost all of the trash, 1,100 tons and counting, since the machine started operating comes from the city.
When we throw away garbage from a window or when a collecting bin is full, the waste eventually washes into the storm drains and then goes into the ocean.
Experts who’re tracking the problem of plastic in the oceans say that a major role in the solution is to stop the garbage before it goes into our waters.
Kellett wants to achieve this by installing these wheels in other cities in Hawaii, New York, and California. Still, he believes that his machines only treat the symptoms, they’re not the cure.
The remedy, he says, is people changing their lifestyle and behavior.
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