Franklin, MA - The Milford Daily News:
With A Little Help From The Sun
April 12, 2008 09:31 AM
Franklin, MA -Just in time for the town's Earth Day celebration April 19, the public works department has installed two solar-powered trash compactors on Main Street and at the Beaver Pond recreation complex.
The "BigBelly" cordless trash compactors can hold up to 200 gallons of garbage - up to six times the typical load, said Denise Zambrowski, Environmental Affairs Coordinator for the Department of Public Works.
"It's really a neat invention. Using solar energy, it will help us maintain a neat (town), just controlling litter and trash in our parks, in our ball fields.
"It's a really interesting invention to help us deal with solid waste management in public places," said Zambrowski, who first learned about BigBelly at an energy efficiency workshop.
"The whole point of getting them is to reduce the amount of collection rounds we do, particularly at the Beaver Street recreation complex," she said.
"A lot of residents go down and use it for the beach in the summer, and the field is constantly in use,' she said.
In the summer, which is the busiest time of year for trash collection at the complex, the DPW empties the barrels about every other day, Zambrowski said. Using the solar powered compactors should reduce collections to once a week, she said.
At the Main Street location, the BigBelly is expected to reduce trash pickups from three times a week to once every 10 days, Zambrowski said.
"We're seeing the feasibility of having these around town and how well they will help us reduce our manpower in collection," she said.
The BigBellies will also save on manpower and fuel costs, Zambrowski said, but she could not give an estimate of how much.BigBellies have also been installed in Boston, Attleboro, and at Walden Pond in Concord, Zambrowski said.