INC Magazine:
Your Dumpster called. It said to send someone over
November 1, 2006 12:00 AM
Jim Poss likes talking trash: 179,000 refuse trucks rumble down America's city streets every day, he says, burning a billion gallons of diesel a year. The trucks follow the same route, day in, day out, whether or not there's trash to collect. Poss's company, Seahorse Power, aims to change that inefficient system, one trash can at a time. The company's BigBelly garbage bin is equipped with a 40-watt solar panel that powers a battery-run compactor that increases the capacity of the bin at least fourfold. An indicator on the can lights up when it's full, and plans are under way for wireless alerts that will help refuse haulers better manage pickups.