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Monday, August 15, 2011

News / Green Multi-use Trash Cans Hit NE Alberta

Posted by Alex Zielinski on Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 11:59 AM

Pre-street fair insanity

Looking for a combination art installation and waste receptacle? NE Alberta St.'s got it.

A trash cans cry for help

Here's the deal: plastic and glass bottles stick in the top openings and trash goes, well, in the can. Clever, creative, and pretty damn practical if you ask me. Funded by a $15,000 Portland Main Street grant, these 19 cans are paneled with recycled street signs, giving them a reflective glow at night (and also the "trendy inner-city" vibe). Ivan McLean is the artist behind the cans.


However, these colorful installations were hit hard by the Alberta Street Fair last weekend. Maintenance for the can, covered by donations from building owners, business owners and residents (according to Sara Wittenberg, executive director of Alberta Main Street), may be whole other issue.

 

Comments (10) RSS

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1
Oh noes! Somebody put a bunch of garbage into that garbage can!! I did not see this coming!!!
Posted by Joneser on August 15, 2011 at 12:11 PM · Report
2
$790 per trash can seems "pretty damn practical"? I guess people aren't as bad off financially as I assumed they were.
Posted by Chuck Garabedian on August 15, 2011 at 12:33 PM · Report
3
My first thought is to knock the tops off the bottles with a samurai sword. My second thought is that these are both silly and ugly. I have no third thought.
Posted by Todd Mecklem on August 15, 2011 at 12:50 PM · Report
4
@Chuck Municipal garbage cans usually cost at least a grand, sometimes multiples of that.
Posted by Andy Mesa on August 15, 2011 at 2:29 PM · Report
5
Really? I need to get into the garbage can business.
Posted by Chuck Garabedian on August 15, 2011 at 2:36 PM · Report
6
Maybe I was a bit harsh, calling it silly and ugly. How about "Not to my taste"? Still makes me crave a samurai sword, though.
Posted by Todd Mecklem on August 15, 2011 at 3:28 PM · Report
7
Those trash cans that cost a grand must be of the stone variety by bus stops and such - right? Ones that look like they will last a lifetime.
These over-priced, silly and ugly (to borrow from Todd) ones won't be around 10 years from now.
Posted by frankieb on August 15, 2011 at 5:26 PM · Report
8
The tops of these were overflowing with paper cups, bottles, and other random trash well before the street fair. Also, no instructions on the things, so I didn't know if they were meant for trash or what.
Posted by ChrisB on August 16, 2011 at 6:28 AM · Report
9
Isn't that what newspaper boxes are for ?
I did not know the mercury and WillyWeak boxes cost a grand each ?
Posted by Rosy on August 16, 2011 at 10:30 AM · Report
10
It looks like that is all food and beverage garbage... maybe the businesses that sold the garbage could pay?
Posted by altogetherPDX on August 16, 2011 at 12:07 PM · Report

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