Quite frankly we’re rather surprised we haven’t heard of Mr. Trash Wheel before. It’s a community project by the Baltimore Waterfront’s Healthy Harbor program where they are trying to make the harbor both swimmable and fishable by 2020. One of the coolest projects that resonates with us is Mr. Trash Wheel — a waterwheel-powered-trash-collecting-conveyor-belt. Say that 10 times fast!
It was built in early 2014, and according to the latest data it has removed a whopping 160 tons of garbage from the waterway already. Floating buoy-nets direct the garbage floating on top of the water into a narrow passage where the conveyor belt powered by a waterwheel slowly picks up the trash, and then deposits it into a large dumpster on a barge.
In fact, it’s even saved a python from the water too!
The creators are hoping to build another water wheel for the Canton neighborhood, and are currently running a fundraiser. But as one redditor points out — it’d be fun to have a human-sized hamster wheel powering the trash collector so people could speed up the process — and get some exercise at the same time.
[via reddit]
Filed under: green hacks
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