Monday, August 22, 2011

Trash Cans of Belo Horizonte

We have some interesting looking trash receptacles in this city. I remembered when I first moved here, thinking "huh?" When my sister was here, she asked me one time what this was:


I took this picture on Sunday, on a walk with Beatrice, on the way to the drugstore. On the weekdays, they have bags of trash in them, and sometimes they "overflow" to the sidewalk. I find them unusual because they don't really work to hold the little things. I think this is one of the many reasons why the sidewalks here tend to have so much trash--the trash cans have big spaces in them, and all the loose stuff just falls out. Here's another model:


The one picture above is better, since things can't fall out. But it is much smaller. These are often found by the bus stops and are very convenient for lollipop stick trash. For example.


This one looks like chicken wire, but it's actually some kind of iron/metal. It used to have a "lid" or top, but that is long gone.

And here, you can see all the little bits of trash that have fallen out. Now I'm wondering why all these are off the ground, especially since many folks will just put their bags of trash on the sidewalk. An attempt to keep creatures away?

5 comments:

  1. You got it, there at the end. The racks / baskets are for your bagged garbage and are elivated so dogs will not tear through the bags and make a mess. Definitely better in theory than practice...

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  2. Yes, in theory. Just yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing a bathroom toilet paper that had come open and dumped it's contents all over the sidewalk. ew.

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  3. We have the last version in our neighborhood. But of course, as in your picture, people just throw their loose trash in as they are walking by. And, perhaps a Brazilian or a long-time expat can address this - I've never seen a garbage truck. I do believe that I hear the sound of a garbage truck about 3am every morning... but I'm never sure.

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  4. B.A.B,

    You are correct. The Trash collection trucks usually come at night, less traffic and easier for them to work.
    These metal structures were built to keep trash elevated and avoid animals from braking the plastic bags. If people are using them as a public trash can, that is a not the original intention.
    My brother's building has them too and they built smaller metal trash containers attached on the side for people walking by to use as trash cans, they also built some separate small containers for bags with dog poop.


    Ray

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  5. Indeed, it is key to have these in public so the nightly critters don't make their way to 'em. But otherwise, its a shame to see that they put that little effort into layering the wire to stop the small objects from falling out underneath.

    -Land Source Container Service, Inc.
    Dumpster Rental NYC

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