Chapter 040 - 2021.03.28

I shared a development approach with Mary.

Her initial reaction was not bad.

Thought this would be a great opportunity to be a 'teaching moment' for STEM-focused kids.

I can see a student competition seeking the very best overall solution:

• most effective

• most cost-effective

• most practical

• most robust

• most compact

• least weight

• etc.

All the practical pursuits of anything physical.

I've got a lot of initial ideas to offer up as a starting place:

• a push or pull primary cart -

  • to hold all the gadget tools

  • to separate recycle from returnable from garbage

  • creating balance during all phases of usage

• an assortment of helpful tools -

  • that make up a 'toolbox' of situational trash location challenges including but NOT limited to:

    • electronic drone picker

    • crossbow impaler-picker

    • manual extender picker

    • manual impaler-picker

    • manual broom & dustpan

• also a  urinal & privacy screen,

  • so the person can relieve themselves on the road.

I'm sure more minds focused on all the possibility -

• will come up with even more useful tools and gadgets.

The cart with its containers is just the base starting place  solution:

• narrow,

  • but will not easily tip over

• two standard bicycle tires

• self-standing when released

• able to conveniently hold and release all the toolbox tools

• affordable

• spare bags & ties

Tools and cart attachments sold separately,

• but all engineered to work together in any combination -

  • just need to follow specific placement instructions.

Working name is:

• Roadside Trash Helper"

Core principal is:

• Let the human make the tough decisions -

  • based on what they see

• The tools just make the physical retrieval work easier.

In researching other work done in this need area -

• much work was found with 100% robotic solutions - 

  • where the dream is to have  robots do both the thinking and work.

Nothing will ever be better than the human mind -

• when it comes to complex problems like -

  • navigating all the obstacles and challenges -

    • of retrieving  an item of roadside trash -

      • from the endless situations -

        • it can be situated in.

That human mind with an arsenal of tools -

• to make the work as easy and quick as possible -

  • cannot be beat with today's limited & costly technology.

I volunteer to be the principal tester and feedback giver,

• but I want this project to be done by STEM kids.

A related add-on to this project I pitched to Google Maps over a decade ago now.

The concept was to have some sort of an overlay map that would continuously monitor the required periodic clean-up activity along roadsides -

• so everyone new what had been recently done and when -

  • and so all roads got done from time to time -

    • instead of the same ones getting done too often.

I never got to the right people at Google Maps -

• who cared enough about community involvement in environmental protection and clean-up.

But maybe together now -

• these two initiatives create one much better initiative.

This whole initiative will connect in local 'public works' too.

The three (3) different types of roadside trash collected will need to find homes -

• and public works will be instrumental in creating this piece of the overall solution.

We did this in the past.

We got special heavy-duty red oversized barrel bags -

• and cut a deal with public works to collect them -

  • by regular pickup at our street corner.

So imagine a whole separate bag initiative-branding  solution -

• as another practical add-on.

Go here to see further development activity.

There's a whole other political change piece to this initiative too.

It directly addresses the huge contribution that fast food and convenience beverage packing adds to human civilization's pollution problem.

This initiative, for the first time, adds a policing component to a possible alternative solution approach.

Imagine if big brand packaging had to pay a tax for each brand container or can or bottle or other related consumer convenience-use item.

This initiative puts into place the police who find and log the evidence.

What needs to change politically is who bears responsibility?

If the packaging provider becomes responsible vs. the consumer -

• than maybe things will improve.

Then the provider is incentivized to NOT produce so much packaging and potential pollution.

Imagine a solution system that has trash collectors taking photos of their work.

All laid out before final bagging.

Photos become both proof of work effort and hard evidence.

Imagine facial recognition photo software with AI -

• that keys in on brand identification vs. human being identification.

Should be much simpler AI.

The evidence is connected to a location, time and collector.

The evidence becomes part of the new taxation penalty fee.

Ultimately we want corporations to change their offerings -

• with far less packaging - that can end up in the environment.

Convenience gets replaced with the understanding of helping the environment.

This is going to be a big political fight -

• but one that needs to begin sooner than later.

It can now begin though -

• with this new initiative for tackling roadside litter.

Look forward to general reaction and feedback to this overall solution -

• especially adding on this corporate disruption and political change component.

Another component of this overall initiative -

• is to have student project teams seek sponsorship of:

  • carts

  • tools

Then to include sponsor recognition into their custom designs.

E.g. a cart could feature all Coke product cans in the cart places that call for sides -

• which can be over a majority of the surface area of the cart walls.

The cart assembler -builders then collect cans that have the branding.

The cans are cut up, riveted together to form side section walls.

So there's very much a creativity component to building these -

• rolling initiative marketing vehicles.

The carts and tools we cost hundreds of dollars.

Sponsorship could cover most of this, in some cases,

• especially if big brands are sought out by students and teachers.

The most obvious are those who produce aluminum canned beverages:

• soft drinks

• beer

• energy drinks

• flavor and alcohol waters

• etc.

Any durable signage can be incorporated though.

Even things like license plates or the actual trash recovered from the roadsides.