BigBelly Solar

Spotted one night while waiting for the M103 was this black box on the corner of Beekman and Park Place. What was it, I wondered? It looked like none of the garbage boxes currently supplied by the city and the logo read BigBelly Solar. I read on the box that it harnesses the power of the sun. After some research, I found out BigBelly Solar is a company that has won awards for waste management in various cities and that Bloomberg purchased 30 of these units in 2013 for $ 250,000. Apparently, the box was a trash compacter that reduces trash by using solar power to compact it. The 30 units were supposed to be placed around Times Square because Times Square as an area generates more garbage per day than any other place in Manhattan. This renegade box made its way to City Hall hopefully will be joined by more of the same everywhere. Green it is, cheap it’s not. I’m surprised BigBelly boxes haven’t been kidnapped yet by enterprising felons and will see if this one is bolted down on my next trip to City Hall.