TRASHING SF'S TRASH CANS

 

Subscribe to My Blog! August 23, 2022 Trashing San Francisco's Trash Cans PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. PODCASTS, EVENTS, INFO, POSTERS: LilithTheater.com People all over the world love to make fun of my quirky city, and San Francisco genially supplies them with material for laughter. The latest farce is San Francisco's search for the perfect trash receptacle for city streets. The Guardian in England has a very amusiing article on the subject, from which I quote below. The three trash cans seen above are named (from left to right) Salt & Pepper (very obvious and cute), Slim Silhouette, and Soft Square. They are prototypes that were designed specifically to order for San Franciscio.  We are being mocked for the very high cost of these prototypes -- $11,000 to $21,000. I quote from the Guardian below: "And finally, the bin behind the headlines: the $20,900 Soft Square, which is neither soft nor a square. The city describes this one as having a “recognizable trash can silhouette”, which does seem like something you want in a trash can. No one wants San Franciscans dropping their mail in these things or mistaking them for long-lost friends. This is the only trash can that requires users to open it. There’s a pedal at the bottom so you don’t have to touch the handle; unfortunately, the pedal is so sleek and subtle that the Guardian reporter didn’t initially notice it  and pulled the bin open by hand. Short on trash, the reporter placed a nearby leaf into the receptacle. Reopening it revealed that both the leaf and another piece of trash, placed earlier by someone else, remained stuck in the deposit slot, from which a fly lazily emerged. As if to prove the slot was too small, a bag of trash sat on the ground next to the Soft Square, creating the very mess the cans are intended to eliminate. Appearance: 5/10 Ease of use: 2/10 Overall: 3.5/10 To read the entire Guardian article, CLICK HERE.  I love writer Matthew Cantor's comments on the virtues of a trash can having "A recognizable trash can silhouette."   And his  "lazy fly" is so very evocative of my own encounters  with trash cans on the street.   I was alerted to the Guardian's article this morning by a text from my oldest friend, Lady Dear.  And, by amazing coincidence, only a month ago,  I had encountered, in my wanderings through the city, a particularly pleasing trash can that I have been hoping to fit  into a blog. So, tell me what you think, folks. I say: Appearance: 10/10 -- at least! A nice little visual essay on life in the city. Ease of Use: 10/10 -- that bag of trash would easily make it into this can. Overall: 10/10.  Now, THAT'S what I call a desirable trash can!  I don't know if the artist was paid to create this little work of street art or did it solely out of love. But I believe this trash can adds a bit of delight to the day of anyone who walks by, and that's more than can be said for the snooty prototypes. How about the city pays artists to paint beautiful trash cans?  That's one thing that SF has a HUGE surplus of -- energetic, talented, creative artists. Let's go with our strengths.  And artists are so used to working for nothing.  They'll be THRILLED to be paid decently to beautify trash cans.  Let's spend money on artists, not trash cans!  Sound good? Dear  Bloggelinis:  I believe everything should be beautiful -- trash cans, bus stops, underground MUNI stations, ugly blank walls.  I remember when I realized that anything in a city could be beautiful.  I was on the train in Italy in 1986, and we were coming into Rome.  We were passing all these warehouses -- painted in beautiful red/gold/ochre tones.  Gorgeous warehouses -- who ever heard of such a thing?  The Italians! It figures.  The Italians make everything beautiful -- even warehouses.  Terry

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