A Wheel Good Idea
Baltimore has a machine in its harbor that picks up trash and helps power the city.
Since it started spinning in May, the solar-powered, trash-collecting water wheel in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor has become something of a celebrity—racking up more than a million views on YouTube, attracting major media attention, and even tweeting (follow @MrTrashWheel for some adorable anthropomorphism).
Now, the trash wheel’s star is rising once again. Last week, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced that the city will pay to turn the trash that’s collected by the wheel into electricity. Each ton of garbage will generate enough energy to heat 400 homes for an hour.
The wheel is capable of gobbling up 50,000 pounds of garbage every day, and in its nine months of operation, it has intercepted 150 tons from reaching the harbor—helping Baltimore stick to the trash diet ordered by the EPA. So, big wheel, keep on turning!
Illustration courtesy of the Waterfront Partnership of BaltimoreonEarth provides reporting and analysis about environmental science, policy, and culture. All opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of NRDC. Learn more or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.