In case anyone thought that this blog wasn’t eclectic enough, I’m linking today to a story about garbage collection in Taiwan.
“For several years, Taiwan’s garbage trucks have played classical music as they travel through crowded residential areas, drawing forth residents with their garbage. Conceived by Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration as a way to decrease pests and odors in outdoor public trash disposal areas, the trucks musically notify residents that they are to bring their garbage directly to the trucks, ensuring that the garbage never sits on the curb attracting vermin and releasing odors.”
I wonder how two-career families who aren’t home to respond to the music deal with this. Read more on Taiwan’s approach at New York’s classical music station, WQXR.
Meanwhile, at Los Alamos, Americans show they can innovate in garbage collection, too. I think my grandson will like this truck.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
This is hot “stuff”…..
How cool that you can tap the energy of a truck’s braking! I wonder where else we can find energy.
Two interesting links! I don’t know about in Taiwan, but in Japan, there are various services that use specific tunes as they go through the streets. The two that come instantly to mind is the paper trash collection (which collects your (clean) paper trash (I mean stuff like newspapers, etc., as opposed to MacDonalds’ hamburger wrappers, which would have food on them), and the roasted sweet potato man. It’s sort of like hearing the ice cream truck coming.
It’s interesting the take the classical music station had on it–as a means of spreading classical music. The thing about Fur Elise is that it’s short and highly recognizable! Pachebel’s canon would be another one people would recognize.
Los Alamos’s new garbage truck is wonderful, but one thing I think would be useful (and again, something they have in Japan) would be *tiny* trucks that could go down narrow streets without completely blocking them. (I understand, though, that this style of truck is specially designed to do that dumpster-picking-up thing.)
Such thoughtful comments, Asakiyume! Thanks! I think smaller trucks are a good idea. Also quiet ones, with music only.