NYC’s new trash basket named to Time’s ‘Best Inventions of 2023′ list - SILive.com
NYC’s new trash basket named to Time’s ‘Best Inventions of 2023′ list - silive.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Who knew something as mundane as a trash can could receive such an accolade?
The New York City Department of Sanitation’s new trash receptacle has been named to Time’s “Best Inventions of 2023″ list.
Dubbed by DSNY as the “litter basket of the future,” the basket is resistant to rats and leaks, and easier for workers to empty. Unlike the familiar mesh baskets with wide-open mouths, the new baskets feature a modular cover which, touted DSNY, makes the bin “harder to misuse” with household trash.
Only a fraction — over 300, according to DSNY — of the city’s approximate 23,000 litter baskets are in the new form. An additional 1,000 new baskets are on the way, said DSNY. The agency added replacing the old baskets will take several years.
Time named the New York City Department of Sanitation's new litter bin to its "Best Inventions of 2023" list. (Courtesy of DSNY)(Courtesy of DSNY)
Jessica Tisch, DSNY commissioner, called the baskets a “far better fit for the clean streets of today’s New York City,” and praised Mayor Eric Adams for his work getting trash off sidewalks and into containers in an effort to “reclaim” streets from the vermin.
“As New Yorkers change their behavior, DSNY is changing too – and part of that change is getting rid of outdated, leaky, rat-attracting mesh litter baskets,” she said.
Rats have plagued all five boroughs in recent years, leading Adams to pitch an anti-rat crusade ( and hire a “rat czar”). This year, rats were seen spilling from the Staten Island Railway into Great Kills. Last month, Adams announced new trash rules that has since been extended to all businesses in New York City. Earlier this week, word came the city was considering a pilot program on Staten Island to combat rats.
Colin P. Kelly, founder and design director at Group Project — which helped design the new trash bins — called the recognition by Time “validation.”
“While a trash bin might be viewed as a simple utility, its design can profoundly influence the everyday urban experience for both New Yorkers and the Sanitation Workers who service them,” he said.
Also making Time’s “Best Inventions List” were inventions in software, artificial intelligence, accessibility, beauty, and more.
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