Culture San Francisco Rolls Out "Ridiculous" $20,000 Designer-Style Trash Cans

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What a bunch of rubbish. San Francisco elected officials can barely govern their own city as violent crime, homelessness, a drug epidemic, and trash plague the metro area. With complaints piling up about garbage strung across streets that resemble a third-world country, officials know how to do one thing: spend. They have proposed installing new prototype trash cans that cost a whopping $20,000 each.

Local news KRON4 spoke with San Francisco Public Works, Aleric Degrafinried, who defended the cost associated with the prototype trash cans shaped like a fancy salt shaker.

City officials agreed Wednesday to build 15 trash can prototypes, five each of three different designs.

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Supervisor Matt Haney told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was not thrilled when he learned about the "ridiculous" $20,000 trash cans.

"Our streets and our sidewalks are a mess and the cans we have out there now are actually part of the problem," Haney said. "At this point they've already come up with designs, we won't save time now to go backward, but it's really frustrating that they [Public Works] chose this route."

If the new trash cans are successful during pilot runs - the city plans to pick one design that will eventually replace 3,000 existing green trash cans scattered around the metro area. Mass-producing the prototype trash can would be around $2,000 to $3,000. Current costs for a trash can are approximately $1,200.

Haney said he held discussions with Public Works officials about reducing costs of the prototype trash can program. He said Public Works could've used models from other cities instead of reinventing the wheel.

The current trash cans easily overflow, attracting rats and the homeless. The locks are easily broken, and people search for recyclables to turn in for cash.
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Costing $20,000 a pop, there had to be a little bit of technology in these new prototype cans. The San Francisco Chronicle describes each can is equipped with smart sensors that will notify trash collectors that the can is full to reduce overflow.

For the program of 15 trash cans, Public Works is asking the city for between $537,000 from $840,000.

 
These look like generic trash cans with new designs, whey do they cost $20,000 a piece? They're just stationary boxes of metal.
Costing $20,000 a pop, there had to be a little bit of technology in these new prototype cans. The San Francisco Chronicle describes each can is equipped with smart sensors that will notify trash collectors that the can is full to reduce overflow.
Oh that's why, because we had to put computers in them. Not excessive in the slightest, no sir.
 
So... is it a classic case of public money being used to prop up some friend's company?
The San Francisco Chronicle describes each can is equipped with smart sensors that will notify trash collectors that the can is full to reduce overflow.
Great, more smart city stuff! One has to wonder what else those sensors can interact with... Also expect pre-smart dust cities being spammed with these "solutions" to bitch basic problems.
 
It's the minimum amount of effort for a large, unspent budget they don't care to handle properly, so they do this sort of bullshit instead. I know the phrase is "never attribute to malice" etc but I legitimately do not think that people could be this stupid.
If it's a council of people instead of one guy then that's more or less a guarantee that what comes out is going to be stupid, because in order to come to any agreement, the idea has to appeal to everybody & that doesn't require cold logic, but is rather imposed upon by personal feelings & petty vindictiveness. So what they do with their money doesn't have to be smart, it just has to be agreeable.
 
Every time I see news about California, I'm astounded at their stupidity.

How did it gets like this?
Politicians that've existed in a state of de facto one party rule for decades and are incredibly far up their own asses as a result. It barely works because they're coasting by on the immense prosperity that the post-WW2 military-industrial boom and later Silicon Valley brought to the state.
 
Costing $20,000 a pop, there had to be a little bit of technology in these new prototype cans. The San Francisco Chronicle describes each can is equipped with smart sensors that will notify trash collectors that the can is full to reduce overflow.
Am I wrong to think that crackheads would steal these things within 24 hours to strip it for parts and metal? With that much overdesigned crap inside it, you could get a pretty decent chunk of crack. Even if they're bolted to the street, you cannot underestimate the tenacity of a crackhead hungry for his fix.
 
I live in a major city. Just yesterday I was out for a walk. I saw a guy stop for a second, bend down, and leave his can of monster energy on the stoop to his right and keep on walking. There was a trash can and a recycle can four feet to his left.

You can over-design this shit all you want, but you can't design for how humans actually act.

I moved from a state with a bottle and can deposit, to a state without one.

The difference is *shocking*. Every ditch, very parking lot, every alley - bottles and cans everywhere. Even out in the country, the ditches are filthy, full of so many bottles and cans. And other trash, too, but the sheer amount of cans and bottles is overwhelming.

I entirely support bottle deposit programs for reducing litter. People will actually make an effort for that five or ten cents. And the people that do throw bottles and cans out even despite the deposit? Someone else will pick them up.
 
I live in a major city. Just yesterday I was out for a walk. I saw a guy stop for a second, bend down, and leave his can of monster energy on the stoop to his right and keep on walking. There was a trash can and a recycle can four feet to his left.

You can over-design this shit all you want, but you can't design for how humans actually act.
"Today I threw my Monster slightly away from the trashcan so I guess you could say I'm an accelerationist."
 
Shit like this is proof that the "hurr during just tax the rich to feed the poor" mindset will never work. The issue has never been there not being enough money, the issue is wasteful spending.
 
$60,000,000 for 3000 trash cans. Absolutely insane. Honestly I think politicians need their pay cut down to 50,000 a year. And if they decide to quit because of that? Remove their rights to ever hold office or even vote again.
 
wait a minute, I thought SF was a eco friendly city and with a big painted mural of Greta Thuberurg on a side of a building.
why would SF need new garbage cans
Unless SF are full of shit, which they are
All this does is expose SF in having trash issues and not to mention Homeless people are part of the problem.
And bottom line, regular people don't care about trash cans either, they will leave thier trash any where convenient.
SF just needs to hire more people or maybe those Climate Change activist can help clean SF

But one thing I will say and people should do.
When ever I have a empty Soda can, water bottle or glass bottle, I leave it on the outside of the trash can
The reason for this, so, homeless or recycles collectors don't make a mess while going through a Trash Can.

Maybe the Government should add a mesh basket outside of a trash can only for Soda Cans, plastic/glass bottles
I know it will not be a perfect system but I think it will help somewhat
 
Politicians that've existed in a state of de facto one party rule for decades and are incredibly far up their own asses as a result. It barely works because they're coasting by on the immense prosperity that the post-WW2 military-industrial boom and later Silicon Valley brought to the state.
This is what I don't understand about people who don't at least try to be open-minded about politics. Why do anything for the people you represent when you know your party will win every time?
 
I went to San Francisco recently, a lot of boarded up storefronts, a lot of niggers and spics, literally smells even more like piss with trash in a lot of places, urine puddles in some areas, a lot of homeless and a lot of gay flags. And this was by the main civic center where City Hall is.
Did you make it over to Moscone or the ballpark? The streets run with shit and needles!
Every time I see news about California, I'm astounded at their stupidity.

How did it gets like this?
It's easy (and correct) to blame the people who live there and the voters, but a lot of it also lies in California's government. @Iceland Heavy already covered part of it, but think of California not as a state, but as its own country, and things start to make more sense.
Am I wrong to think that crackheads would steal these things within 24 hours to strip it for parts and metal? With that much overdesigned crap inside it, you could get a pretty decent chunk of crack. Even if they're bolted to the street, you cannot underestimate the tenacity of a crackhead hungry for his fix.
In my experience they don't even think about things like this. The engineers, programmers (programmers for a trash can, this timeline is ridiculous), and politicians making those decisions are so far removed from reality it's mind boggling.
 
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