Smart garbage cans feature historic images of Saint John

People in uptown Saint John can now get a look at the past as they throw out their trash.

Uptown Saint John, the city’s business improvement association and the City of Saint John combined to purchase ten Big Belly trash cans.

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Uptown Saint John executive director Nancy Tissington said their cans, which cost $3,000 each, were bought with funds raised through its Business Improvement Association (BIA).

Joining three purchased several years ago, there are now 13 of the special trash cans in the city, many of them in the uptown core.

Each container has a built-in compacter, which runs on solar power from a panel on top of the can. Users can set a limit for how much trash the cans can handle before it’s time to empty them, and an automatic email is sent to administrators when they’re full. City workers are responsible for emptying them.

Tissington said several of the cans have been placed in strategic, high-volume areas of uptown. Those cans have been wrapped with historic images of Saint John.

She said she got the idea to incorporate historic photos into the new technology after seeing similarly-outfitted cans in Kelowna, B.C., last year.

“So I got to see them, up close and personal, and went, ‘What better place to do it than Canada’s first incorporated city?'” Tissington said. “So I met with the (New Brunswick) museum and we worked with a summer student last year on staff and we chose specific pictures to be on the trash cans. Just to make it a little better than just a grey can.”

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Some cans feature historic images of the street corner where they now sit. Tissington said that was done by design, but add that they didn’t want to do that with every can in case some were moved to different locations.

Saint John historian Harold Wright said he’s excited to see the city’s past being highlighted using new technology.

“Not everybody gets to go the museum,” Wright began. “Not everybody wants to go to the museum or an historic site. (It’s an) everyday thing, we’re walking the street. We all produce garbage at some point, so it’s taking our past and making it part of our daily routine.”

Wright said many residents don’t know much of the history of Saint John, but in the last couple of years he has found more people in the 20-40 age range wanting to learn. He said it’s important the information they’re getting is accurate. He said he would like to see longer descriptions of each photo on the cans, or codes which can be scanned by smart phones to link users to historical facts.

“We’re not doing a real good job of continually telling the story (of Saint John),” Wright said. “If more Saint John businesses throughout the city put a little exhibit in their front window, in their store, telling about the story of either that business or that building or that product.

“We have a very long, proud history. We should be shouting it out.”

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Tissington said the trash cans have been well-received. She said Uptown Saint John has not ruled out buying more in the future.

“We talk about art in the uptown, and we know we have the (Salmon Run) fish out right now with Discover Saint John,” Tissington said. “Anything that animates our streets, makes it a little bit more with conversation is always a good thing, and if you can do it with trash cans, why not?”