Industrial Trash Can Help (Indicator)?

[MadPlumbarian]

Maybe someone might know something? Anyway, I remembered that there was a indicator for mailboxes, as soon as the lid gets pulled open a spring pops up indicating that it’s been open, so why not something similar for a industrial trash can? Cause it would be great to just be able to look out the back window and see whether or not it’s been picked up, this way I can see if it’s a good time to take the dogs out so I could do all at once, so I looked into it but two of them require the lid to open, and where we are we get high winds and that lid gets blown open idk how many times, so they would be pointless, that other bar one lifts because of being tipped and the lid doesn’t do anything but idk about mounting it, idk if they would get cranky being diff, yet that last one is small and kinda hides behind the can, plus it doesn’t require the lid, my only worry is its magnetic and the trash driver is a little hard at slamming the cans down, so idk if a magnet will handle keeping it held up? So I just fig I’d ask around to see if anyone else has something similar? I mean heck, what about a simple hinge, a strong magnet between, double face tape on one side to the can, and just paint the other, thus as the can gets tipped it holds showing whatever was painting? But will it hold being put down? Thoughts??
JR

[Chako]

In my city, we are not allowed to modify our bins because they belong to either the city or the recycling company. With that said, for my neighbourhood, garbage is picked up every Friday at around 9:30 am at my house. Recycling bin is picked up on Monday before noon. As long as I put them out in the morning, there is no worry on if they were picked up.

[Vidar]

Over here, and likely  some other countries, the potential issue is that the bins are being picked up by some mechanical contraption, emptied and put back. That grip might or might not hit or break whatever unexpected extra is attached.

But instead of attaching or editing the trash bin itself, how about leaning it towards something that pops up or otherwise signals when the trash bin has been moved or lifted away at some point? A swingarm, or even be as simple as photocell under that suddenly see more light as it is lifted off, and if within wifi range just have a microprocessor with Wifi update some web based indicator? It could beep, notify, or more actively check via your computer, pad, pod, smarsmurfch, TV or whatever by a website at for instance https://trashbin.localhost:4000 where it changes from full to empty.

My grandmother would have loved it

[MadPlumbarian]

Thus why I like that mini hinge one that hides behind the can and doesn’t flag up, that and its just a simple double face tape mount, and not drilling any holes, plus ain’t no one will see it, unless they walk behind it which not many do, yet while looking this morning I just saw this, the “redneck indicator” ain’t nothing besides a ziptie and what, a piece of duct tape? Yeah the wind can blow the lid all the way over and press the flag against the back, but the lids going to stay alllll the way back, so if I look and the lids still back thus the wind blew it, but if the flags all the way back and the lids closed, thus the wind blew it and the trash has been picked up since the lids closed, unless it’s still back, which either it hasn’t been picked up, or it has and the wind blew the lid over after it’s been picked up, but from the window being open you should be able to see some of the trash if high enough? Idk, I gotta see if I have a hinge, cause I know I have the perfect magnet, some paint, but just not any double face tape, I used the last on the dog bag dispenser, oh well,,
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Yeah, here’s what they pick it up with,,
JR

[Vidar]

Over here the arm is at the back. Likely a camera or something in the cabin to see the surroundings and control it. So the driver rarely goes out.

They actually tried the opposite way too if I remember correctly: A operator was getting the trashbins and emptying them, while the truck was self driving to the next. Sounds like a much worse idea.

[nate j]

The hinge & magnet idea seems most promising to me.  I’m thinking a hinge that isn’t too heavy and a strong magnet, and there shouldn’t be a problem however hard the can is set down.  Care would have to be taken to place the indicator on the correct side to be seen from the house though, or else put indicators on all four sides so it doesn’t matter which direction the can is facing.

Really though, I suspect any sort of indicator would be more trouble than it would be worth for most folks.

[Chako]

I just don't see the need. Our trucks are from GFL with a side arm that picks up the bins so the driver doesn't get out as well. You put them out at the roadside on the given day, they come, and then you return them back to fill up for next week.

As for GFL, my old business high school teacher Fred Dovigi was the father of Patrick Dovigi, owner of GFL Environmental Inc. He is worth a few bucks, and there is definitely a local flavour there.

EDIT: Oh wait, I see the title mentions Industrial, I am talking Residential. I will go grab my hat an leave.   

[MadPlumbarian]

Our driver comes normally in the morning, but that’s not a promise,, our neighbor is also turning 94 I next week, but I normally get his can for him, lately before he puts his out I’ll run over and just grab the small bag he puts out and I’ll bring it over and put it in our can so I don’t have to bring his can in the next day, but yeah, not knowing if our trash has been picked up I won’t have to go out to the can with a dog to check on it to see if it has been picked up, plus with my seizures I wanna be out and back in asap and not going out to the street just to see if the trash has been picked up, the town is also nuts, they’ll freaking ticket you if you put your can out too soon, let alone if you leave it out too late, their just nuts..

[PitCarver]

That's not an issue with my bins
I take mine down to the street and line them up nice and straight.   When I look out and see one laying down on the ground and the other with the lid opened and sitting all the way in the middle of the driveway,
I know that they've been there.

[nate j]

the town is also nuts, they’ll freaking ticket you if you put your can out too soon, let alone if you leave it out too late, their just nuts..

250 years, and we’ve gone from “Give me liberty,or give me death!” to “You’ll get a ticket if you put your trash cans out too soon or leave them out too long.”?!?!
  

[Vidar]

250 years, and we’ve gone from “Give me liberty,or give me death!” to “You’ll get a ticket if you put your trash cans out too soon or leave them out too long.”?!?!
  

A few thousands years and we gone from not having trash to filling a bin every week. Not sure, that might be progress? But going from no paperwork to build a hut to needing forms, hearings, processes, fees,  exceptions, licenses, tracking materials and finally tax on anything finished? No progress there.

[Vidar]

That's not an issue with my bins
I take mine down to the street and line them up nice and straight.   When I look out and see one laying down on the ground and the other with the lid opened and sitting all the way in the middle of the driveway,
I know that they've been there.

 

That, with some added spreading of the contents all over, is how I know big animals have been there. Or wind and birds. That looks very similar.

[Chako]

Sorry I forgot my beer...

We don't have issues about when you can place your bin at the road, but the city plow drivers enjoy running over them for sport. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Perhaps approaching this from a different angle would work?

Blink cameras from Amazon are pretty cheap nowadays and have motion sensors built in.  You could set one up over your garbage cans, arm it when you take them out and the app sends you a notification when there is movement.  You could check your phone/tablet/ipad/whatever when you get an alert and see if it was the garbage collector or not.

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

I did see something of that nature, I’d have to do some research on them cause the first thing I thought of is with the amount of wind we get living across from two parks that if flattened out and without the road to the left between the two of them you could easily land prob a 747, and we get some good 50mph winds, without anything in the can it can take off, so if moving/shaking would it trigger the sensor? We have cameras, thus what I took the pics with, so I can easily go on and go through the history to see if it was picked up, but it would take like 5min, I’m just after something quick and simple that I could just look out the window or while taking one of the dogs out I can just look and know that it’s been picked up,,
JR

[nate j]

Along those lines, I recently learned that Ring doorbells can now provide detailed, AI-generated text descriptions of what triggered a motion alert.  This might work well, but would require both purchasing and installing a Ring doorbell, as well as a service subscription.  You might also end up getting a lot of alerts for people walking their dogs and other things you don’t care about.

[MadPlumbarian]

Along those lines, I recently learned that Ring doorbells can now provide detailed, AI-generated text descriptions of what triggered a motion alert.  This might work well, but would require both purchasing and installing a Ring doorbell, as well as a service subscription.  You might also end up getting a lot of alerts for people walking their dogs and other things you don’t care about.

Oh yeah! We have cameras, and they have motion alert, they also have a an led that kicks and a siren, the bad thing is they can be sensitive, on either a windy or rainy night it will kick on the sec it turns off, so yeah notification is turned off, along with the sirens!! But the led’s stay on..
JR

[PitCarver]

Door bell cameras?  I can barely see the bin site from there.  Perhaps our unused side door... IDK.
Last time I had an issue with the company not picking up our bin, I called the county omsbudsmans office.  They said that it wasn't picked up because another bin was laying in front of it.  I told her to ask the company why that was so.  They're the ones that left it that way.
JR showed one option on bin pickup.  The company that serves us has the hook/lift gizmo on the back of the truck.  An actual human worker is supposed to roll the bin from its location to the back of the vehicle then the gizmo does it's job.  The live human then is supposed to return the bin to its former location.

Another thing is we've got the two bins but only one of them is the correct type bin for use with the gizmo thing.  It's fine.  The other one is bent up like a crushed up beer can.  That one was designed to be dumped by an actual living person.  Old school.