The city where I live is permanently carpeted with litter. Much of it consists of crisp wrappers, junk food cartons and various other by- products of over-packaged goods. The majority of this, as far as I can see, is thrown away by children and young adults.
The solution to this is to turn the proper disposal of litter into a rewarding event, hence the introduction of the Litter- Snapper.
Litter-Snappers are street bins, equipped with a simple two part mouth that opens when approached by a hand holding a piece of litter. Once the item of litter has been dropped inside the bin, the motion/ proximity sensor allows the upper and lower jaw of the mouth to harmlessly snap shut.
Various models are available, according to the volume of litter anticipated, from the diminutive Venus Fly Trap, for the odd cigarette butt outside a public building, to the Hungry Hippo, adjacent to a busy sweet shop.-- xenzag, Aug 08 2007 Oscar the Grouch http://images.wikia.../c9/OG-p0002-ST.jpg [xandram, Aug 09 2007] talking trash cans http://www.cnn.com/...nkyou.ap/index.html [xandram, Aug 09 2007] And how does this encourage me to dump my trash in the bin if I am not a 5 year old or mentally handicapped?-- jhomrighaus, Aug 08 2007 + I still love Oscar the Grouch!-- xandram, Aug 09 2007 we have a toy robot-bank, that once a coin is in place the weight activates the open, toss, chew and swallow mechanisms. cute.-- dentworth, Aug 09 2007 //Hungry Hippo, adjacent to a busy sweet shop// - How did you know?-- hippo, Aug 09 2007 (+) Now if they could just flock...-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 09 2007 Constantly opening and closing when people walk by without litter. They would be emitting noxious fumes constantly. More like belching snappers.-- leinypoo13, Aug 09 2007 The problem with bins is they reinforce the hide it and it will be alright atitude , someone else's problem I did my bit putting the unwanted stuff in the bin . Real re-integration of unwanted stuff is finding the correct death for the item .-- wjt, Aug 10 2007 random, halfbakery