The Story Behind Mr. Trash Wheel: A Baltimore Success Story

Mr. Trash Wheel is more than just a name; it's a symbol of innovation and community involvement in keeping our waterways clean. The brainchild of John Kellett, a young entrepreneur who grew up on a farm and was inspired by the industrial tools used in large cities like Baltimore, Mr. Trash Wheel has become an iconic figure in the fight against pollution.

The Concept Behind Mr. Trash Wheel

Kellett's original idea was to create a machine that could pick up garbage from the water and dispose of it. After much research and development, he settled on a concept based on old industrial tools used in cities like Baltimore, specifically using water wheel technology. The result is a large steamboat-like machine with a massive water wheel constantly turning and directing trash onto a conveyor belt. This clever design has proven to be effective in picking up larger pieces of trash, including items like guitars, beer kegs, and even a ball python that made itself at home on the wheel.

A Partnership with the Abel Foundation

Mr. Trash Wheel's development was made possible by a partnership with the Abel Foundation, a non-profit organization that put up the funds to refine the concept after much trial and error. The foundation's support enabled Kellett to take his idea from the prototype stage to reality, deploying Mr. Trash Wheel into Baltimore's harbor.

A Permanent Fixture in the Harbor

Once operational, local businesses and community leaders noticed an immediate difference in the pollution flowing into the harbor. They were so impressed with Mr. Trash Wheel that they began a campaign to produce more trash wheels and install them in other parts of Maryland as part of their Healthy Harbor Initiative. This initiative has not only helped keep Baltimore's harbor clean but also inspired other communities to take action.

The Impact of Mr. Trash Wheel

Since its deployment, Mr. Trash Wheel has had a significant impact on the Baltimore harbor. In just seven years, it has picked up over 1,600 tons of trash and debris from the water. The data collected by Mr. Trash Wheel is shared with local officials to raise awareness about the scale of the problem and the need for further action.

A Persona for a Cause

The waterfront partnership for Baltimore gave Mr. Trash Wheel a persona, adding a name and cute googly eyes to make it more relatable and engaging. This move has not only increased the trash wheel's profile but also created a community around its likeness. Fans can now buy t-shirts, attend group cleanup events, and even drink beer brewed in honor of Mr. Trash Wheel.

A Family of Trash Wheels

Mr. Trash Wheel is not alone; it has relatives, including Professor Trash Wheel, Captain Trash Wheel, and Gwenda the Goodwill of the West. Each of these trash wheels has its own unique personality and online presence, with their own likes and dislikes. The family of trash wheels has become a beloved fixture in Baltimore's harbor, inspiring others to take action against pollution.

A Symbol of Sustainability

While Mr. Trash Wheel is not a solution to the plastic pollution crisis on its own, it represents a small but important step towards creating a cleaner and more sustainable environment. As Kellett notes, "I never envisioned that we would have googly eyes on this machine with a name for it and a beer and trash wheel t-shirts and the trash reel fan club and a trash wheel fan fest... It's kind of beyond my wildest dreams."

Adopting Mr. Trash Wheel in Your City

For city leaders or officials, adopting a trash wheel like Mr. Trash Wheel can be a powerful tool in keeping your harbor clean. The website mrtrashwheel.com offers resources and information on how to make this happen, including downloadable spreadsheets of the trash collected by Mr. Trash Wheel.

The Reality Check: A Bigger Problem

While Mr. Trash Wheel is an effective solution for individual harbors, it's essential to recognize that plastic pollution is a global problem that requires a collective response. Education, lifestyle changes, and a major shift in the plastic-producing industry are necessary to tackle this issue effectively. Mr. Trash Wheel is just one piece of the puzzle; we must work together to create real change.

Conclusion

Mr. Trash Wheel's story is a testament to the power of innovation, community involvement, and creative problem-solving. As it continues to inspire others to take action against pollution, its legacy will be remembered for years to come. Join Mr. Trash Wheel in spreading awareness about the importance of keeping our waterways clean, and together we can create a more sustainable future for all.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmr trash wheel is gobbling up garbage in baltimore maryland winning hearts and minds and making a real impact on a community that was once plagued by garbage flowing into the baltimore harbor you may have heard of him or her or captain trash wheel maybe you've seen one on twitter or taken a selfie next to one in person trash wheel interceptors are working day and night 24 7 to clean up garbage that's floating down waterways which eventually empty out into the ocean mr trash wheel was first installed in baltimore's beautiful jones falls stream in 2014. since its installation it has intercepted over 3 million pounds of trash i'd call that a great success and it's all the brainchild of an inventor named john kellett who is the creator of the original mr trash wheel and the founder of clearwater mills in baltimore maryland with our good friend john hi john john saw a problem in baltimore that was affecting the environment the wildlife local businesses and the aesthetic beauty of the incredible baltimore harbor he literally drew up his idea on a napkin made a small working prototype and then set the wheel in motion making it a reality good morning john good morning no way a million people are going to see this don't worry and it has had a major impact on the city of baltimore and will soon be helping clean other cities and other countries around the globe so i worked on baltimore harbor for about 20 years and on a daily basis i was confronted with trash in harbor baltimore has a beautiful harbor but it has been impacted negatively by the trash and it didn't take a lot of investigation to realize the trash is not coming from people walking around the harbor and throwing their trash into the harbor it comes from the land sources and it gets washed by the storm water down the storm drains and into the creeks then into the main river that feeds the inner harbor eventually all that trash makes it into the atlantic ocean i would cross the foot bridge on the promenade across the main river that feeds the inner harbor and see the trash is flowing into the harbor and i said you know there should be a way to stop this trash before it spreads out the mouth of the river seemed like a logical place to do it and i did some research to see if there was anything out there that could tackle that job and i came up with nothing so i said well maybe i should give it a try the trash wheel employs a simple technology using a water mill which is turned by the flowing river and powers a system of pulleys which pull a conveyor belt and an array of rakes which helps scoop the floating debris onto the trash wheel which is then emptied into a large dumpster inside mr trash wheel the dumpsters are easily removed and emptied by a small crew as they get full we got a fresh clean empty dumpster over there the trash wheels are outfitted with solar panels which store power inside batteries on board mr trash wheel for times when the river might not be flowing fast enough to turn the water wheel john is able to switch on pumps remotely from his smartphone which will then pump water onto the water wheel so it never stops turning and gobbling garbage mr trash wheel also has an internet connection so john could see what's going on in the trash wheel via webcam and take any action if needed john kellett reached out to the city of baltimore who was open to ideas on how to combat trash flowing into the harbor and eventually partnered with a non-profit called the abel foundation who put up the money to develop and refine the trash wheel concept after much trial and error the trash wheel was eventually manufactured and deployed into baltimore's harbor once mr trash wheel was operational local businesses and community leaders noticed an immediate difference in the pollution flowing into the harbor and took action to make mr trash wheel a permanent fixture the waterfront partnership for baltimore then got involved and began a campaign to produce more trash wheels and install them in more parts of maryland as part of their healthy harbor initiative so please join me and the crew of clearwater mills in welcoming gwenda the good wheel of the west mr trash wheel has impacted the baltimore harbor in ways that we never imagined mr trash will has picked up over 1600 tons of trash and debris from the baltimore harbor over the last seven years if you go to mr trashwood.com you can actually download a spreadsheet of every dumpster we've pulled out of the harbor over the past seven years with an estimate of different types of trash that were in that dumpster so we know for example that we've pulled out over a million styrofoam containers from the baltimore harbor and that's the sort of information data and photos that we share with our elected officials to let them know just how big of a problem this is john kellet's original idea derived from a hay baler you find on a farm growing up on a farm as a kid his original idea was to have some type of machine that can go around picking up the garbage out of the water and disposing of it but after much research and development he settled on a concept based on the old industrial tools used for hundreds of years in large cities like baltimore using water wheel technology water mills powered baltimore's industry for decades providing power to textile mills lumber yards and helping to build up massive industrial cities over time mr trash wheel and its cousin trash wheels resemble a large steamboat with a large water wheel constantly turning and directing trash onto the conveyor belt and that's not all they resemble the waterfront partnership for baltimore gave mr trashwheel a persona adding a name and a cute face with large googly eyes mr trash wheel has an online media presence to increase the trash wheels profile and now people come from all over the place to visit mr trash wheel take selfies and help spread the word of maintaining a clean and sustainable environment from the looks of mr trash wheels twitter page he is very popular among the locals and has spawned a small industry around his likeness with t-shirts group cleanup events and even a local beer mr trash wheel has some relatives including professor trash wheel captain trash wheel and gwenda the goodwill of the west all of whom have their own likes and dislikes on their public profiles online the trash wheels have a reputation for being able to gobble up larger pieces of trash like a guitar a full-size beer keg and on one occasion a ball python who escaped from its owner and made a home for itself on the warm battery casing of one of the trash wheels the trash wheels do not harm animals and instead are kind of a refuge for creatures looking for a safe place to nest like this duck who laid eggs underneath the conveyor belt and for fish who enjoy the oxygenated water as the wheel turns in the river john kellett is extremely proud of what he's been able to do for the community as he should be and he's also blown away at how this idea has evolved over time i never envisioned that we would have uh googly eyes on this machine with a name for it and a beer and the trash wheel t-shirts and the trash reel fan club and a trash wheel fan fest and it's kind of beyond my wildest dreams with what's happened in baltimore with it and it's not just baltimore it has a following all over i'm miles away come see mr crash wheel never would i have imagined that so i'm kind of still regularly sort of you know scratching my head saying i can't believe this little idea that i came up with on a napkin has had this sort of impact or these that it has if you are a city leader or official you can adopt your own trash wheel at mrtrashwheel.com and reap the benefits of a cleaner more sparkling city harbor which i'm sure local business owners and residents will appreciate the trash wheels are not the solution however they're just a small band-aid on a plastic pollution crisis that is plaguing our world it will take education lifestyle changes and a major shift in the plastic producing industry to really turn this issue around if you like this video give us a like and ring that bell for more videos from cnet's youtube channel and check out our related videos on sustainability and cleaning technologies and you can find links to mr trash wheels website and twitter feed in the description thanks for watching will mr trash will he's the hero of the harbormr trash wheel is gobbling up garbage in baltimore maryland winning hearts and minds and making a real impact on a community that was once plagued by garbage flowing into the baltimore harbor you may have heard of him or her or captain trash wheel maybe you've seen one on twitter or taken a selfie next to one in person trash wheel interceptors are working day and night 24 7 to clean up garbage that's floating down waterways which eventually empty out into the ocean mr trash wheel was first installed in baltimore's beautiful jones falls stream in 2014. since its installation it has intercepted over 3 million pounds of trash i'd call that a great success and it's all the brainchild of an inventor named john kellett who is the creator of the original mr trash wheel and the founder of clearwater mills in baltimore maryland with our good friend john hi john john saw a problem in baltimore that was affecting the environment the wildlife local businesses and the aesthetic beauty of the incredible baltimore harbor he literally drew up his idea on a napkin made a small working prototype and then set the wheel in motion making it a reality good morning john good morning no way a million people are going to see this don't worry and it has had a major impact on the city of baltimore and will soon be helping clean other cities and other countries around the globe so i worked on baltimore harbor for about 20 years and on a daily basis i was confronted with trash in harbor baltimore has a beautiful harbor but it has been impacted negatively by the trash and it didn't take a lot of investigation to realize the trash is not coming from people walking around the harbor and throwing their trash into the harbor it comes from the land sources and it gets washed by the storm water down the storm drains and into the creeks then into the main river that feeds the inner harbor eventually all that trash makes it into the atlantic ocean i would cross the foot bridge on the promenade across the main river that feeds the inner harbor and see the trash is flowing into the harbor and i said you know there should be a way to stop this trash before it spreads out the mouth of the river seemed like a logical place to do it and i did some research to see if there was anything out there that could tackle that job and i came up with nothing so i said well maybe i should give it a try the trash wheel employs a simple technology using a water mill which is turned by the flowing river and powers a system of pulleys which pull a conveyor belt and an array of rakes which helps scoop the floating debris onto the trash wheel which is then emptied into a large dumpster inside mr trash wheel the dumpsters are easily removed and emptied by a small crew as they get full we got a fresh clean empty dumpster over there the trash wheels are outfitted with solar panels which store power inside batteries on board mr trash wheel for times when the river might not be flowing fast enough to turn the water wheel john is able to switch on pumps remotely from his smartphone which will then pump water onto the water wheel so it never stops turning and gobbling garbage mr trash wheel also has an internet connection so john could see what's going on in the trash wheel via webcam and take any action if needed john kellett reached out to the city of baltimore who was open to ideas on how to combat trash flowing into the harbor and eventually partnered with a non-profit called the abel foundation who put up the money to develop and refine the trash wheel concept after much trial and error the trash wheel was eventually manufactured and deployed into baltimore's harbor once mr trash wheel was operational local businesses and community leaders noticed an immediate difference in the pollution flowing into the harbor and took action to make mr trash wheel a permanent fixture the waterfront partnership for baltimore then got involved and began a campaign to produce more trash wheels and install them in more parts of maryland as part of their healthy harbor initiative so please join me and the crew of clearwater mills in welcoming gwenda the good wheel of the west mr trash wheel has impacted the baltimore harbor in ways that we never imagined mr trash will has picked up over 1600 tons of trash and debris from the baltimore harbor over the last seven years if you go to mr trashwood.com you can actually download a spreadsheet of every dumpster we've pulled out of the harbor over the past seven years with an estimate of different types of trash that were in that dumpster so we know for example that we've pulled out over a million styrofoam containers from the baltimore harbor and that's the sort of information data and photos that we share with our elected officials to let them know just how big of a problem this is john kellet's original idea derived from a hay baler you find on a farm growing up on a farm as a kid his original idea was to have some type of machine that can go around picking up the garbage out of the water and disposing of it but after much research and development he settled on a concept based on the old industrial tools used for hundreds of years in large cities like baltimore using water wheel technology water mills powered baltimore's industry for decades providing power to textile mills lumber yards and helping to build up massive industrial cities over time mr trash wheel and its cousin trash wheels resemble a large steamboat with a large water wheel constantly turning and directing trash onto the conveyor belt and that's not all they resemble the waterfront partnership for baltimore gave mr trashwheel a persona adding a name and a cute face with large googly eyes mr trash wheel has an online media presence to increase the trash wheels profile and now people come from all over the place to visit mr trash wheel take selfies and help spread the word of maintaining a clean and sustainable environment from the looks of mr trash wheels twitter page he is very popular among the locals and has spawned a small industry around his likeness with t-shirts group cleanup events and even a local beer mr trash wheel has some relatives including professor trash wheel captain trash wheel and gwenda the goodwill of the west all of whom have their own likes and dislikes on their public profiles online the trash wheels have a reputation for being able to gobble up larger pieces of trash like a guitar a full-size beer keg and on one occasion a ball python who escaped from its owner and made a home for itself on the warm battery casing of one of the trash wheels the trash wheels do not harm animals and instead are kind of a refuge for creatures looking for a safe place to nest like this duck who laid eggs underneath the conveyor belt and for fish who enjoy the oxygenated water as the wheel turns in the river john kellett is extremely proud of what he's been able to do for the community as he should be and he's also blown away at how this idea has evolved over time i never envisioned that we would have uh googly eyes on this machine with a name for it and a beer and the trash wheel t-shirts and the trash reel fan club and a trash wheel fan fest and it's kind of beyond my wildest dreams with what's happened in baltimore with it and it's not just baltimore it has a following all over i'm miles away come see mr crash wheel never would i have imagined that so i'm kind of still regularly sort of you know scratching my head saying i can't believe this little idea that i came up with on a napkin has had this sort of impact or these that it has if you are a city leader or official you can adopt your own trash wheel at mrtrashwheel.com and reap the benefits of a cleaner more sparkling city harbor which i'm sure local business owners and residents will appreciate the trash wheels are not the solution however they're just a small band-aid on a plastic pollution crisis that is plaguing our world it will take education lifestyle changes and a major shift in the plastic producing industry to really turn this issue around if you like this video give us a like and ring that bell for more videos from cnet's youtube channel and check out our related videos on sustainability and cleaning technologies and you can find links to mr trash wheels website and twitter feed in the description thanks for watching will mr trash will he's the hero of the harbor\n"