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NGSS: Core Idea: ETS1.B

CCSS: Speaking and Listening: 1

TEKS: 8.11D, E.5B

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Trash Collector

Meet the litter-gobbling machine that’s cleaning up Baltimore’s harbor

April 23, 2018
By Jennifer Barone
COURTESY OF WATERFRONT PARTNERSHIP

CLEANUP CREW: Professor Trash Wheel started operating in Baltimore’s harbor in 2016.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can technology help keep the environment clean?

Every day for 20 years, engineer John Kellett walked across a bridge on his way to work near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, and saw trash littering the river below. The garbage bugged him, but he didn’t know what to do. Then inspiration struck. Kellett came up with an idea for a machine that spins in the river’s current, scooping up trash as it flows toward the ocean. Kellett turned his idea into reality, and in 2014 he installed the device, nicknamed Mr. Trash Wheel. Since then, it’s pulled nearly 680,000 kilograms (1.5 million pounds) of trash from Baltimore’s harbor.

Every day for 20 years, engineer John Kellett walked across a bridge. He was on his way to work near the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. And every day, he saw trash littering the river below. The garbage bugged him, but he didn’t know what to do. Then he had an idea. Kellett thought up a machine that spins in the river’s current. It scoops up trash that’s flowing toward the ocean. Kellett turned his idea into reality. In 2014 he set up the device, nicknamed Mr. Trash Wheel. Since then, it’s pulled nearly 680,000 kilograms (1.5 million pounds) of trash from the harbor.

TAKING OUT THE TRASH

EDWIN REMSBERG/GETTY IMAGES

PROBLEM SOLVER: Engineer John Kellett invented the trash wheel.

Kellett made the first prototype, or test version, of his invention in 2008. Officials gave him permission to build it alongside a dock. Soon after, staff from the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, an organization that aims to improve the harbor, noticed how much cleaner the river was becoming. The wheel was doing its job.

“The concept worked well,” says Kellett, “but we realized we needed something bigger, stronger, and faster to take everything the river could throw at it.” No one had ever tried to clean the harbor before, so no one knew just how much trash there was. It turned out to be a lot. Not only was the waste unsightly, it also polluted local aquatic ecosystems, or communities of living things interacting with their environment.

Kellett made his first prototype in 2008. That’s a test version of an invention. The city allowed him to build it next to a dock. Soon, the river was becoming much cleaner. Staff from the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, an organization that aims to improve the harbor, noticed. The wheel was doing its job.

“The concept worked well,” says Kellett, “but we realized we needed something bigger, stronger, and faster to take everything the river could throw at it.” No one had ever tried to clean the harbor before. So no one knew how much trash there was. It turned out to be a lot. The waste was ugly, plus it polluted local water ecosystems. Those are communities of living things that interact with their environment.

BALTIMORE AND BEYOND

The Waterfront Partnership teamed up with Kellett and raised money to construct a larger version of his device. Locals quickly embraced Mr. Trash Wheel as a mascot for harbor improvement. Since then, two additional machines—nicknamed Professor Trash Wheel and Captain Trash Wheel—have joined the cleanup effort. Kellett is now working with groups around the world to set up similar garbage-collecting wheels in their communities.

The Waterfront Partnership teamed up with Kellett. They raised money to build a larger version of his device. Locals quickly welcomed Mr. Trash Wheel as a mascot for harbor improvement. Since then, two more wheels have joined the cleanup effort. They’re nicknamed Professor Trash Wheel and Captain Trash Wheel. Now Kellett is working with groups around the world. He’s helping them set up similar garbage-collecting wheels in their communities. 

COURTESY OF CASEY MERBLER/WATERFRONT PARTNERSHIP OF BALTIMORE

HARBOR HERO: Mr. Trash Wheel cleans up after a rainstorm.

CORE QUESTION: How did the process of testing a prototype help Kellett improve his trash wheel’s final design?

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