Googly Eyes And All, 'Professor Trash Wheel' Under Construction
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- An idea to clean up the harbor was turned into yet another one of Baltimore's quirky attractions.
Mike Schuh reports if you liked the first trash wheel -- which has kept 1 million tons of trash out of the harbor, bay and ocean -- you'll love the second one now under construction.
It wasn't until he got a set of googly eyes that the original trash wheel machine was given a personality and a new name -- Mr. Trash Wheel. In fact, he has a Superman personality.
"I'm wearing my 'Feel the Churn' shirt from Mr. Trash Wheel," said Adam Adam Lindquist, Manager of Waterfront Partnership's Healthy Harbor Initiative.
The Waterfront Partnership owns Mr. Trash Wheel.
It's doing such a good job, that it's getting a younger sibling.
"Well, this one works on the same principal as the other one," said John Kellet, who invented both wheels.
The solar panels are already in place. Just a few more welds, and Professor Trash Wheel will be ready to go.
"And I think that is one of the reasons people have gravitated to it, you know, kids love it because they think, 'Oh, I could have thought of something like that,'" Kellet said.
The partnership raised $500,000 to place the professor in Canton.
"The solution isn't to put trash wheels everywhere... The solution is to combine this technology with work upstream to reduce the amount of litter in our neighborhoods in the first place," according to Lindquist.
Until then, more are on the way.
Not only are more trash wheels planned for Baltimore, but you could soon see them around the world.
"Baltimore is not unique. I've been to Milwaukee, I've been to Newark, Atlanta, Panama, Brazil," Kellet said.
Kellett knows that his creation taking shape, and its siblings, are important.
"It's very rewarding to see a couple of things -- one, a clean harbor -- and know you've had an impact on the harbor," he said.
Professor Trash Wheel will also have googly eyes and cat eye glasses. It will be towed into place the week after Thanksgiving.
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