Toronto designer invents raccoon-proof green bin

Patented double latch keeps lid closed in spite of critters’ best efforts, yet opens easily for automated pick-up.

Aug. 26, 2014
thestar.com
By Gemma Karstens-Smith

 

Raccoons have been frustrating Toronto homeowners for years, stalking around yards and creating chaos as they feast on garbage and green bin scraps.

But a local industrial designer believes he’s found a cure for anxiety induced by the masked marauders. Simon Treadwell says he has invented a raccoon-proof green bin.

The City of Toronto put out a request for proposal for a better green bin last year, and Scarborough manufacturer Scepter asked Treadwell if he would team up on the challenge.

“It was right up my alley,” said the president of Treadwell & Company Design.

Meeting the requirements of the proposal, however, was tricky. The bin had to be easy for anybody to use, and had to open automatically when turned upside down, a feature that would allow the city to automate pickup. It also had to keep nocturnal bandits out.

“You have to keep it locked when the raccoons knock it over, and you have to prevent the raccoons from getting into it after the fact,” Treadwell explained.

So he and his team got to work, and eventually came up with a double latch to hold the bin closed, inspired by the latches that keep fences closed. The patented fastener ensures that, if the bin is turned on its side or knocked backwards, one or both of the hook latches catch, keeping the lid holding tight to the bucket. When the bin is dumped upside down, however, gravity swings both latches open, and the lid falls away from the bucket.

“We liked it because, mechanically, there’s nothing complex here. It’s dead-simple,” Treadwell said.

Larger than the current problem-plagued green bins, Treadwell’s bin holds about 92 litres of waste and has a double-walled lid for extra security. If a raccoon somehow manages to get its little paws past the first wall of thick plastic, there’s a second wall to stymie its efforts.

Once the team had a usable prototype, they put their invention to the test. It passed the pickup requirements, with the lid swinging open when the giant claws of a garbage truck clutched the bucket and turned it upside down.

But would the latch truly prevent the crafty critters from getting inside?

To find out, the team filled a bin with sardines and cat food, sprinkling some of the mixture around the container and on the lid in an attempt to bait the raccoons into knocking it over.

“We were hoping the aroma would seep out. It was disgusting. But they loved it,” Treadwell said.

They put the bait out in a backyard in Etobicoke and set up night-vision cameras to record the action. For six nights, raccoons tried to break into the big green vault.

“We watched them knock it over, we watched them put their claws in and try to pry it open...And they couldn’t get in,” Treadwell said, pointing out deep gouges the bandits left in the thick green plastic.

Early next month, Treadwell and his team will deliver prototypes to the city to be tested. If the bins meet the city’s requirements, they could soon be seen on curbs all round the city.

The green bin has become an important project from Treadwell, who has designed a variety of other products, from pressure washers and heaters to spoons for frozen yogurt.

“Most of my stuff I can go to a store and see it. But this one’s special because it’s for the city,” he said. “I feel like I really want to get this right for the city and have people like it.”