A gentleman in the great borough of Brooklyn (their Brooklyn, not our Brooklyn) got it into his head about a decade ago to plant makeshift miniature forests in garbage dumpsters – a whimsical if impractical project he hopes to see implemented throughout the city. Why this is making the blogging rounds only now is a little unclear, but there was a quizzical write-up over at The Atlantic, and a downright bitchy post over at Grist. We understand healthy scepticism, but why the snarky tone? Readers of this blog are well aware of our long-standing opposition to snark. (So much so that we would go a-hunting after it, if not for our fear of boojums – a tray of tarts for anyone who gets that one.)
While the reluctance of New York City’s citizenry to embrace thickets of refuse may be understandable, wethinks this guy might be onto something. Shouldn’t garbage trucks have greenroofs, forests forming when they ride in fleets? They could serve as their own mobile composting units. (Do any garbage trucks serve as mobile composting units already?) And why can’t we have garbage cans with bonzai growing from their lids? Presumably it’s a budget issue.
