Turning Rubbish into Free Wifi

Rubbish, a significant problem across the globe can now offer a much desired resource – WiFi!

Rubbish, garbage, trash, filth…what ever you may call it, is everywhere on our planet! More so in certain countries and cities than others. Events, even in “the civilised west”, which I’m sure we have all been to our fair share of and seen the aftermath from the event-going population.

What if there was  a way to empower event goers, or the public at large to pick up after themselves, or others. Well…now there is.

Enter ”The smart garbage can”. The original concept cam about from two frustrated entrepreneurs at a popular Bangalore music festival in 2013. Pratik Agarwal & Raj Desai spawned the idea due to the struggle to find each other, to connect via their smart phones whilst in a region with no reception or wifi.

So Desai and Agarwal, both 26, invented a trash can that rewards people with 15 minutes of free Wi-Fi every time they throw something away.

The plastic bin (which costs about $1,470) is four-and-a-half feet high with an LED screen. When you throw something in the bin, the screen flashes a unique code to access 15 minutes of Wi-Fi (which works within a 50 meter radius).

Apart from being a functional solution, the device also integrates all social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and others, to provide great branding opportunity to the organisers of events and enhance the on ground experience to the guests.

ThinkScream the company formed by the duo now runs solutions for events, cinema, trade shows and more harnessing this concept. Whilst this device is perfect for specific events, Desai has encouraged private companies and government agencies to deploy the bins in large cities like Mumbai.

“We haven’t done a before-and-after analysis yet, but anecdotally we know that people do like to use the bin for the wow factor at first and then for the free WiFi,”

he said.

Other opportunities have been developed to include images of popular celebrities frowning, and then smiling as rubbish is loaded in and the wifi is broadcast to encourage more users and to keep the concept fresh.

A great solution to a concerning and increasing problem, and an ever increasing demand for WiFi (especially the free kind).

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