Pac Man Recycling Bins | AND-RE

These cool little recycling receptacles are called Pac Man recycling bins and they are designed and have been implemented Vilamoura, Portugal by AND-RE. Winner of the Iberian Urban Equipment Prize, 2012- they give another level of encouragement to recycle by becoming more than those drab sort-of industrially dirty looking recycle bins that can be found in other places around the world. Made of a glossy finished metal, they appear as if they are something off the set of the movie, Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. The designer’s description is a nice scenario/description of sorts which I feel well translates the feeling and persona of these objects, and so I have provided it below. Go! Recycle!

You woke up in a bland day, apparently just the same as others, with the morning sun slowly following the awakening. You came to the street, still slightly disoriented, and there was something different. You felt peculiar presences around you, but strangely you did not felt threatened.Already awake, you realized that they had invaded the city. Perfectly round white skin creatures, distinguished from each other by the color of their mouths, were multiplying, rolling down the hills, scattered in groups and joining at strategic points. Then, they opened their blue, yellow, green and black mouths, and began eating all the garbage, in a careful manner, with amazing criteria.
Now you were certain that these little funny soldiers had come in peace. You knew that they wouldn’t attack and that they came with the purpose to protect you. You and your habitat. At this point, one of them came up to you smiling and said “one can resist an invading army, but one cannot resist the invasion of ideas”. (Victor Hugo)