Dead Batteries, Food Waste and Doggy-Doo Powered Street Lamps

Imagine lighting city streets, neighborhood parks and sidewalks with the power of waste.

While energy from the sun and the wind is one eco-friendly method of providing power to street lamps, the three products listed below utilize what some may consider “unusual” technology to tackle two issues, waste and energy.

Doggy-Doo Powered Street Lamps

According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), 62 percent of Americans are pet owners. With over 93 million cats and 77 million dogs, pets create a lot of waste. Scientist Will Brinton, founder of Woods End Laboratories, is a leading authority on waste reduction and composting.

Brinton estimates that 10 million tons of pet waste is thrown away each year in America. And while some pet owners don’t pick up after their pets at all, pet waste that is picked up is typically thrown away in non-biodegradable plastic bags that eventually end up in landfills. But all that poo-power, may one day light the way at local dog parks.

One such project, may just be a dream-come-true for pet owners. Instead of tossing that fecal waste in the trash, pet waste will be used to power lamps.  The Park Spark Project transforms all that smelly dog waste into energy in its “publicly fed methane digester."  Waste, collected in biodegradable bags, is deposited into the feeding tube. The bags slide down the tube to the underground digester. The above-ground hand-crank is turned, mixing the waste mixture. The methane byproduct is then piped to the “eternal flame” inside the street lamp.

The Park Spark Project is still a working model, according to Matthew Mazzotta.  In an online interview, Mazzotta said the project will debut this summer in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "All the research and design has been completed," Mazzota said. "We are now working with the city to identify a park and the new infrastructure to support the project." 

Compost-Powered Gaon Street Lights

According to YankoDesign, the ultra-sleek and super-stylish Gaon Street Light, from designer Haneum Lee, provides clean energy from compost. Instead of traditional trash receptacles that are often smelly and unattractive, a handy and unobtrusive wastebasket is located at the base of the post for food waste. People passing by the lamp simply pull the wastebasket cover and deposit their trash. A status display is also located on the lamp. Once the garbage is automatically composted, the methane byproduct then powers the lamp at the top of the fixture. The receptacle is for food products only.

While this concept has many innovative features, it is unclear what happens if waste products are not properly sorted, and non-food waste is tossed into the bin? Smell and maintenance may also be a factor.

Battery-Powered Energy Seed Lamps

Designers Sungwoo Park and Sunhee Kim are using discarded batteries to power street lights. Dead batteries, which typically end up in landfills, can leak harmful toxins into the soil. Instead of tossing those disposable batteries in the trash, the alkaline batteries are re-used to power the Energy Seed street lamp.

The simplistic design includes a cylindrical base and LED ring blossom light at the top. Dead batteries are deposited into the lamp’s battery storage unit, which includes a variety of slots for different sized batteries. Any residual energy from the batteries, power the light. Once all the power is used or the container is full, the batteries are sent to recycling centers instead of landfills.

Image courtesy of batabidd