I have to admit, I feel kind of bad trashing the Big Belly solar compactors that have been popping up around the city. In theory they’re good. And while there are no replacements yet for the ones on Newbury Street or Mass. Ave., I’ve seen some new models in Copley, Central, and Harvard squares. These ones are a new design and seem to be getting much less disgusting.

Big Belly solar trash compactors have been talked about a lot lately. The idea is that because they hold more trash, garbage collectors only have to pick it up one-fifth as often, thus saving gas (and the garbage collectors’ time). It sounds great, but I’m not sure the product’s quite there yet. A couple years […]