TerraCycle Wants To Add A Little Fun To Recycling With ReZound

Getting people to properly dispose of their trash in the appropriate bin can be difficult. Trash cans can’t give you a high-five or tell you that you’re awesome when you don’t litter unless there’s a cantankerous puppet that calls that garbage bin home.

Then, TerraCycle said, hold my beer (can).

The New Jersey-based recycling maestros saw the potential in reducing litter by employing gamification, a strategy that turns tasks into games with rewards for completing desired actions. It’s the human equivalent of a maze with a piece of cheese at the end. TerraCycle’s ReZound is a clever device that detects when your recyclable trash gets placed in a receptacle and plays an encouraging message.

TerraCycle’s goal is to encourage recycling by making it fun. The ReZound is a device that gets secured onto bin lids, and the firm says that anything bigger than a bottle cap can trigger a prerecorded MP3 sound file. The cube-shaped ReZound is weatherized and features a built-in battery that TerraCycle says lasts five days in-between charges, and TerraCycle offers an optional solar charger as well.

“At TerraCycle, we are constantly innovating new ways to drive our mission to ‘Eliminate the Idea of Waste,'” Tom Szaky, TerraCycle Founder and CEO, said via press release. “ReZound offers a fun, engaging way to educate and motivate more people to recycle and reduce waste in their communities.”

Ideally, you’re not a savage going around tossing your trash willy-nilly, but it also couldn’t hurt to make recycling fun?