My litter bins collection: gathering street trash cans captures around the world. Weird?
So I’ve been traveling with a camera for as long as I can remember. Some 10 or 15 years ago, I randomly started taking pictures of litter bins in the streets. I didn’t even notice at first I was doing this on most trips I was taking. As I’m going through my pictures to pull out memorable and unique places I’ve been to in the 90+ countries I have visited so far (do see my travel map), I am gathering them onto this page (scroll down to see the gallery) and on a dedicated Instagram account @worldlitterbins.
Yes, I photograph street trash cans. You might think it’s weird but if you take a closer look you will find beauty in those bins, and they serve a right purpose! Why did I do that? well it started with the fact that some are really beautiful and interesting. But now I end up with a collection of them, and I thought it was not fair to just keep them for myself, so here they are! As I find more on my drives, I will add them to this post 🙂 I had lots of pictures on my phone, but as it got stolen in South Africa and I didn’t think they were important (?!?!) I didn’t back them up. Red flag!
Facts about the urban litter bins I have seen… Why wouldn’t litter bins deserve attention?
- they are are often red, orange, or green. Those are eye catching colors and you have no excuse not to put your garbage in the bins!
- green bins are often seen in parks or close to trees!
- Some cities or even countries seem to pick a similar shape for their street litter bins!
- some are really matching the aesthetics of the area, some even look like perfect camouflage!
- some are really creative looking so you can’t really miss them!
Please remember to put litter in its place and to travel responsibly!
Leave nothing but footprints…
I’ve been published on Bored Panda! (2021)
I also ran a litter bins challenge on Gurushots! (2022)
My personal Litter Bins around-the-world gallery: (sorted by country and then city)
You are welcome to add some to this worldwide collection of street litter bins, by sending me an email at: contact@myriamphoto.com , I will publish them in stories on my instagram account @worldlitterbins .
Also, you can follow me on my regular Instagram account for more travel and photography pictures: @tolivetotravel 🙂
If you are interested about the subject, take a look at this interesting trash art sculpture in Lisbon! here
Quite the collection. I dare say nothing quite like it. It would make a noteworthy coffee table book. It is likely we are what we trash. Unparalleled in human existence. (You have TRAVELED a lot.)