Our solar trash compactor arrived this morning at the College of Veterinary Medicine! It is one of 12 compactors distributed throughout the ISU campus. The trash compactor is solar powered, adding another element of “green” to our campus. The compactor, called BigBelly, is about the size of a book-return drop or post-office mail 
box. And like a big belly, this receptacle will hold a lot of trash, 
approximately five times the amount of a standard trash container. The BigBelly compacts trash when it reaches a certain level detected by an electronic eye. When the compactor is full, a wireless sensor signal is transmitted to ISU’s Facilities Planning and Management web site alerting FPM staff that it needs to be emptied.
Each of the 12 compactors is unique. Ours at Veterinary Medicine has animals with CY on two sides of the four-sided compactor. One panel pictures CY in his lab coat and stethoscope with Iris, a horse owned by Dr. Stephanie Caston, ISU equine surgeon; and Cali, a cat owned by Mr. and Mrs. Don Wall, clients of the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center. The other pictured panel shows CY with Little Man, a Chihuahua owned by Sara Ledvina, a veterinary technician at the VMC, and a dairy calf at the ISU Dairy Farm where our dairy veterinarians and students provide veterinary care.
The solar compactor is located at the entrance of the Vet Med building by the student parking lot 93.