CRAZY WEDNESDAY: DO ANDROID DREAM OF ELECTRIC …GOATS?

Now here’s an idea that is actually solving a little litter problem. The Japanese site Asahi via Pink Tentacle reports on the Edogawa Kyotei boat race course in Tokyo was having difficulty persuading gamblers to dispose of their losing tickets thoughtfully, until they installed this lovely 160cm tall electric Rocky Mountain goat. He’s a real cloven-hoofed cleaner-upper, with his friendly thick woolly coat and sensors inside his mouth, he’s now gorging on 500 tickets each day. Previously, these same tickets just ended up on the floor.

Now I know it’s not exactly recycling, but the human motivation factor is interesting. People do things more when they are fun. Perhaps there are ideas for design of recycling bins that could use this psychology to better effect. The goat-keeper himself has a rather more spiritual explanation, though. “It eats up your frustrations so that you will have better luck with the next race”, he says.

Amanda