Philadelphia is continuing its efforts to go green and the word is “BigBelly!”

BigBelly solar trash cans are a new addition to the streets of Philadelphia.

There are over 500 of these BigBelly trashcans distributed throughout various parts of the city. These funky, solar-powered machines compact 200 gallons of trash compared to a typical 55 gallon trashcan.

The BigBellys ability to compact so much trash has resulted in a reduction in how often cans need to be emptied, down from 19 times a week to five times a week. This will not only save staff time, but also reduce emission of greenhouse gases by 80 percent.

The sun has become the new energy source for many new technologies today. The sun’s energy, in this case, helps the BigBellys to condense trash to one-quarter the size. In the end, BigBellys will save the City of Brotherly Love $12 million.

Philadelphia once had an embarrassing 6 percent recycling rate; since the installation of BigBellys, that rate has risen to 12 percent.

Officials in center city Philadelphia are looking to improve recycling rates by 70 percent by 2015.

In addition, local college campuses have recently added these new trash cans; recycling has improved immensely.

Drexel University was one of the first to purchase 11 last year, followed by the University of Pennsylvania, which, although hesitant at first (because they were not sure how these bulky trash cans would look against their lovely stone and ivory campus), have jumped on the go green bandwagon. Penn officials liked the difference that the cans made and have purchased more this year.

If you are guilty of being a “litter bug,” consider this: of the 500, 210 BigBellys have companion recycling bins.

There is no reason to litter, PERIOD.

These BigBellys are designed to help us improve our city, but they cannot do it alone.