September 3, 2020

2 Min Read
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Baltimore, Md., September 2, 2020 – The Waterfront Partnership's Healthy Harbor Initiative announced today that the public can now vote online to name Baltimore’s fourth trash wheel. The to-be-named trash interceptor will be installed at the mouth of the Gwynns Falls in November.  

“We asked the public to submit potential names last October and trash wheel fans truly delivered. We sifted through thousands of extremely creative submissions and whittled it down to the top four,” said Adam Lindquist, director of the Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative.  

The public can visit mrtrashwheel.com to vote for their favorite name. The selected name will be announced once the trash wheel is installed in November. The names in the running are:  

  • Doctor Gwynn, Trash Wheel (Nickname: Doctor Trash Wheel) 

  • Gwynda the Good Wheel of the West (Nickname: Gwynda Trash Wheel) 

  • Inspector Gwynn Trash Wheel (Nickname: Inspector Trash Wheel) 

  • Lady Gwynnevere Trashington (Nickname: Lady Trash Wheel) 

The Gwynns Falls trash wheel will be the largest trash wheel ever built by Clearwater Mills, the Pasadena-based company that invented the technology. It will have a grappling arm to help move large debris and a canopy covered by 72 solar panels. It will use solar and hydropower to turn a water wheel that powers a series of rakes and a conveyor belt that will lift trash from the water and deposit it into a dumpster barge. The project also includes a kayak gate that will provide boating access to the stream.  

Several partners have contributed funding that makes this project possible, including the Maryland Port Administration, Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Baltimore County, Weller Development, Continental Realty Corporation, South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, and Wheelabrator Technologies. In all, the device is expected to cost $820,000 to build and an additional $180,000 to cover annual operating and maintenance costs.  

Mr. Trash Wheel, the world’s first sustainably powered trash interceptor, was installed in May 2014 at the mouth of the Jones Falls. Professor Trash Wheel followed in December 2016 at the mouth of Harris Creek and Captain Trash Wheel in June 2018 at Masonville Cove. To-date, the three have collected more than 1,486 tons of trash and debris flowing downstream towards the Patapsco River. This includes nearly 12 million cigarette butts, 1.2 million foam containers, over 730,000 plastic bags and 1.1 million plastic bottles. All three have developed personalities and large followings through their social media platforms.  

The Healthy Harbor Initiative provides a roadmap for cleaning up Baltimore’s Harbor and the waterways leading to the Harbor. A clean Harbor and clean streams will provide opportunities for residents and area families to enjoy clean water in their neighborhoods. Greener and cleaner neighborhoods will make Baltimore City and Baltimore County more livable for all our citizens. For more information, visit www.healthyharbor.org.  

Waterfront Partnership is the proud steward of Baltimore's crown jewel, its Inner Harbor and Waterfront. We're lean, nimble and effective; the only organization that wakes up every day, rolls its sleeves up and gets to work on new ways we can make Baltimore's Waterfront even more active, attractive and appealing. We're the hosts who greet visitors, the creators of programs and promotions and managers of our beautiful parks. We encourage investment in Baltimore's most celebrated asset so it can continue to grow, to serves as a place of pride and the place where Baltimoreans come together to recreate and to celebrate. For more information, visit www.waterfrontpartnership.org.  

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