This is not a trash can. This is a Goby.

This isn’t a trash can, this is a Gobi. Studies show putting a face or a familiar friendly shape will persuade people to use it over a boring trash can. Make it fun, make it cute, make it memorable and people will use it.

And he is nudging people to think of littering as a game. It’s working.

Fish like Goby are popping up on beaches around the world and inspiring beach goes to pick up litter before it reaches the ocean.

A community around Malpe Beach, India decided to go above and beyond, instead of installing a regular trash receptacle around the beach, they designed a giant transparent fish out of barbed wire and mesh. Next to the fish is a sign that reads, “Goby loves plastic, please feed him!” According to reports, Goby has been a huge hit. 

Why did this work? Competition. Tossing plastic into a blue bin wasn’t very exciting for kids. However, when it turned into a game where they had to “feed” Goby, the popularity of the litter fish took off, and beaches (and parks) worldwide are creating their fish, like Yoshi who sits on a beach in Japan.

Each night, Goby is taken away by the city to empty all the plastic he’s eaten, most of which will be recycled, but some items might still end up in landfill (which is still better than polluting the ocean.) Goby is then brought back to the beach the next morning with an empty stomach, hungry for more litter.