Nailing Jello to a Tree: Uncovering Solutions

[DaveC426913]

I was using it to introduce what I had decided was an even more difficult problem: trying to throw away a trash can.

My problem was trying to communicate to the trash collectors that the trash can itself was actually trash. It was a very silly experience. I tried putting a big sign on the can that said TRASH, and when that didn't work, I tried putting a sign on it that said BASURA, since the crew spoke Spanish. (I think they probably thought I was insane with my putting labels on the trash can. "Yes, crazy lady, we know this is the trash!") I tried putting the can inside another can, etc.

Haha, this was the theme of a comedian's stand-up routine. I can't remember who. I wonder if they originated it, or if they stole it.

 

[BobG]

Oh, the jello->tree business was just a brief opening for an essay I was writing for a class. I was using it to introduce what I had decided was an even more difficult problem: trying to throw away a trash can.

My problem was trying to communicate to the trash collectors that the trash can itself was actually trash. It was a very silly experience. I tried putting a big sign on the can that said TRASH, and when that didn't work, I tried putting a sign on it that said BASURA, since the crew spoke Spanish. (I think they probably thought I was insane with my putting labels on the trash can. "Yes, crazy lady, we know this is the trash!") I tried putting the can inside another can, etc.

Anyhoo, the overall theme was about being locked into our perceptions of things, and only being able to view them in one way. I thought the trash can made a good example.

I had three plastic trash cans and a large, rectangular tupperware-like container (about 18x30x24) that accumulated under my porch since the trash collectors would never take them.

Putting some old canned goods in the tupperware-like container and leaving them on a street corner for people to take what they wanted for free turned out to be the best solution for getting rid of the tupperware-like container. It doesn't look like you're littering and nobody thinks about what will happen with the container once people have removed everything from it. I think a homeless person might have decided the container would come in handy - either that or it blew away in a wind storm.

You can't donate food in a trash can. That means you have to be more creative. You can donate old curtain rods in a trashcan, provided you drop it off at a Goodwill store or other thrift store in the middle of the night.

Or you cruise around in the middle of night searching for dumpsters to toss your old trash cans in. Dumpsters in apartment complexes work well. You can start off from your car acting as if you're carrying the trashcans to your apartment and transition to carrying them to the dumpster somewhere along the way with no one noticing (just don't pull up next to the dumpster and toss your trash in it).

 

[JasonRox]

Make the Jell-o and let it dry about 50% of it's water content. Then go ahead.

 

[Newai]

1) Get one of those really big nails, like a rail spike, drill out a bit of the nail, pour the jello in, seal the nail, pound away.

2) Soft plastic bowl with jello poured in, pound nail through base of bowl against top of large branch, or if you angle it carefully enough, sideways.

3) Adopt a little nail and call it "Jello." Write the name on the nail and pound away.

4) Name some other object "Jello" and pound away.

 

[Chi Meson]

I've got that freakin' Squeeze song going through my head again

 

[BobG]

Make a large batch of Jello in a trash can.

Nail the trash can to a tree.

Kills two birds with one nail.

 

[Moonbear]

I get rid of old trashcans by taping them closed with duct tape and writing "Take the WHOLE CAN" on the tape. This might be a good way to dispose of bodies, since I'm sure this works because it's too much trouble to open the lid, so nobody looks inside.

It might NOT work in bear country where the trash collectors are used to the trash cans being bound shut.

 

[mugaliens]

Make the jello, but don't let it set. Instead, soak it up with a sponge.

Nail the sponge to the tree.

 

[Danger]

My problem was trying to communicate to the trash collectors that the trash can itself was actually trash. It was a very silly experience. I tried putting a big sign on the can that said TRASH, and when that didn't work, I tried putting a sign on it that said BASURA, since the crew spoke Spanish. (I think they probably thought I was insane with my putting labels on the trash can. "Yes, crazy lady, we know this is the trash!") I tried putting the can inside another can, etc.

In line with Moonie's response... why not just post a sticker that says 'Take the whole can as well as the contents.'? That might need to be repeated in Spanish down south; here, the secondary label would be in French.

edit: Hi, Mugs... nice to see you again after the side-slip thread.

 

[DaveC426913]

In line with Moonie's response... why not just post a sticker that says 'Take the whole can as well as the contents.'?

Or use a sawzall to cut up the bin...

 

[alysdexia]

nail the tree's crotch