Toss Box presents trash dumping solution for Colorado's mountain communities

A new invention could make tossing out the trash more compact in Colorado's high country.

It is called Toss Box, and it is basically a self-serve trash compactor.

"This is brand new. You wont find this anywhere else in the country," explained Matt Donovan, Toss Box creator. He says, after years in the garbage collecting business up in the Vail Valley, he noticed a big problem.

"Here in the mountain towns, you have a big population that heads down to the Front Range or travels on off days, and so they are looking for a way to get rid of their trash seven days a week, 24 hours a day," Donovan said. "You can access the Toss Box, so it is a simple solution to get rid of trash whenever you want."

How it works: "The customer simply walks up, swipes their credit card, the door opens, and you throw away three or four bags of trash, kitchen sized bags, close the door, and it compacts on its own, and off you go."

It's a simple solution to a stinky problem. Donovan says this has the potential to stop illegal dumping, providing a low-cost, always-open-location for trash disposal.

"It's frustrating to people because the business or the person who is having the illegal dumping happen at their location really doesn't have a good option to tell that person where to go," Donovan said. "So this way they can direct them to the toss box and not have to worry about locking their dumpster necessarily as much anymore."

Another issue close to mountain hearts is keeping our wildlife wild.

"The best thing about it is it is 100% bear-proof, so that's a big issue these days, so unless a bear has a credit card, he is not getting in," Donovan said. 

So until bears get smart enough, Toss Box will keep boasting its solution, making sure trash goes where trash is supposed to go instea of in our beautiful wildlife.  

There are currently six Toss Boxes throughout the mountain communities — two are in Steamboat, three in the Vail Valley and the one we visited in Keystone. Toss box is looking to expand to other locations as well.