I don’t have any statistics in hand, but somehow I believe Sabah is quite famous for the garbage problems. Not only sampah is bad for our health, it also gives the tourists a very bad impression about Sabah and they will call us the “Sampah” State.

I think DBKK has been trying hard on keeping Kota Kinabalu a clean city. They did it through various campaigns, posters, banner, fine penalty… but the result is very limited.

Actually the problem is not too hard to solve. If you observe carefully, you would see the habits of the garbage bugs. Based on their habits and natural behaviour, I come up a few new dustbin design to encourage them to use the dustbins. The designs are so comply with their INSTINCT that they will use the dustbin naturally. No training is required. In Sabah, the trash cans only collect 10% of the total waste. 90% of the junk would go to sea, longkang, toilet and the road.

Below are the designs after years of my research. It will be really great if DBKK will take my advices and implement it.

Model 1. This model will collect the most garbage because many Sabah people have the habit of dumping junk into the sea, without second thought. Make sure the trash can is always filled with sea water, to lure them to use it.

Model 2. If the cover of a longkang (drain) is gone, the next day you could expect it traps a lot of rubbish (sometimes people). Sabah people also tend to throw / kick rubbish into something that look like a hole.

Model 3. Most toilets got trash can. However, the toilet bowl seems like a more attractive spot to store the waste, and that includes plastic bag, can, cloth, cup, cigarette box. This design can fool them.

Model 4. You can operate this dustbin like a car window. Just roll down the window and stuff in the junk. A “Worry-free” design coz no wind will blow back your rubbish.