Citypoint: Take the newspaper
It hasn't been long since the first free-distributed daily newspaper launched an attack on the Czech Republic. Today, in the capital city, three hawkers representing three different daily newspapers fight for the favor of passersby at busy locations every morning.
In our cities, this is a relatively new phenomenon with a number of positive and negative aspects. It is pleasant to receive a newspaper each morning handed to you while passing through a place you would be going anyway, thus saving you from stopping at a newsstand. You end up with a few pages that just fill the time it takes to travel four metro stations to work. The quality and structure of the content correspond to the level of attention one can afford to give while reading in a crowded metro car. The journey usually passes pleasantly.
However, at the end of it, I experience certain awkwardness every morning. I still have a good ten minutes of walking from the metro station to the office. To be honest, I am quite a comfortable person, and the thought of having to hold crumpled newspapers in my hand for that ten-minute walk is not very pleasant. If I buy a more comprehensive daily newspaper at the newsstand, it is usually worth putting it in a bag and taking it home or to the office, where it will eventually end up in recycling. But those few sheets I've received for free, the content of which I already know, simply aren’t worth it.
On the other hand, it somewhat bothers me to toss a package of newspaper into the already overflowing trash bin at the metro station. The distribution of 1,000,000 copies daily just in Prague means 100 tons of paper every day, which doesn't end up in the recycling bin, but rather in trash cans all over the city.
The original bins found in metro stations, where one could find newspapers every morning, have been replaced by hawkers with the arrival of competition. Wouldn't it be appropriate to consider repurposing these bins for collecting "used" newspapers? In this way, it would be possible to collect up to 100 tons of completely clean material suitable for recycling.
"The Silent Hawker" is one of the themes set forth in the City Point contest - On the Way Through the City 2006. This theme hides much more than just a proposal for a bin to collect free-distributed printed materials. It could be a newspaper stand that allows you to take one copy after inserting a coin, as we know from other countries in Europe. But above all, it also opens the old question: Where to put it?
In our cities, this is a relatively new phenomenon with a number of positive and negative aspects. It is pleasant to receive a newspaper each morning handed to you while passing through a place you would be going anyway, thus saving you from stopping at a newsstand. You end up with a few pages that just fill the time it takes to travel four metro stations to work. The quality and structure of the content correspond to the level of attention one can afford to give while reading in a crowded metro car. The journey usually passes pleasantly.
However, at the end of it, I experience certain awkwardness every morning. I still have a good ten minutes of walking from the metro station to the office. To be honest, I am quite a comfortable person, and the thought of having to hold crumpled newspapers in my hand for that ten-minute walk is not very pleasant. If I buy a more comprehensive daily newspaper at the newsstand, it is usually worth putting it in a bag and taking it home or to the office, where it will eventually end up in recycling. But those few sheets I've received for free, the content of which I already know, simply aren’t worth it.
On the other hand, it somewhat bothers me to toss a package of newspaper into the already overflowing trash bin at the metro station. The distribution of 1,000,000 copies daily just in Prague means 100 tons of paper every day, which doesn't end up in the recycling bin, but rather in trash cans all over the city.
The original bins found in metro stations, where one could find newspapers every morning, have been replaced by hawkers with the arrival of competition. Wouldn't it be appropriate to consider repurposing these bins for collecting "used" newspapers? In this way, it would be possible to collect up to 100 tons of completely clean material suitable for recycling.
"The Silent Hawker" is one of the themes set forth in the City Point contest - On the Way Through the City 2006. This theme hides much more than just a proposal for a bin to collect free-distributed printed materials. It could be a newspaper stand that allows you to take one copy after inserting a coin, as we know from other countries in Europe. But above all, it also opens the old question: Where to put it?
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