很多城市都为如何让人们把垃圾扔进垃圾桶而伤透脑筋。标牌提醒和罚款等做法效果似乎并不明显。鉴于此，英国某艺术组织发起了一个名为“垃圾桶思维”的活动，计划于今年十月在伦敦和利物浦街头安装25个“能说会唱的垃圾桶”。当有人往垃圾桶投扔废弃物时，就会有个名人对他们说一句鼓励的话或者唱上几句。这些名人都是英国人耳熟能详的，比如“英国达人”的评委阿曼达•霍尔登，以及歌剧演唱家杰尼斯•凯利等。另外，考虑到垃圾桶摆放的地点不同，配合的音效也会不同。比如，在伦敦市中心的考文特花园，垃圾桶里发出的将是悠扬的歌剧声; 而在利物浦街头，你听到的将是披头士乐队的经典歌声。

Organisers of a scheme recruiting celebrities to lend their voices to “talking bins” believe it can make a real difference to keeping Britain tidy.

Would the voice of Amanda Holden saying “your city had talent” encourage you to use a litter bin?

Or maybe former Monty Python star Michael Palin telling you no-one had expected “the Spanish bin-quisition”?

Organisers of a scheme recruiting celebrities to lend their voices to “talking bins” believe it can make a real difference to keeping Britain tidy.

They hope that by using humour, they will succeed where fines and warnings have failed in keeping streets and parks clean.

A similar experiment in Sweden found a talking bin received nearly three times as much rubbish as an ordinary one because people were attracted by its novelty value.

Twenty-five specially adapted bins to be installed in the streets of London and Liverpool next month will use a sound card to play a themed message when litter is placed inside. For example, one near the Royal Opera House will play a thank you message sung by soprano Janis Kelly to the tune of Nessun Dorma.

Bins installed in Liverpool will play Beatles-themed messages.

For others, Britain’s Got Talent judge Holden is expected to record the message: “This is Amanda, and this city’s got talent”.

The campaign, entitled Bin Thinking, is being organised by arts group Sing London for Keep Britain Tidy’s Love Where You Live initiative.

If successful, talking bins could become a familiar feature on Britain’s streets.

Colette Hiller, director of Sing London, said: “The idea is to reward people in a small way for changing their behaviour and raise awareness through a sense of fun.”