Brooklyn Man Creates an Octopus Inspired Telescoping 'Snatchelator' to Remove Plastic Bags From Tree Limbs

Frustrated by the number of plastic bags that litter the trees of his Brooklyn neighborhood, Taylor Mali decided to do something about it. Taking inspiration from the eight arms of an octopus, Mali attached four metal “L” braces to an empty paint roller on top of a telescoping pole. Mali called this contraption the “Snatchelator” because it can reach up into the branches and snatch empty plastic bags and bring them down to the ground where they can be disposed of properly.

The Snatchelator is so effective that Mali has begun offering free tree bag removal to anyone in or near his Carroll Gardens neighborhood, including Boerum Hill, Gowanus, Red Hook, and Cobble Hill. Brooklyn thanks you sir!

The whole thing looks like a spear with an awkward sprangle of metal pieces at the end, but if it comes anywhere near a plastic bag and I begin to twist it in one direction or another, the bag gets entwined around the metal and I can pull it from the branch with a little force. Sometimes I accidentally bring a few twigs and small branches down on top of me, but I always believe that the trees will gladly pay that price to be rid of the bag that might otherwise have stayed for years. …And recently I added a link to Google form where anyone in my neighborhood can log a bag in a tree that they would like removed!