Dumpster Pools

I can’t remember where or when I heard about dumpster pools. I’m sure it was in a book and not on TV or online because I remember wondering what it would look like. I pictured one of these on the side of the road filled with water and children:

Yikes.

I also can’t remember where I ran across it again (I’m telling you, pregnancy brain does not go away after you have the kids) but this time I decided to look into it more. In 2009, design firm Macro-Sea transformed a junkyard in Brooklyn into a semi-secret “lo-fi” country club. They surrounded the dumpster pools with lounge chairs and white tents.

Last summer, they moved their installation to Park Avenue. Yes, in Manhattan. They opened the pools from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm for three Saturdays in August for the city’s Summer Streets festival. (The festival opens city streets up to people to play, walk, bike, and breathe. It’s supposed to bring awareness to NYC’s green initiative and to encouraging New Yorkers to use more sustainable forms of transportation). This time they upgraded the dumpster pool area with a metal deck, changing room cabanas, and public toilets and showers.

What do you think? Would you swim in a repurposed dumpster?