--- title: Recycling Bottles in This Machine Feeds Stray Dogs description: Recycling bottles in this machine helps feeds stray dogs in Istanbul, Turkey. canonical: https://time.com/3024554/recycle-plastic-bottles-in-this-machine-and-it-will-dispense-food-to-stray-dogs/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-23T17:21:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:53.306Z og:title: Recycle Plastic Bottles in This Machine, and It Will Dispense Food to Stray Dogs og:description: Recycling bottles in this machine helps feeds stray dogs in Istanbul, Turkey. og:url: https://time.com/3024554/recycle-plastic-bottles-in-this-machine-and-it-will-dispense-food-to-stray-dogs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a01195af22b21fd/69869cd735ba6fa6a2c031f5/dogs-istanbul.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: dogs-istanbul og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Recycle Plastic Bottles in This Machine, and It Will Dispense Food to Stray Dogs twitter:description: Recycling bottles in this machine helps feeds stray dogs in Istanbul, Turkey. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a01195af22b21fd/69869cd735ba6fa6a2c031f5/dogs-istanbul.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Recycle Plastic Bottles in This Machine, and It Will Dispense Food for Stray Dogs by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 23, 2014 5:21 PM UTC  MIRA/AFP–Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 23, 2014 5:21 PM UTC In Istanbul, Turkey, where an [estimated 150,000](http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/against-a-bill-to-cull-stray-animals-in-turkeys-cities/?%5Fphp=true&%5Ftype=blogs&%5Fr=0) stray dogs and cats reportedly wander the streets, a Turkish company called Pugedon believes it has come up with a way to feed the animals: “Smart Recycling Boxes,” a machine that dispenses food and water [in exchange for recycled plastic bottles](http://bigthink.com/design-for-good/recylce-bin-turns-bottles-into-food-for-stray-animals-and-provokes-our-humanity), Big Think reports. The benefits of the vending machine are supposed to be two fold: encourage recycling and feed the city’s strays. Recycling is put on top and food is dispensed out the bottom within easy reach for animals in need. There’s even a water dish attached so users can pour the remaining water from a plastic bottle before recycling it. The recycled bottles are supposed to cover the cost of the food. The problem of managing stray dogs in international cities most recently came to light during the 2014 Winter Olympics, when [stray dogs](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/07/dog-days-of-winter-sochis-unwanted-strays-prepare-for-the-olympic-games/) roamed the street’s of the Games’ host city, Sochi, Russia. When it was reported that some of the Sochi strays were going to be [culled,](http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2014/02/03/sochis-stray-dogs-are-biological-trash-says-the-guy-in-charge-of-culling-them/) animal rights activists sprung into action to [rescue](http://time.com/52287/sochi-stray-dogs-florida/) the homeless pups, and even some of the athletes [brought them back to the United States](http://time.com/41428/sochi-dogs-washington/). **MORE**: [10 Stray Sochi Pups Arrive in U.S.](http://time.com/41428/sochi-dogs-washington/) **MORE**: [Mystery Photo Found In Stray Dog’s Collar Baffles County](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/23/mystery-photo-found-in-stray-dogs-collar-baffles-county/) Recycling Bottles in This Machine Feeds Stray Dogs ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3024554/recycle-plastic-bottles-in-this-machine-and-it-will-dispense-food-to-stray-dogs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3024554/recycle-plastic-bottles-in-this-machine-and-it-will-dispense-food-to-stray-dogs/"},"headline":"Recycle Plastic Bottles in This Machine, and It Will Dispense Food for Stray Dogs","datePublished":"2014-07-23T17:21:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:11:53.306Z","description":"A recycling bin that's good for the earth and its four-legged inhabitants","url":"https://time.com/3024554/recycle-plastic-bottles-in-this-machine-and-it-will-dispense-food-to-stray-dogs/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Dogs","cats","Turkey","istanbul"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a01195af22b21fd/69869cd735ba6fa6a2c031f5/dogs-istanbul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a01195af22b21fd/69869cd735ba6fa6a2c031f5/dogs-istanbul.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"dogs-istanbul","caption":"","creditText":"MIRA/AFP–Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3024554/recycle-plastic-bottles-in-this-machine-and-it-will-dispense-food-to-stray-dogs/","name":"Recycle Plastic Bottles in This Machine, and It Will Dispense Food for Stray Dogs"}}]}] ```