TL;DR: Texas inventor Ivan Arbouzov built a countertop device that squishes your grocery bags into bricks for recycling. It costs $200 upfront plus $50/month. Yes, really. Remember when everyone was ...

Here's my new habit: Whenever I take the plastic wrap off a roll of paper towels or some other package, it goes straight into my Obaggo, a personal trash compactor about the size of a coffee maker.

The Clear Drop soft plastics compactor next to a pile of the bricks it produces. (Amy Skorheim for Engadget) Even if you bring home as few bags as possible — using reusable bags, carrying purchases ...

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to provide households with a quick, safe, and simple means of compacting plastic containers of varying sizes," said an inventor, from Chicago, Ill., ...