Invented by one guy · in his garage · in North CarolinaRead about us and the Ready Eddie story
Born on a muggy afternoon, at the end of a long driveway.
Ready Eddie™ was designed in a garage by Chris Krebs — a researcher
who lives in North Carolina with his wife, his kids, and a handful of animals.
Solving problems is his job. It's also a hobby.
One hot, muggy day, Chris walked to the end of his driveway to check the
bin. Still full. That flicker of annoyance became an idea. He thought about his
older neighbors, and people who have long driveways that snake through the
woods. Surely other people would want to know if their bin is empty. He decided
this was a problem worth solving.
Back in the garage, the first prototype was born — a Frankenstein's monster
of scrap metal, screws, and wire. It was ugly enough to somehow be beautiful.
When he tested it the next day, it worked perfectly.
Energized, Chris taught himself how to design things in computer-aided
design (CAD) and started sending models to a friend with a 3D printer. The new models looked right but failed in the field. Back to the drawing board. After months of iteration, the design was finally ready. Chris sent it to a
manufacturer in China, and the first batch of Ready Eddie™ units arrived in
North Carolina in the spring of 2023.
Today, Ready Eddie™ sits on thousands of bins across the United States. Chris
still reads every email. He still iterates on the design. And he still lives in
North Carolina, in the same house, at the end of the same driveway.