LAND O’ LAKES — Eva Livingston has a fix for one of suburbia’s most persistent nuisances: the raccoon that treats garbage night like a buffet.
The Angeline Academy of Innovation freshman won first place at the Pasco Young Entrepreneur Competition in April for the Bandit Blocker, a weighted sleeve that slides over a trash can lid to keep raccoons and other wildlife out. The win came with prize money and a sponsored spot at a weeklong USF Bulls Startup Camp this summer.
“We’ve all had problems with raccoons — my family has, too,” Livingston said. “I took a personal issue and came up with a solution. Raccoons are consistently going through our trash cans, so I just thought there had to be a better solution than strapping down the lid with bungee cords that the garbage men have to remove to empty the cans. Now I just have to get a patent on it.”
The market could be sizable. Pasco County continues to add subdivisions on land that was wildlife habitat, pushing raccoons and homeowners into closer contact.
Livingston’s pitch leaned on humor. She produced an AI-generated commercial showing a raccoon denied access to a trash can, then dialing for pizza delivery in desperation. She brought a mascot, Randy the Raccoon, and an AI rendering of the Bandit Blocker on a Home Depot shelf. A real Pasco County sanitation worker appeared in a video testimonial, examining the sleeve and endorsing it before climbing back on his truck.
Chad Mallo, the Angeline Academy business instructor who oversaw the project, said the comedy is what set the pitch apart.
“That humor in her advertising was something I’ve never had a student do before,” Mallo said. “It resonated with everyone, and she had a testimonial in there. The judges at the district competition were impressed.”
Livingston, working with her father, Lain, an entrepreneur, researched the design before building a prototype. The sleeve is made from a stretchable, machine-washable material. The weight was the harder problem.
“Raccoons can lift up to 25 pounds — I couldn’t believe it either,” she said. “Right now it starts at three pounds, but it’s designed to add more, depending on how strong your raccoons are. I tested it on my own lid, and there haven’t been any raccoon incidents since.”
Before the district competition, Mallo ran a schoolwide contest at Angeline modeled on “Shark Tank,” with outside judges hearing pitches and evaluating inventions. The panel included Toni Zetzsche, Pasco Schools chief communications and community engagement officer; Eric Jenkins, president and CEO of Achieva Credit Union; and Dirk Libaers, the John and Beverly Grant Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship and director of the USF Nault Center for Entrepreneurship at the Muma College of Business.
Libaers was impressed enough to sponsor Livingston’s spot at the USF Bulls Startup Camp.
Livingston said the school-level competition was tougher than the district round.
“We’re all trying to move to the next level, and some of the other students have great inventions, too,” she said.
Mallo agreed. “Even at the classroom level, I was like, ‘Oh, this is different,’” he said. “With these pitches, you want to stand out, and Eva knew how to do that.”
Livingston plans to use the prize money and the startup camp to refine the Bandit Blocker and pursue a patent. The goal is a home-improvement-store shelf.
“It’s just more practical as a solution,” she said. “It stays on the lid, it doesn’t have to be removed to access the cans, and it keeps raccoons out — to block the bandits.”