One person’s trash is another person’s livelihood, anthropologist says

The New York City service workers who come out at night and clean the garbage are the most important ones, according to Robin Nagle.

Nagle, the anthropologist-in-residence for the New York Sanitation Department, came to the Bloomingdale Library on 100th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus to give a lecture, “Gotham and its Garbage: What it Was, What it is, and What it Might Become” on Tuesday night.

The lecture is the sixth in a series co-sponsored by the Park West Neighborhood History Group, the Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District, and the New York Public Library, bringing city service experts to the Upper West Side neighborhood to chat about the past, present, and future of these longtime city agencies.

Nagle began arguing that the people who clean up garbage are the most important servicemen in the city—and often the least noticed. And though the firefighters often get all the glory, after all, clear streets are needed for any department to do its work. She added that the FDNY would not be able to do its job without the help of sanitation.

“It’s the type of service that you don’t recognize until it’s slacking,” said Lauren Hamid-Shapiro, chair of the Park West Village greening committee. “It’s a service that goes unseen but it’s that important. We wouldn’t be able to function without it.”

According to speakers at the event, garbage is not just trash. Past and current discard practices tell the story of the social and geographic shaping of the city. Nagle explained that the sanitation department has three jobs—garbage collection, street cleaning, and snow plowing—and those functions make the sanitation department “the single most important uniformed force in the city.”

And looking toward the future, modern day technology has allowed the department to be at the forefront of central problems of waste. Many new developments have been brought to the table, such as plasma arcs, which turn garbage into neutral glass-like substances that can be used as a building material, as well as grand-scale composting.

Nagle added, the life of a sanitation worker is not always easy with the stigmatization of the job and profound dangers at work.

This is where the power of local residents comes into play, she said, arguing that the public can play a valuable role by adhering to rules, by actually putting trash in proper receptacles, and by properly separating waste.

Nagle added that public support can translate into political and economic support, and on the contrary, the “NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) syndrome” can shut down promising ideas.

“When it comes to sanitation, it takes two to tango,” agreed Iggy Terranova, the DSNY City Wide Community Affairs Officer.

Nagle added that it was important to look towards the future. Municipal household waste accounts for only 2 to 3 percent of the total waste stream, she said, adding, “We need to begin to talk about how to hold industry, manufacturing, agriculture accountable for the substances they make. We must include more sectors in the conversation to face the deeper and scarier problems of waste.”

Ben Miller, director of Policy Planning for New York City Department of Sanitation and author of “Fat of the Land,” said that large scale change was needed in waste management practices, specifically with the unsustainable practice of using landfills. John Johnson, a Bronx Recycling coordinator echoed Miller, saying that New York City needs to work to increase its recycling rates.
Terranova said that, ultimately sanitation would remain the groundwork for all city services.

“No other department in the city is going to do anything until this department picks up the garbage and plows the street,” he said, adding, “It’s the greatest job in the world.”

Tags: News, Ann Chou, Department of Sanitation, Garbage, Libraries