Garbage Section
Paper and Plastic Recycling Section
A major initiative that I believe could combat New York City’s excess trash problem is making it more convenient to recycle plastic and paper goods. This picture illustrates my buildings attempt at getting its residents to recycle their plastic and paper goods. Unfortunately, this initiative has not been very successful and this is illustrated by the fact that my superintendent had to announce the impending fine that was weighing on the building for not recycling.
I believe that this picture highlights a major problem that New York City deals with in its battle to encourage its residents to recycle. Of course, a major component of New York City’s continued ability to be sustainable is rooted in the city’s ability to manage the large amount of trash. Additionally, a major component of managing excess trash is recycling. What I have found is that many of these failed initiatives and even the threat of fines have allowed the recycling program to fall short of the city’s goals.
As I mentioned in class, I believe that a way to solve, or at least to attempt to solve, this problem is by making it as convenient as possible for New York City residents to recycle. Subsequently, New York City should look into installing 3-way trash chutes to alleviate the burden that apartment dwellers have when it comes to recycling. Furthermore, I think that developing 3-way trash cans that residents can have in their homes would make it much more convenient for city dwellers to recycle. Obviously, these initiatives will come at a cost to the city and society and I hopefully intend on exploring the possibility of these solutions to our trash problem throughout this semester.
