Author Archives: laurenrahmanim

Posts by laurenrahmanim

LWT 3/19

Posted on March 17, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

Trash Talk

Posted on March 11, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

New York City has been able to survive and flourish for hundreds of years, but nowadays, excess trash in New York City is threatening a variety of aspects of its sustainability. The first, and most obvious, aspect of sustainability that trash threatens is the city’s ability to keep itself clean and odorless. With a population of 8.6 million it is not surprising to think that New York City produces about 14 million tons of waste annually.[1] The reality is that this abundance of trash produces a smell that New York City residents are all too familiar with once the temperature starts to warm up. Additionally, trash is constantly piling up on the street as a result of its abundance.

Two more prominent threats to sustainability are created by diesel trucks that transport garbage outside of Manhattan. First, is the threat of furthering pollution and climate change due to the carbon dioxide emissions that these diesel trucks produce when they transport garbage out of Manhattan. These diesel trucks carry garbage 7.8 Million times each year, which is the equivalent of driving around the earth 312 times.[2] This alone will create a serious amount of carbon dioxide emission, but to make matters worse, “only 10 percent of the garbage trucks carting putrescible waste in New York City meet 2007 EPA emissions standards.”[3] Second, is the threat to New York City residents’ health that is also caused by these polluting trucks. These trucks often drive through lower income neighborhoods such as in south Bronx and north Brooklyn and they create five to seven times higher asthma-inducing pollutant levels.[4] Additionally, pollution from these trucks causes “3,000 deaths, 2,000 hospital and lung conditions, and approximately 6,000 emergency department visits for asthma in children and adults annually.”[5] These are only a few of the threats to sustainability of New York City that garbage poses.

While there are a variety of sustainability issues that garbage creates in New York City, there are also problems that are specifically of New York City concern. The city is known for its smelly, garbage filled streets and polluted air. Trash bags are piled up on the curbs and the sidewalks due to New York City’s dense population as well as its many skyscrapers. New York City is the largest city in the world’s most wasteful country. It generates more than 14 million tons of trash each year. Furthermore, New York City’s status as America’s densest city, which is demonstrated by its narrow streets and traffic jams, makes it harder for the city to collect all that garbage. Also, the city has no available land for landfills leaving us with no other options but to take it upstate or ship it off to another state. In 2012, New York’s public and private waste management systems spent a combined 2.3 billion dollars on garbage collection and disposal. With this amount of money spent it might be more cost efficient and green to make an innovation which will not only allow us to deal with the cost of cleanup, but may even be useful in making something from the 14 million tons of trash a year. Clearly, trash is a prominent problem that is deserving of New York City’s attention.

 

[1] http://www.columbia.edu/~sc32/documents/ALEP%20Waste%20Managent%20FINAL.pdf

[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/why-new-york-city-smells-in-the-summer-2016-6

[3] http://transformdonttrashnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Final-draft-v3_TDT-Air-Qual-Report_Clearing-the-Air-1.pdf

[4] http://transformdonttrashnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Final-draft-v3_TDT-Air-Qual-Report_Clearing-the-Air-1.pdf

[5] and approximately 6,000 emergency department visits for asthma in children and adults annually

Even though garbage in New York City seems to be a daunting problem to solve, there are a variety of solutions that the city can employ to curb this problem. We already turn water bottles into fleece, plastic bags into deck material, roofing into pavement. But ideas abound for more-futuristic forms of recycling. Mitchell Joachim, a co-founder of Terreform One, a design firm based in New York, proposes crushing trash and molding it into Tetris‑esque blocks that we could use to build islands and skyscrapers. Joachim’s firm has created architectural plans for a 53-story tower made with the waste New Yorkers produce in 24 hours.

America is the lead creator of waste on the earth, making approximately 30% of the world’s trash and tossing out 0.8 tons per U.S. citizen per year. Ungracefully, our American value system is somewhat distressed. It seems value has devolved into feats of rampant affluenza and mega products scaled for super-sized franchise brands, big box retail, XXXL jumbo paraphernalia, etc., encapsulating a joint race for ubiquity and instantaneity in the U.S. mindset. Where does it all end up? Gertrude Stein cleverly pointed out; “away has gone away”. The first step we must take is reduction; meaning a massive discontinuation of objects designed for obsolescence. Then we need a radical reuse plan. Our waste crisis is immense, what is their call to action?

New York City is disposing of 38,000 tons of waste per day, mostly ending up in Fresh Kills landfill before it closed. The Rapid Re(f)use project supposes an extended New York reconstituted from its own landfill material.

With their method, we can remake seven entirely new Manhattan islands at full scale. Automated robot 3D printers are modified to process trash and complete this task within decades. These robots are based on existing techniques commonly found in industrial waste compaction devices.  Instead of machines that crush objects into cubes, these devices have jaws that make simple shape grammars for assembly. Different materials serve specific purposes; plastic for fenestration, organic compounds for temporary scaffolds, metals for primary structures, and etc. Eventually, the future city makes no distinction between waste and supply.

Target Dates

March 12th: Initial Group Project Proposal Due

  •      Isaac: How using trash for infrastructure relates to sustainability
  •      Alon: Why NYC should be concerned about its growing trash issue
  •      Grace: Trash → Growth and Infrastructure Solution
  •      Masha: Discussing Terreform ONE in Depth
  •      Lauren: Detailing Project Target Dates

March 19th: Group Facetime call to divvy up the progress report

March 23rd: Each group member must submit their portion to the joint Google Doc

March 24th: Peer review to eliminate errors and revise/add any missing components

March 26th: Detailed Progress Report Due

April 9th: In Class Working Session

  •      Deciding on roles to help prepare the presentation
  •      Choosing graphics/links to incorporate

April 11th: Library meet-up to continue working session

April 15th: Evening Facetime call to review each other’s contributions

April 16th: Presentation Practice 1

April 30th: Presentation Practice 2

May 3rd: Group Facetime call to review roles and practice prior to conference

May 4th of 5th: Future City Conference

May 6th: Group Facetime call to discuss our successes, faults, tips to improve our presentation skills, and ways to implement our plan’s sustainable values

Isaac Weinstock, Grace Kassin, Lauren Rahmanim, Alon Bezalel, and Masha Formitchova

Beating Traffic

Posted on March 8, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

Crossing 47th street, I noticed how easy it was for pedestrians to wiggle through countless vans at a complete standstill. While walking to work this week from Rockefeller Center’s subway station, I found that the street seems constantly congested throughout the day. I captured this photo to show NYC’s issue with transportation and congestion as well as a simple solution to combat the issue. As the city’s infrastructure deteriorates and the subways increase in congestion, New Yorkers have to find innovative ways to travel throughout the city. Biking offers an economically feasible and eco-friendly option for those looking to travel short distances. Biking not only eliminates spending on fuel, but also promotes Citibike rentals as well. Reducing pollution and providing for a more sustainable environment, the fiscally responsible option offers countless benefits to the city’s traffic flow. Although some might be skeptical of biking’s dangers, educating people to bike cautiously and follow the bike lanes could easily solve this issue.

A New Way to Dispose of Trash: Vacuums

Posted on March 7, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

Growing up in Chicago, I never noticed garbage disposal as a prominent issue in my neighborhood because of the city’s alleyways. The side streets offered a dangerous yet aesthetically pleasing way for building residents to discard their waste without having to gaze at it on the sidewalk. Once my family moved to New York, I began to recognize the issue more urgently. New York’s summers offer outdoor dining, leisurely activities, and foul odors that tend to disrupt the City’s best attributes. Even without the odor, the trash piled up at each street corner ruins the city’s aesthetic appeal.

Although creating alleyways seem indisputable in hindsight, New York City’s competitive real estate market simply cannot afford to waste lucrative space on garbage. The City’s housing prices are constantly on the rise; the idea of devoting space to waste seems both fiscally irresponsible and menacing to city residents.

To handle the city’s trash disposal in an aesthetically pleasing manner, I initially thought of city block-centered trash shoots that people can drop their trash into. The shoots would travel in a similar manner as the city’s sewage system except with a well-organized map and system to follow the trash routes. Although the idea seemed fool-proof in theory, I could not actually think of the mechanics behind the system. After searching similar ideas online, I noticed Roosevelt island has already installed shoots like this since 1975 in an effort to make the area look more utopian. The island has several apartment buildings in which residents throw their garbage down the building’s trash shoot. The trash then travels underground in pneumatic tubes that vacuum the waste to a centralized collection facility. The vacuums are motor powered, and they produce far less pollution than the city’s garbage disposal trucks. 

Some concerns regarding the tubes include its relatively small diameter and the system’s ability to be scaled for Manhattan’s garbage disposal. Roosevelt Island residents were unintentionally clogging the tubes with waste not meant for the tubes. In addition, the tubes were designed for a much smaller, simpler system. In order for the same to be applied in Manhattan, the tubes would need to be larger, sturdier, and designed in a more complex manner to handle the city’s grander scale.

https://www.npr.org/2017/07/26/539304811/how-new-york-s-roosevelt-island-sucks-away-summer-trash-stink

Leave the Leaves

Posted on March 6, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

Although I walk through Madison Square Park twice a day, I often forget to take into account the changes happening around me. Caught up in my morning podcast or afternoon Spotify queue, I failed to notice the park’s grand gesture for sustainability. The two photos I captured on my commute to school represent the park’s campaign to leave the leaves on the ground throughout the fall and winter. Although the park seems unkept, in reality the initiative is a great support in the fight for New York’s sustainability. Leaving the leaves allows for increased soil nutrition, improving the grounds for fertility in the spring. In addition, the leaves create a more bearable climate for the microorganisms enduring the park’s brutal winters and harsh winds. Although the gesture may seem minimal, the act improves the park’s microenvironment and soil nutrition.

Madison Square Park is located in the heart of Flatiron, a relatively gentrified area where many wealthy local residents spend their time exercising and taking their children for strolls in the park. Although the leaves left behind may hurt the park’s aesthetic appeal, the residents can feel better knowing the leaves are a small price to pay for a more sustainable New York.

A Trashy Commute

Posted on February 22, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

Although my commute to work offers little time for exploring the city, the transportation itself alludes to NYC’s larger issue with waste. Considering New York’s finite space and high real estate prices, forming alleyways for garbage collection seemed like a complete waste of lucrative space. However, the trash build-up on New York City’s streets only contributes to the city’s countless sanitation issues. I took the picture attached below on my commute to work this week. As we were entering the tunnel, I noticed several pieces of trash left under the seats as commuters traveled in and out of the train. Although the issue seems quite minuscule, the trash left behind reminded me of the city’s inability to properly discard waste and to allocate certain types of waste in the appropriate area. Most city streets are covered in waste, and a lot of the waste is either inappropriately discarded or may even be recycled. This photo is a great reminder of the focus we need to place on cleanliness, properly discarding waste, recycling when necessary, and even composting.

Crumbling Concrete Jungle

Posted on February 15, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

On my commute to work, I frequently pass through the 123 train turnstyles in Penn Station. Although the walk seems second nature to me, I find myself surprised every time I walk through the area as the infrastructure continues to deteriorate. Capturing MTA’s leakage issue, the photo depicts our city’s infrastructure’s demise in its simplest form. The area suffers from leakage throughout all parts of the station, and the water’s stench makes walking through the area unbearable. You can also see parts of the ceiling concaving slightly above the turnstyles. Although the city made an effort to “renovate” the area, the only visible improvement made was a mosaic on the right wall. This image represents our city’s issue with funding infrastructure maintenance, and how procrastinating on its improvement can only be detrimental to our health.

Lauren Rahmanim’s Bio

Posted on January 30, 2019 by laurenrahmanim

My name is Lauren Rahmanim, and I was born and raised in Chicago for several years before moving to Long Island. My parents both fled Iran in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution because they felt unsafe as Jews in such an unstable environment. Although I never visited Iran, the nation’s culture affects my daily life in our cuisine, language used around the home, and family traditions. Members of a close-knit Persian-Jewish community called Mashadis, my family spends much of its time attending the community’s synagogue, enjoying native cuisine during our shabbat dinners, and attending community-wide events.

Aside from my family life, I am a finance major here at Baruch, and I look forward to exploring more options before deciding on my minor. During my free time, I enjoy running, spending time with my family and friends, taking Barre classes, and lurking on Instagram.

Comments by laurenrahmanim

"I think a lot of the hesitation has to do with people not being ready to change their habits and buying behavior. Even Tesla has not been able to completely alter the stigma associated with electric cars."
--( posted on Apr 19, 2019, commenting on the post Transforming Transportation )
 
"I like your approach towards maintaining culturally-expressive graffiti while trying to ban the less aesthetically appealing forms of it. However, I don't know how the city will be able to differentiate which graffiti is acceptable because anything can be considered a form of artwork."
--( posted on Apr 15, 2019, commenting on the post Vandalism or grafitti? )
 
"I love the idea of switching to hardened plastics instead of concrete. You took into account both the financial and environmental aspect of solving a grand issue in the City."
--( posted on Apr 7, 2019, commenting on the post Our chipped sidewalks )
 
"I never thought about what these large retailers do with their leftover merchandise once the season ends. Although it may seem like there are no benefits to donating the clothing, they can use the leftover merchandise as part of their corporate social responsibility component to give back to the public. In this scenario, both the company and charitable organizations benefit from a better brand image and clothing to donate to those less fortunate."
--( posted on Mar 29, 2019, commenting on the post slow fashion )
 
"How are we allowing these trains to get us from point A to point B if they've been around for this long without any major improvements? The lack of interest in infrastructural changes is frightening; are we going to wait for one of the cars to collapse before we start investing more money into the subway system?"
--( posted on Mar 22, 2019, commenting on the post Wanna “C” a Relic? )
 
"That's such an interesting way to think of it. Having plants in the home, most people think they're contributing to a more eco-friendly environment. However, most of us aren't actually contributing to the real improvements necessary for a more sustainable New York."
--( posted on Mar 9, 2019, commenting on the post Air-Purifying Machine )
 
"You make a great point; however, I feel like these screens are obsolete now that our smartphones have so many alternative functions. I completely agree with you in the need for more Citibikes in more densely populated areas. They make the environment far more sustainable, and they improve the city's traffic congestion."
--( posted on Mar 6, 2019, commenting on the post Focus on outer neighborhoods too! )
 
"I really appreciate the issue you chose to capture because I feel like New Yorkers don't associate the city with a clean water problem. Most drinking water issues tend to be reserved for "third world countries," and I agree with you in that New Yorkers need to focus on maintaining a healthy water supply. Considering all the other nations struggling with water, we should be far more attentive with the water supply we have now."
--( posted on Feb 22, 2019, commenting on the post No more clean water!!! )