Review Contributor Jenny Yae:

After living in New York City for a few years, sights of the insurmountable heaps of trash became normalized. As a curious student and currently a resident of New York City, I wanted to go on a research expedition to uncover a situation that is prevalent yet unrecognized: litter. Why is the city more littered compared to other cities around the world? And if trash cans are plotted all over the city, what is the explanation for the trash thrown (perhaps intentionally) right next to the can instead of inside it?

I decided to ask travelers about their impressions of New York City’s trash and litter to get some fresh insight on this epidemic. In addition to making observations on the city I call home, I also uncover psychological studies conducted on the social implications of littering and the transactional cadence of the litterer, litter, and potential litterers. Understanding why people feel inclined to litter is rooted in psychology and philosophy, thus providing context to an action that otherwise seems mindless and mundane.

Robin Nagle, Professor of Environmental Studies and Anthropology for Liberal Studies at NYU and an Anthropologist in Residence with the New York City Department of Sanitation, appears throughout the podcast to contribute insights that further explain this phenomenon; she also provides recommendations on how to mitigate the problem. This podcast was created with much research, reflection, speculation, and most importantly, curiosity: the phenomenon that hits hard in this very city is one that is not as simple as it seems.

The Review & Debates at NYU