MAKING A MUSEUM: Materializing Regimes of Value with the NYC Department of Sanitation

“Hey, lets play garbage!” one schoolyard boy said to the other. A curious teacher’s aid asks the boys how the game is played. Enthusiastically they reply "All you have to do is go around the playground and find wrappers or leaves or anything that doesn't belong on the ground and you stick it in the trash." They agreed that they enjoyed playing ‘garbage’ and that they pretend that they are members of the department of sanitation. The teacher’s aid looks on with a grin and delighted in the way these boys view the hard working members of our cities finest sanitation engineers.
As adults, we don’t question the ‘dirty’ connotations of the word garbage because we see it as the leftovers, waste, and unwanted remnants of our daily lives; a chore to be dealt with and a problem for someone else to take away. Children, however, are not discriminate or tainted towards the wonders of the trash. With a little imagination a game can be created or a hungry garbage truck can be fed. Some of these playful ideas towards garbage can be traced to children’s books, but what is the entire story being told and how accurate is it?
The general theme throughout several children’s books was educating about where garbage goes. This is of course a very important topic so that children are aware that their waste still needs to be processed once it leaves their sight. There were no mythical stories about the “waste fairy of garbage land” who made the trash disappears without harming the environment. In fact, the books were quite truthful in reference to landfills and history of mistakes past. Where Does All the Garbage Go? By Paul Showers exposes the history of ocean dumping and gives great detail of different types of waste disposal or transformation. He explains the difference between a dump and a landfill, as well as incinerator methods, and describes how several recyclables are processed for reuse.
Although the text may be educational, the garbage industry is still labeled with “stinky” stereotypes through the book’s illustrations. Personally, I have never seen garbage steam with green vapors. In fact, the trash that I come into contact with on a daily basis is well contained and often odorless. As I understand it, the book I Stink, by Kate and Jim McMullan received great reviews from critics and children alike, but was ostracized by the New York Department of Sanitation. Although the book greatly gives credit to the department and the importance of their work, the character representing the department is an arrogant, inconsiderate garbage truck glistening with smell. Being that a crew is not represented, it is under the assumption that the men and woman operating this machine hold the same characteristics.
The poor representation of the human sanitation character is not seen in all children’s books. The opposite, in fact, was presented in the majority of selections. The sanitation worker was presented as a gleaming, enthusiastic, vital contributor to the cities operations. Often concerned for the common wellbeing of the community that he serves (there was not one mention or representation of women on the job).
Dear Garbage Man, by Gene Zion, is a story of the first day on the job for Stan the Garbage Man. He sees potential in everything left on the corner and can’t bare to see it go into the hopper. Stan mongos the items and at the end of the day the towns people see how great other’s junk can be. Stan learns that not everything can be reused and understands that garbage does have a purpose.
In my neighborhood the children scream in excitement when the garbage truck turns down the street. A game of baseball is ended immediately when the truck makes its first stop. The kids gather round to watch the men fling the black bags into hopper. They get even more excited when a deal is made. The garbage men will pay the group of ten children three dollars to split among themselves to collect the bags. It is obvious that age will reign supreme when it’s time for payment, but the lot of them is anxious to prove their skills to the men working the back of the truck. Quickly they disperse, collection faster then the men had anticipated, the younger ones learning the value of partnering to lift the heavy loads. At the end of the street the job is done, the older children sensing accomplishment in payment, the younger in pride
From the view of a child, a sanitation worker is heroic. A noble profession leads a worker to ride in on their noble steed (garbage truck) and rescue the neighborhood from the evil that plagues their families (the waste they produce). It’s a romantic profession in the eyes of a child, and I would argue even more heroic in the eyes of a few students simply trying to make a museum.

References:

Rangle, Kelly. Kids do the Darnest Things. MAKING A MUSEUM: Materializing Regimes of Value with the NYC Department of Sanitation Blog. Sep. 24, 2007.

Showers, Paul. Where Does All the Garbage Go? Revised Ed. HarperCollins Publisher. New York. 1994.

McMullan, Kate and Jim. I Stink. Scholastic, Inc. New York. 2002.