This assignment allowed me as a writer to reach a broader audience and persuade them to change their mind and even take action about a specific issue. The issue that is being addressed here is about how New York City’s trash creates pollution which is affecting humans and the ecosystem. In this opinion editorial, the purpose of this paper is to remind people what people actually miss out and never realize that they are the one to cause the problem. This issue concerned me the most because one of my parents who has been suffering from asthma. The writing process involves having a reflection on the topic that will be chosen to be written. The reflection was necessary because it allowed the students to brainstorm what is the issue that they will write and let the professor know why they are interested in writing an op-ed on that topic. Then there is drafting which leads to the final essay. When collaborating with peers, I tend to exchange papers and read silently. I give my peers feedback on what they did well and what they need improvement on. I also keep in mind if my peers are following the requirement and if not I would tell them.
Draft
Cities around the world are facing great challenges due to increasing urbanization, andone of the major challenges is the rising amount of generated waste and littering due to highdemand for food products and other essentials. Public waste bins are filling up faster than everand inevitably many of the bins end up overflowing before collected, causing not only clutteredstreets and bad odors but also negative health and environmental impacts. New York City is oneof the city that is facing this garbage problem. Trash in our harbor often begins as litter on ourstreets and sidewalks. Rain water can carry street litter to nearby storm drains, where it enters theCity’s sewer system. This litter can eventually make its way to our waterways, which can hurtthe ecosystem.
Waste management problems are nothing new for New York. This issue is not only beengoing on currently but New York City had been encountering this issue in the past. New Yorkersin the 18th and 19th centuries were encouraged to throw their trash into the East River to shoreup fill for underwater sections of Lower Manhattan (Quintana). It is very shocking to know thehistory of garbage in NYC. They did not have sanitation departments at that time. Moreover, in1885, America’s first incinerator is built on Governors Island. Incinerators would be the mainsource of waste management in New York City, burning almost 1/3 of the city’s trash(Manevich). There were other ways that NYC introduced to dump the waste. According toMariela Quintana, “Staten Island’s Fresh Kills, which opened as a temporary landfill,metastasized into the largest dump in the world sprawling across 2,200 acres”.
This issue continues to appear in our lives while living in NYC. New York City’smillions of residents and millions of businesses, construction projects and nonresident employeesgenerate 14 million tons of waste and recyclables per year (Cohen). This shows that new yorkersproduces massive amount of waste everyday. One of the outcomes of overflowing garbage is airpollution, which causes various respiratory diseases and other adverse health effects ascontaminants are absorbed from the lungs into other parts ofthe body. The toxic substances in air contaminated by wasteinclude carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Trashfound in our waterways can also carry pathogens and toxins.This means human health is at risk when people eat seafoodthat has been exposed to these pathogens and toxins. Ineveryday life we identify the polluted air especially through bad odors, which are usually causedby decomposing and liquid waste items. We can conclude that overflowing waste affects airpollution; impact human health. Not only trash can have an impact on humans but it also canhave an impact on the ecosystem. Garbage and liquid waste that end up in water bodiesnegatively change the chemical composition of the water;water pollution. It affects allecosystems existing in the water, including fish and other animals that drink the polluted water.Hazardous household waste items such as batteries, computer equipment and leftover paints canbe particularly dangerous for surface waters.
We all know that New York City has a garbage problem. It’s not a little garbage problemeither, but a gigantic one that involves finding economically viable and sustainable ways todispose tons of residential and commercial waste every single day. In 1881 – The New York CityDepartment of Street Cleaning (now called the Department of Sanitation) is formed. Thisdepartment was tasked with taking over the responsibility of waste collection and street cleaningpreviously held by the Police Department(Manevich). Steven Cohen, the executive director ofthe Earth Institute at Columbia University, says there are many public policy initiatives thatcould be put in place to help reduce New York’s garbage load. Some local policies, such as wastedisposal fees and other charges, are being used to encourage waste reduction. In addition, toimprove water quality and protect the ecosystem and local communities that rely on ourwaterways, Department of Environmental Protection implements a variety of programs andworks with other agencies to help keep trash and debris out of the sewer system and local watersWaste management and removal is handled by two systems —public and private. The public agency — the New York CityDepartment of Sanitation (DSNY) — serves residentialbuildings, government agencies and many nonprofitorganizations. Private commercial firms must pay privatewaste carters to remove their solid waste. New York City is pursuing several strategies toimprove waste management, including increasing recycling capture rates; encouraging residentsand businesses to divert organic material from landfills (Cohen). We stopped burning our trash(bad for the air) and closed our landfills (which we are turning into parks) a while ago. Citizenslike you can also help to keep our waters trash free. the best way to reduce trash is to generateless trash, keep your street clean. You can tweak this by buying less stuff or buying less stuff inpackaging. You can carry reusable bottles, grocery bags or a coffee-mugs.
To conclude, solid waste management is a challenge for large urban areas around theworld. Removing garbage from residential, institutional and commercial locations in cities is amajor logistical and operational task. It is also a critical matter of public health andenvironmental. As the world urbanizes, the challenge is becoming more acute. More people means more garbage, especially in fast-growing cities where the bulk of waste is generated.
Final
Where does all the trash go from the street?
Cities around the world are facing great challenges due to increasing urbanization, andone of the major challenges is the rising amount of generated waste and littering due to highdemand for food products and other essentials. Public waste bins are filling up faster than everand inevitably many of the bins end up overflowing before collected. It is causing not onlycluttered streets and bad odors but also negative health and environmental impacts. As a citizen,we should care for others and the earth we live in. Rainwater can carry street litter to nearbystorm drains, where it enters the City’s sewer system. This litter eventually make its way to ourwaterways, which can hurt the ecosystem.This issue continues to appear in our lives while living in NYC. New York City’smillions of residents and millions of businesses, construction projects and nonresident employeesgenerate 14 million tons of waste and recyclables per year (Cohen). One of the outcomes ofoverflowing garbage is air pollution, which causes various respiratory diseases and other adversehealth effects as contaminants are absorbed from the lungs into other parts of the body. The toxicsubstances in air contaminated by waste include carbondioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Trash found in ourwaterways can also carry pathogens and toxins. This meanshuman health is at risk when people eat seafood that has beenexposed to these pathogens and toxins. Someone may say thatthey are vegetarian and why should they care about seafood. The point that I want to telleveryone is that you might not eat seafood but there are people around you who are dyingbecause of this issue. Even then, you will not care?In everyday life we identify the polluted air especially through bad odors, which areusually caused by decomposing and liquid waste items. We can conclude that overflowing wasteaffects air pollution; impact human health. If the atmosphere is filled with contaminated air, theneveryone will be affected in some ways. Not only trash can have an impact on humans but it alsocan have an impact on the ecosystem. Garbage and liquid waste that end up in water bodiesnegatively change the chemical composition of the water—water pollution. It affects allecosystems existing in the water, including fish and other animals that drink the polluted water.Hazardous household waste items such as batteries, computer equipment and leftover paints canbe particularly dangerous for surface waters.There are many people who are suffering from many different health issues including oneof my parents. My dad has asthma which he struggles to live. When he goes outside he alwayshave to be cautious about his health. The atmosphere is filled with gas that is not not good forhumans to take in. Even the creatures under ocean are dying because of the waste that wegenerate each day. One might say that they might not eat fish and be vegetarian but is it the onlyway of solution? We all need to act smartly and care for everything around us.Steven Cohen, the executive director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, saysthere are many public policy initiatives that could be put in place to help reduce New York’sgarbage load. Some local policies, such as waste disposal fees and other charges, are being usedto encourage waste reduction. In addition, to improve waterquality and protect the ecosystem and local communities that relyon our waterways, Department of Environmental Protectionimplements a variety of programs and works with other agenciesto help keep trash and debris out of the sewer system and localwaters. Citizens like you can also help to keep our waters trashfree. The best way to reduce trash is to generate less trash, keep your street clean. You can tweakthis by buying less stuff or buying less stuff in packaging. You can carry reusable bottles,grocery bags or a coffee-mugs. In addition to that, in the street we can see that it says “100dollar fine” but do people actually care now about the trash bins are filled or not? There shouldbe another way for people not to litter outside. The government can increase the fee and makepeople take this action seriously.To conclude, to make people not to litter becomes a challenge for large urban areasaround the world. It is a critical matter of public health and environmental. As the worldurbanizes, the challenge is becoming more acute. More people means more garbage, especiallyin fast-growing cities where the bulk of waste is generated.
Reflection
The publication I am pitching to is “The New York Times.” I often read articles from theNew York Times but I do not pay attention about how the article is written. When we started toread opinion editorial articles in class, I started to read more often. That was when I realized thatI should pay attention to how the author is writing the article. My target audience would beyoungster to adult. For instance, I said in my article; “ The best way to reduce trash is to generateless trash, keep your street clean. You can tweak this by buying less stuff or buying less stuff inpackaging. You can carry reusable bottles, grocery bags or a coffee-mugs.”This is because evenour young generation need to know about this how we should prevent it in future. In addition,adults should know even more about this problem, not only they should teach the younggeneration but they should take action toward this—and how we should reduce pollution so thatour ecosystem is not polluted. In my article I mentioned, “Garbage and liquid waste that end upin water bodies negatively change the chemical composition of the water—water pollution.”From this adults should understand the value of water. As a New Yorker, you might bewondering, oh I am getting clean water in my house, but do you really know what it takes tomake clean water reaches your home?When writing this article for me it was a way to get my concern toward this issue out.Besides that this is an issue that has been going on for a long time. Many of us do not take thetime to think about this issue. We just consume food and just throw away the trash. We don’trealize where these trashes are heading to. The rhetorical situation that I am addressing in myeditorial would be who and what are the main cause of water pollution.I used tone to portray my audience about the causes of water pollution. The impact oflittering on humans and our environment. Tone helps the audience feel connected to the article.Also, when readers are able to think of the cause as a thing to take action. Referring to anotherarticle was a way for me to help my reader think more about this problem. In addition to that, Ireferenced where else I got my information. I know that I am not a professional researcher or anopinion editorial. I had to use outside facts to add on to what I am trying to address in my article.Finally, if I was to pitch another publication, then my article would have different features that I would have to include. For instance, if I had pitched Huffington post then I wouldinclude hyperlinks. Which means having a link in my article that would take the reader to a different article related to my topic.
