Date: Wednesday June 29
Time start: 12:55 PM
Time end: 1:10 PM
Object: Movable trash bins and staff
Location: Union Square (111 E 15th St)
Temperature: 79℉
Observation:
Sunny, stuffy day.
Busy, crowded market.
Office workers, tourists, and passers-by enjoyed their lunch break in Union Square. Some youngsters were surprisingly sunbathing there, but most of people were chatting or having lunch on the bench in the shade of trees. Although food could be seen almost everywhere during that time, there were not much litter on the path for the majority took responsibility for their own trash. I noticed that one guy seated opposite unfortunately poured his salad when he was packing his bag, and he cleaned up the mess afterwards.
Staff would move trash bin around to collect litter from individuals to whom it might not be handy to throw their trash away. Movable trash bins and staff passed twice during my observation time.
First Time 12:59PM:
A middle-age man in a grey uniform (both long-sleeve shirt and pants) wearing a cap and gloves moved a two-wheeled big-sized trash can stuffed with bagged trash forward without paying attention to passers-by.
Second Time 1:09PM:
A young girl in a green uniform T-shirt (bottom is casual jeans) wearing gloves moved a four-wheeled regular-sized half-full trash can with quite a few trash bags attached forward while looking out for any trash collectable.
Ideas and Questions:
Ideas
- Trash collection is part of the system of public service.
- Gloves are necessary and important for trash collectors.
- There are at least two kinds of uniform available. Different colors might indicate different tasks or genders.
- Big-sized trash can might be mainly responsible for transporting bagged trash while regular-sized trash can might be designed for collecting trash (considering their numbers of wheels, sizes, and attachment).
Questions
- Does the trash bin pass certain place every time minutes?
- Are these staff employees or volunteers?
- How many trash bags would usually be attached to a regular-sized movable trash can?
- How do the staff deal with the trash in the market?
- What if the weather is too hot? Will the uniform be changed? How about the frequency of passing around?
