Recycling in New York City

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Recycling in New York City

• David Shulman Mike Bukhin
• User-Centered DesignAssignment 7
• March 27, 2006

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Initial Project Goals

• Provide a brief overview and analysis of New York
  Citys recycling program
• Determine public citizens recycling habits
• Determine what about the system works and what
  can be improved
• Recommend improvements to facilitate and increase
  recycling
• Review the clarity of NYCs recycling program
• Research users recycling process or lack
  thereof
• Study users motivation for recycling or lack
  thereof
• Determine ways to improve the program, and
  improve recycling habits

Can these be recycled?
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Areas of Inquiry

• Users apartment space
• Is it conducive to keeping recyclables?
• Where does tenant keep recyclables?
• Users attitude toward recycling
• If performed, is it done out of environmental
  concern, civic duty, other?
• If it isnt performed, why not?
• The users recycling process in respect to
  His/her buildings rules
• New York Citys rules

Will I be fined if I dont recycle this?
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Proposed Research Methods

• Charts (that we will create) for users to
  document what they do and dont recycle, and
  their motivations for doing so
• In-home ethnographic observations (in the form
  of demonstrations) and interviews
• Online research and interview with New York
  City recycling officials
• Shadowing random citizens as they are placing
  their trash/recyclables on the street

3/12/06, 1212pm I recycled the box and the tea
bag wrapper.
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Actual Research Methods

• I. Recycling DiaryTo track our subjects
  recycling habits, we created a diary for the
  subjects to use to document the items they
  recycled or threw in the trash, and their reasons
  for doing one or the other. We listed the major
  recyclable materials collected in New York City,
  including paper (print, direct mail), plastic
  (bags, containers), aluminum (cans, foil), steel,
  glass and styrofoam. We asked them to list any
  other items they recycled (that werent on our
  list), as well as what, if any actions they took
  prior to recycling. For instance, if a bottle of
  Coke was being recycled, did the subject wash
  out the bottle, throw out the cap, remove the
  labeling, etc?

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Actual Research Methods

• II. One-On-One Interviews
• Once the subjects completed their diaries, we
  followed up with one-on-one interviews. While
  the diaries provided valuable day-to-day
  insights, the interviews gave turned out to be
  much more valuable this is where we realized
  that our subjects do recycle they just arent
  convinced what they are recycling should or
  shouldnt be recycled (and the same goes for much
  of what they throw in the trash).

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Actual Research Methods

• III. Online Research
• Since our focus for this project is recycling in
  NYC, we did a lot of online research on sites
  either hosted by or related to the City of New
  York. We researched thoroughly the Department of
  Sanitations Web site, including
• Homepage
• http//www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/html/home/home.shtml
  Requesting Literature from the
  Sitehttp//www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/html/contact/req
  uests_decal.shtmlpublicationsWaste Prevention
  Recycling Reports
• http//www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/recyclin
  g/waste_reports.shtml

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Research Subjects

• 10 people took part in Round 1 of our research
• The average age of the subjects was 34.5 years
  old
• All subjects have a B.A. 60 have a
  post-graduate degree
• Most subjects recycle to help the environment
  a few do so because its the law

Jason Z.
Anna W.
Fernanda C.
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Assumptions

• People in our age range (20s-30s) are good
  recyclers they care about the environment
  and will do whats necessary to help
• In general, people understand what should be
  recycled, though there is some general
  confusion about many items
• The city does a reasonable job explaining whats
  eligible to be recycled that said, theres
  probably room for improvement
• People are space constrained while they
  would like to recycle as much as possible,
  most NYC residents dont have the space to
  keep everything in their homes until
  recycling day

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What We Learned

• Educated individuals living in an urban
  environment tend to be socially responsible

Recycling is going out of your way to do the
right thing.
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What We Learned

• There are two disparate populations that need to
  be treated differently.

Those who recycle but could do it more
efficiently and effectively
Those who dont recycle at all
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What We Learned

• There is confusion about the rules, a disconnect
  in the process and a misperception regarding
  efficacy.
• I have no idea if New York Citys trash is
  being recycled, and if one bottle cap will break
  the recycling machine.

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What We Learned

• People allow their assumptions and
  misconceptions to dictate recycling rules
• If Im not sure, it gets thrown out.

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Design Implications

• One thing became quite clear early on no one
  seemed to know if what he/she was recycling was
  eligible to be recycled. People ASSUMED that what
  they recycled was eligible, but no one gave a
  definitive yes, Im absolutely 100 sure this
  can be recycled. This uncertainty is driving our
  design concepts. After all, you might be throwing
  trash into the recycling section, and recyclables
  into the trash.

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Potential Design Solutions

• To integrate the options for recycling onto the
  item in question (i.e. A sticker on a Coke
  bottle that says something like Bottle
  Recyclable. Please discard cap.)
• To consider a system that provides quick, clear
  and unequivocal answers to the can this be
  recycled? question
• Redesign NYC recycling chart to be more
  specific. Currently, the signage that exists
  is quite vague. For example, paper and cardboard
  can be recycled, except when its heavy
  soiled. Who decides whats heavily soiled?
  How can those in the community know for sure?
  What happens if they decide to recycle
  something thats later deemed too soiled? What
  happens?
• After all, which of these can and cant be
  recycled? And why? Or why not?

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