The Social and Economic Price of Littering
By Nico Bernstein
Litter in New York City’s streets is a huge issue. Litter isn't just unsightly, it's also extremely expensive to clean up. The city tries to spend millions of dollars a year to keep the streets, parks, and public spaces clean. It's a lofty task in a city as bustling and populous as NYC, where millions of people live, work, and visit every day. When people litter irresponsibly, it doesn't just make the city look filthy, it also forces the government to spend more money and resources on cleanup efforts that could otherwise be spent elsewhere. In 2022, the city announced a huge cleanup project called "Get Stuff Clean." It added $14.5 million to NYC’s budget to focus on areas that had gone ignored for too long. It went towards additional litter cleanups, cleaner streets, and efforts to tackle the city's growing rat problem. The next year, New York added another $22 million to improve trash can services on highly populous streets so that garbage wouldn’t pile up and spill over. These efforts show how serious the littering problem has gotten and how costly it is to solve it. But the government hasn’t always but the government hasn’t always prioritized cleanliness or consistently funded sanitation efforts.
In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, budget cuts slashed the sanitation department's funding by over $100 million. That meant fewer trash cleanups and more trash flowing in the streets. As a result, the city began to become noticeably dirtier, and New Yorkers began to take to the streets to complain. The cuts also allowed rat infestations to become worse, especially in areas with high foot traffic. The problem doesn't just affect New Yorkers, but tourists as well. NYC is one of the world's premier cities. More than 66 million people visited the city in 2019 before the pandemic hit the nation, spending nearly $50 billion. People travel to NYC for the sights, the cuisine, and the history. But when they see trash piling up along the sidewalks or get a whiff of rotten food on a hot summer afternoon, they leave with a bad impression. If tourists leave with a negative view of the city because of its cleanliness, they may not come back. Worse, they might tell others not to visit either. That means fewer tourists, which leads to less spending in local shops, restaurants, and hotels, hurting the city’s economy.
Littering may seem like only a small issue compared to the large problems currently facing our country, but in a city as big and busy as New York, it adds up fast. It costs the city millions, makes public spaces less enjoyable, and scares off tourists. Keeping the city clean isn’t just about looks; it’s about protecting New York’s economy, health, and quality of life. That’s why the City needs to continue to invest in sanitation. Everyone has a role to play in keeping NYC beautiful and welcoming, whether it’s by throwing trash in the right bin or supporting policies that fund street cleaning and waste management.