Sanitation Reforms
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"The City's Sanitary Work." NY Times. 15 November 1880.
During colonial times, garbage was tossed in the streets. Horses relieved themselves freely, and neither homeowners nor horse owners were required to protect public health. By the turn of the century, the Great Horse Manure Crisis triggered a public reaction and political reforms. City sanitation policies were created to address the issue.
"New York was stinking 'with the emanations of putrefying organic matter.'"
-George Waring, Jr., 1880
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George E. Waring, Jr. Wikipedia.
The mayor of New York appointed George Waring Jr. in 1895 as the city's first Commissioner of Street Cleaning. Waring ordered horse manure to be recycled for use as fertilizer and required garbage to be carted away rather than tossed in the street or hidden. Many of the policies Waring implemented are still in use today, including mandatory urban garbage pick-up.
"There is no provision for taking up the manure dropped during the day; the street may be perfectly cleaned at 7 A.M. and yet be very dirty at 9 A.M. and throughout the rest of the day from the accumulation of manure." -George Waring
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George Waring instituted the use of uniformed workers to collect garbage and clean the streets of horse manure.
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In 1898, an International Urban Planning Conference convened in New York. The primary focus was the manure problem. No solution to New York's, and other cities', dependence on the horse could be found, so the representatives were forced to end the conference a week before its deadline.
Political reforms alone would not solve the crisis. In truth, there was no plan for dealing with the abundance of manure. The situation was ripe for a technical solution: an innovative revolution that would allow for the clean transport of goods and people.
Political reforms alone would not solve the crisis. In truth, there was no plan for dealing with the abundance of manure. The situation was ripe for a technical solution: an innovative revolution that would allow for the clean transport of goods and people.