'Spring clean up' highlights a global problem on a community scale

BY CLAIRE MOSER FOR GREENING OF OIL

Arriving in Naples (Napoli) after spending two months in Rome, I noticed immediate differences in the two cities. Besides the amazing pizza (invented in Naples), my attention was drawn to the trash that littered the streets - probably because I had previously heard rumors about Naples trash issues. In July 2007, the municipal waste management workers of Naples went on strike. With no end in sight, piles of trash started to increase in height and spread throughout the entire city. Naples might have been the most well known city with a trash crisis, but the Italian region of Campania had been experiencing a garbage crisis for almost fourteen years. And interestingly, the involvement of organized crime complicates the issue. Although (thankfully) I didn’t see the piles of trash, I did experience some of the remnants of the crisis and learned about the efforts that the government has been taking to try and deal with the garbage.

Naples at its worst

In May of 2007, the height of the crisis, collectors had stopped gathering garbage altogether because there was nowhere to take it. Residents would often set fire to the rotting trash. On July 11, The US Embassy in Rome sent out a warning to American tourists traveling to Naples and the surrounding area about the health risks associated with the trash that was accumulating in the streets: "U.S. citizens traveling to or through the area may encounter mounds of garbage, open fires with potentially toxic fumes, and/or sporadic public demonstrations by local residents attempting to block access to dumps”. The inability of the local government to decide on a solution to the crisis forced the national government to step in with three new incinerators and ten new dumps opened in the region in mid 2008.

A story fit for Hollywood

How did the trash get that bad? Besides the initial lack of dumps and the government’s decision to close a number of those that did exist, as previously mentioned there are strong associations between the Naples trash crisis and organized crime. The Camorra family (known as Naples’ Mafia family) had controlled the dumps, garbage trucks and the business of waste disposal. The movie Gamorra came out just last year, following five stories through the streets and slums of Naples and the surrounding areas. The stories explore the issues centered around crime families, specifically the Camorra. When the movie came out, the Naples police uncovered death threats to the author, Roberto Saviano, because the movie was “creating too much noise… had become a phenomenon”.

As urban planning majors, we spent one of our days in Naples studying the trash crisis (but not the mafia, even though we did watch Gamorra). We started to get a sense of how the government and private entities are dealing with the issues. We visited facilities that were privately operated and publicly owned including a recycling plant and an incinerator. Of course my camera battery died after my first picture at the recycling plant, but the sites were beautifully engineered and people were eager to show them off. The Naples waste management plan included the construction of new incinerators and the opening new dumps operating under “Asia,” the trash company created to facilitate collection and disposal in the city.

However, despite the efforts being made, I was still surprised at the amount of garbage everywhere. Apart from the old area of Naples near its port, the city was still pretty dirty and just walking along the sidewalks, I found myself looking down at my feet to avoid detritus rather than looking around at the city.

So the rumors were true. Naples clearly has some trash issues that need to be dealt with. Although it seemed rehearsed, the people at the trash facilities insisted that the steps they were taking toward the new trash system would, in turn, give incentives to the citizens of Naples to sort, recycle and throw their trash out because they would see the government taking care of their waste instead of “hiding it in a hole somewhere” – they would become civically engaged and active in helping to clean up the city. I was struck by this optimistic statement (especially with my knowledge of the Mafia connections and exploitations associated with the Naples garbage) and it made sense.

Remembering to be proactive

If we can learn anything from the piles of trash in Naples  - or even how dishes begin to pile up in a kitchen sink (as they seem to do exponentially in our college apartment) - is that once it gets really bad no one wants to deal with it. With Naples as the extreme example, we should not become complacent with our own communities no matter how they stack up. Most cities and communities have pre-organized clean ups (that are easily found by a Google search) and especially Spring Clean Ups coming up in the next month or two. Philadelphia is having their third annual Spring Clean Up on April 10th – “Keep up the Sweep Up”. You can volunteer on their website at different project sites with your family and friends. The City of Seattle also holds a Spring Clean that includes both organized events and the possibility to organize your own project as long as it is on city property. Citizens clean up Seattle’s public open spaces of their choice with support of the city.

Although not in the spring, I am partial to Cornell’s biggest day of service, Into the Streets. Students sign up in groups to head into the community of Ithaca to help out with everything from trash cleanup to painting murals and scrubbing sidewalks. Last October I went with the Cornell University Program Board to a local church and community center to help repaint their daycare center rooms. No matter where you are there will be some way for you to help out and clean up – whether it is through an organized city or community event, or organizing your own event. The piles of trash burning in the streets of Naples did not appear out of nowhere and can definitely be avoided in our own communities. Go Clean! It’s Spring!

About Claire Moser

Originally from Los Angeles, Claire Moser is a junior Urban and Regional Studies major at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY concentrating on environmental issues and natural resources.

Moser does research on environmental policies and land tenure issues with two professors in the City and Regional Planning Department of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She spent last summer as an intern in Washington DC following the American Clean Energy and Security Act attending numerous federal hearings and reading the all 1300 pages of the bill (HR 2454). She is also a part of the Cornell University Program Board and the Cornell Concert Commission bringing great speakers and performers to campus.

Claire is currently spending the spring semester of her junior year located in Trastevere, Rome studying the city and its green living.

Contact Claire Moser at claire.moser@gmail.com