Yajá Mulcare is a soon-to-be graduate with a Masters in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in Design for Social Innovation. As part of her thesis project, she partnered with the Sanitation Foundation to develop The Maker’s Resistance — an art and education collective working with the Sanitation Foundation to reduce overconsumption and materialistic behavior among Gen-Z young adults in NYC through values-aligned craft-making, storytelling, and community-building efforts.

How New York Turned Civic Pride Into Cleaner Streets
A grassroots sustainability and anti-litter campaign by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers. Don’t Do NYC Dirty is proving that when local pride meets real community voices, behavior changes.

2025’s Big Spring Clean was bigger and cleaner than ever!

These NYC Artists use found objects, waste materials, NYC Sanitation archives, other recycled objects, and more to create artworks that draw attention to waste management and our culture of disposability.

Through her own grassroots volunteer organization Inner City Green Team, Brigitte Charlton-Vicenty works tirelessly to bring proper recycling programs to New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) homes and neighborhoods.

The founder of community cleanup hub Nasty New Yorkers helps everyone — including her students, as a teacher with NYC Public Schools — get involved in the cause of waste management and waste reduction.

Since it’s New York Fashion Week again, we’re back to thinking about New York’s textile waste. We’re excited to feature Andrea Reyes, a DonateNYC partner and founder of the Sustainable Fashion Community Center, a hub for textile donations and textile waste diversion.

You can make an impact at any age! We were so thrilled to partner with the I.S. 68 Middle School Student Government on a Community Cleanup with our Youth Education team — and we’re excited to feature them on our blog as inspiring young stewards of litter management.

We caught up with Catie Savage, founder of the Hell’s Kitchen Litter Legion, about embracing our personal responsibility to help keep shared public spaces clean.

We wanted to take some time to profile some stand-out volunteers who have stepped up to join Adopt Your Spot NYC. Their dedicated efforts make seem small, but together they make a monumental difference in the cleanliness of New York City.

NYC’s trash becomes an adventure at The Yard, New York’s first and only “adventure playground.” We’re thrilled to share about the concept of this groundbreaking play-place, as told to us by Yoni Kallai, a co-founder of play:groundNYC.

Ashlee Barker is helping New York City Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. “If it doesn't have to go to the landfill, let's try to make sure it doesn't go to the landfill,” she says.

Learn about DSNY’s “Trash Revolution" from a 25-year veteran: Chief of Cleaning Operations Jeff Pitts.

We are thrilled to present one of our favorite Waste Pioneers, Dr. Robin Nagle. Robin is a lifelong DSNY supporter, a former Sanitation Worker, an NYU Professor and a treasured Board member of the Sanitation Foundation - a true pioneer in the field of waste management.

Lisa has helped her entire high-rise apartment building in Brooklyn successfully adopt composting! Learn more about her journey and gain tips about how to get your building to divert food waste from landfill.

Meet Vishal Kumar, CEO of Waste Warriors

Vishal is the passionate, driving force behind Waste Warriors, a non-profit startup in India, whose goal is to reduce plastic pollution in the Indian Himalayas. We met up with him here in NYC while he was helping to clean up Times Square during The Great Broadway Sweep.

We’ve begun cleaning services in our two pilot locations in central Brooklyn and are already seeing a remarkable change in the appearance of these busy commercial areas.

Along with clearing the streets of litter, we will also be celebrating one of the borough's most famous inventions: hip hop.

Our tool grants and starter kits are helping community groups organize their own litter cleanups.

Are you looking for a New Year’s Resolution or an inspiring way to start 2023? We are delighted to announce the return of Zero Waste Academy (ZWA)!