TED Talks has released the above video on its website featuring Robin Nagle. Robin is the anthropologist-in-residence at the Department of Sanitation in NYC. She’s been working alongside NYC’s sanitation workers since 2006 and has gained an intimate look into the waste industry that most people will never get.
In the above video, Robin talks about the challenges sanitation workers face daily. Of course, many people think sanitation work is difficult because it’s a “dirty” and “smelly” job, but Robin has concluded that this is the least of their worries.
Sanitation work is one of the 10 most dangerous jobs in America. Sanitation workers live in constant fear of being hit by a car and are frequently struck by garbage that flies out of the truck. In addition, the heavy lifting associated with the job, takes a physical toll on sanitation workers and often takes months to adjust too.
But Robin has also found something way worse than any of these things in her research.
Robin has uncovered an all-too-common stigma that society feels against sanitation workers. All too frequently, we consider their work “dirty” or “gross,” failing to realize that without them, society falls apart.
Without proper sanitation, diseases spread and the economy suffers because our consumption levels are compromised. So sanitation workers are literally out there every day doing a difficult, dangerous job to make sure the rest of us are safe and comfortable.
And we think that deserves a ton of respect!
For more information on Austin trash removal, find Dirty Work on Facebook or Twitter!
DirtyWorkServices 