Name: Matias

Social Justice Group: Environment: Plastic Pollution

Date of Fieldwork: February 6, 2019

Name of Organization: Sims Recycling Center

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles:

Type of Fieldwork: Tour of Organization

What I did:

Our group went on a tour of the Sims Recycling facility in Brooklyn, NY. We got to see where the majority of NYC’s plastic goes, and how it is recycled.

What I learned:

I learned that all of New York City’s (with the exception of downtown Manhattan) recyclables are sent to Sims Recycling Center. I also learned a few tips about recycling. I learned that it is better to keep the cap on when recycling, because the cap by itself is too small to be sorted by the machines, and it will be thrown away.

What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:

I learned that what some people may consider trash, can actually be repurposed. Even though not that many people recycle. The problem starts with the people manufacturing these single use plastics. Although not all plastics are bad, more people need to be informed about the problem, and need to decide which plastics they need and which plastics they can live without.