Recycling and Waste Prevention Videos

To help New Yorkers waste less, the NYC Department of Sanitation produced a series of animated Without you, it's all just trash videos in 1996, and a new school video about the TrashMasters! in 2000. We digitized the videos and posted them here to make them more readily accessible. Videos may be ordered through the Sanitation literature/decal request form.

Go to NYC Waste Le$$ Business Project to see the video: NYCWasteLe$$: Cutting Costs by Cutting Waste.

Note to viewers: The residential, institutional, and school Without you, it's all just trash videos all contain the same beginning and ending cartoons segments. While most of the information on all the Without you, it's all just trash videos is still accurate, please note the following updates since 1996 (for current recycling information, see What and How to Recycle):

• The Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island officially closed in 2001.
• The Visy Paper Milll on Staten Island opened in 1996.
• New York City residents discard approximately 11,000 tons of trash and over 2,000 tons a day of recyclables.
• Broken glass is not currently mixed with asphalt to pave NYC's streets.
• Plastic jugs are no longer turned into sawhorses, street cones, and recycling bins by a local NYC company (though this may change in the near future).
• Plastic and glass recyclables, like all other recyclables collected in NYC, are separated and processed by contracted vendors who then sell these materials on the open market.
• The NYC Department of Sanitation no longer provides mechanized collection service for designated metal, glass, and plastic recyclables. DSNY collects these materials curbside instead.
• If residents and institutions set out their recyclables in plastic bags, only clear bags should be used. (Blue bags were previously required for metal, glass, and plastic recyclables.)
• NYC residents should call 311 for recycling information, flyers, and decals.

The videos are available in streaming Windows Media format for dial-up and broadband. You’ll need the free Windows Media Player to view them.

Residential and Institutional Recycling Videos
What Happens To Your Recyclables
Recycling in One- and Two-Family Homes
Apartment Building Recycling
Institutional Recycling

School Recycling Videos: For Students
TrashMasters! Waste Side Story
Recycling - For Grades K-6
Recycling - For Grades 7-12

School Recycling Video: For Teachers and Administrators
School Recycling

Composting Videos
Home Composting
Institutional Composting