Street dirt is divided into two general classes: (a) Natural, and therefore unavoidable, and (b) that due to carelessness and therefore avoidable. In the first class are dust from the air, and dirt coming from the wear of pavements, vehicles, tires and horses’ shoes; excrement of animals, dirt and sand which work up through the joints of pavements, laid on earth or sand foundations and having sand or gravel joints; dirt brought in from adjacent unpaved or macadam streets, and leaves from shade trees. In the second class are soot, refuse swept from sidewalks, thrown from buildings and discarded by pedestrians, dirt dropped from overloaded vehicles and débris from construction operations.
The real duty of the street cleaning department is the removal of the first class, but in doing so it is compelled also to sweep up and cart away the material in the second class. In order to reduce its operations as much as possible, it must, therefore, in cooperation with the police and health authorities do everything it can to prevent the accumulation of the avoidable material by enforcing ordinances and through the cooperation of the public in general.
Contract vs. Municipal Cleaning
It is generally agreed that street cleaning by municipal employees is more satisfactory and economical than by contract. Even the officials of those few cities which still have the contract system favor municipal operation. Philadelphia is the only one of the twenty-five largest cities in the country which does the work by contract. The chief of the highway department has recommended a change, giving the following reasons: “Street cleaning work involves so much detail for which there are no definite units to specify and bid for, and it is of such a character that the overhead charges for proper inspection are so disproportionate to the cost of the work, that unquestionably it would be much more effectively and economically carried on directly by the municipal forces instead of by contract.”
Washington’s experience is illuminating. Notwithstanding changes in method as work progressed and considerable expense attached to the purchase of new equipment the street cleaning department was able to show at the end of the year under the municipal system that the average costs were less than contract prices. At the end of the second year for the expenditure of the same amount of money over 25 per cent. more work was accomplished than during the last year of the contract system and the general opinion was that the streets were in better condition than they had ever been before.
Method of Reducing Litter
Street cleaning departments of many progressive cities within the last few years have given particular attention to the preventive side of street cleaning work, i. e., reducing the amount of avoidable dirt on street pavements. Various methods have been adopted to secure results. Local civic pride and the cooperation of the public have been stimulated by means of educational campaigns. One result has been the more general use of waste paper and refuse street cans. Cleveland tried to organize volunteer corps among the school children to use their influence against the useless littering of streets. Departments have also established a closer relationship with the health and police authorities for the enforcement of street cleaning regulations, such as those prohibiting the sweeping of litter from stores and houses onto paved streets. The success of preventive work depends upon the amount of cooperation the street cleaners can get from these sources.
In Chicago an analysis was made of the character and percentage of waste thrown about by pedestrians in the streets and by business houses in densely populated sections of the city. It was found that a great portion of the street dirt collected by street cleaners consisted of waste paper and other light litter. The Chicago Civil Service Commission in a special report says: “It would appear that with the cooperation of merchants a considerable portion of such litter could be kept off the streets and if street cleaners would patrol the street for loose paper and deposit the same in the street dirt boxes provided at different points along such streets, a great portion of the cleaning work would be saved and the streets would generally appear cleaner. The litter of streets in tenement and manufacturing districts is a matter which can be greatly minimized by proper distribution of work and cooperation of the street cleaning forces and residents. The quantity of street dirt collected from the pavements in market places illustrates an instance where pavements become unavoidably littered.”
Gustave H. Hanna, when head of the Cleveland Street Cleaning Department, expressed the belief that nothing encourages carefulness on the part of the public so much as efficient and careful cleaning. He argued that a man does not hesitate to throw paper or rubbish into a foul street, but thinks twice if the street is clean. If there is a waste box at hand with a printed suggestion on the outside, Mr. Hanna thinks he is apt to use the box.
The greatest source of expense comes from those who use the street as a place of business, such as resorts of professional hucksters. Mr. Hanna and others think it would be a small return for the permission of doing business in these streets to require the hucksters to keep the surroundings clean at their own expense under pain of arrest or forfeiture of privilege.