Page 58 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

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A Brief History of Waste Management 29

FIGURE 2.3 The waste problem in New York City. Garbage dumped on sidewalks impeded both pedestrian
and vehicular traffic.

FIGURE 2.4 Sanitation worker and the horse problem, New York City, 1900

The horse was a major contributor to the urban U.S. waste load (Figure 2.4). There were more
than three million horses in U.S. cities at the turn of the century, 120,000 in New York City alone
(Melosi, 1981). Each generated about 20 lb of manure per day. Also at that time, over 80,000 horses,
mules, and cows were maintained in the city of Chicago. It is estimated that these animals produced
about 600,000 tons of manure annually (Melosi, 1973; Wilson, 1977). In 1900, 15,000 horses in
Rochester, New York, “produced enough manure to cover an acre of ground to a height of 175 feet”