Pizza may be one of the best things about modern life, but in New York City, the sheer number of people throwing away pizza boxes has created a massive rat problem.
Fortunately, the Central Park Conservancy – a nonprofit organization dedicated to the maintenance and restoration of parks – came to the rescue by installing a pizza box recycling bin in Central Park, one of the busiest places in the city.
According to NBC New York, the bin is located in an area near the Great Lawn and is specifically designed for pizza boxes. If the pilot program proves successful in deterring rats in the park, New Yorkers may see more trash bins around Central Park in the future.
“Traditional round bins are simply not designed to accommodate boxes, leading to jammed cans that can attract rodents,” Kat Brady, spokesperson for Central Park Conservancy, told NBC. “On a hot, busy day, the Conservancy can remove more than 100 boxes in this part of the park alone.”
You might be wondering if a greasy pizza box with chunks of cheese attached to it is still recyclable. The American Forest and Paper Association explained that most paper mills will indeed accept these boxes as long as they do not contain leftover pizza or toppings.
However, the association noted that you should check with your city’s recycling program to see if it accepts pizza boxes — although AFPA claims that 82% of Americans live in areas where it does.
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Recycling – whether it’s pizza boxes, plastic, glass, clothing or shoes – helps create a cleaner future because it reduces the pollution caused by throwing stuff into landfills, which creates harmful gases that warm the planet . It’s also a win for people and animals, because less pollution equals better air quality and better health.
If you live in New York, the fact that there are fewer rats running around the city means you have a lower risk of contracting a rat-related illness – plus you can enjoy your pizza in peace in Central Park.
“With rat sightings down nearly 14% year over year in our city’s rat control zones, we continue to make progress, but we won’t stop there,” Mayor Eric Adams told NBC.
NYC is also introducing a curbside composting program later this year to keep trash off the streets and rats at bay. A three-month composting pilot program in Queens has already saved nearly 6,500 tons of kitchen and yard waste from landfills, which shows promise for the future.
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