Picture the Homeless

"Recycling collection maps of NYC by the New York City Department of Sanitation"
Z:\Markus\canning\recycling maps\altweekrecyclingmailer.pdf

"Recycling collection map changes for Community Board 12 in Brooklyn"
Z:\Markus\canning\recycling maps\bk12_mailer_081104.pdf

"Canning Geography Map, developed by Mitch McEwan in conjunction with the Canners Committee
- details Parks, Business Improvement Districts and High-Density Residential Areas"
Z:\Markus\canning\recycling maps\Mitch\CanningGeography

"Canners Seasonal Map, developed by Mitch McEwan in conjunction with the Canners Committee
- details areas of major canning activities in winter and summer season"
Z:\Markus\canning\recycling maps\Mitch\Seasonal

PTH position-paper on the Bigger Better Bottle Bill!
as of February 17th, 2005

Putting the Bigger Better Bottle Bill (A2517) to work with canners!
- Drop "anti-canner"-provision Section 27-1007.3


The "Canners' Committee" at Picture The Homeless fights for the benefit of over a thousand workers throughout New York City who redeem recyclable bottles and cans for the deposit. We endorse the campaign for a Bigger Better Bottle Bill because it seeks an environmentally and economically sustainable solution to waste production in our state. We say economically sustainable also because we - "the canners" - would profit from the increased range of beverage containers that could be redeemed and the hopeful establishment of more redemption centers.
We applaud the introduction of bill A2517 for addressing these issues.

However, we are deeply concerned about one provision that would have a detrimental effect on the canning community. Section 27-1007.3 reduces the limit of beverage containers that a dealer would have to accept from 240 to 72, which equals to amount of $12 to $3.60 respectively (given the deposit of 5 cents per container). What is at stake for the overwhelming majority of canners, is the very feasibility of canning as a means of survival! Why is this the case?

To give an example: In order to redeem empty beverage containers worth of $36, with the new Section 27-1007.3 in effect, canners would have to go to ten different supermarkets (given that at each supermarket $3.60 could actually be redeemed.) Considering that - as an average - canners have to wait about an hour outside of supermarkets until their redemption is handled, cashing in containers worth of $36 would entail a total waiting time (at ten different supermarket) of about ten hours! Since this does not include the walking time in between the supermarkets or the pick up time, even a small amount like $36 becomes virtually impossible to earn during a hard-working day.

The Canners Campaign attempts at bringing hundreds of homeless, immigrant people of color into the struggle for economic and social justice. We are organizing in order to emerge from invisibility as workers by building our membership base and networking with new allies.

Our current marginalization allows violations of our rights by stores and police to go unchecked.

Developing our voice and power as a workforce will increase Canners' incomes as we ensure that the Bottle Bill will be enforced - we estimate that the income could easily increase by 40% once the law is enforced. The Department of Environmental Conservation and the NYS Attorney General showed willingness to investigate our complaints and take steps to enforce/restore the NYS Bottle Bill.

We are supporting the Bigger Better Bottle Bill campaign because the inclusion of non-carbonated drinks for deposit would increase the amount of recyclables by more than 20%. A Bigger Better Bottle Bill would also improve our working conditions by facilitating the establishment of additional redemption centers. Redemption Centers usually allow canners to redeem any amount and virtually any kind of containers.

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill campaign advocates for an expansion of the current bottle bill by including other beverage containers into the deposit system as well as using money from unclaimed deposits in NYS to fund recycling programs such as redemption centers. However, we had to censure the Bigger Better Bottle Bill as it was introduced in the past legislative session. Click here for our position paper from February, 2005.

240 or Fight!
Can and Bottle Collectors protest violations of the Bottle Law
Workers, who collect cans and bottles for the 5 cent deposit, protested on April 13th, 2005, in front of an Associated Supermarket against the violation of their rights to redeem 240 beverage containers ($12 worth). This demonstration kicked off a campaign against supermarkets that break the NY State Bottle Law. A survey conducted among "canners" in NYC reveals that supermarkets consistently violate the redemption rights of the subsistence workers.


The current New York State Bottle Law requires stores to accept up to 240 empty beverage containers per redeemer per day (NYCRR 367.5 (d)) but only a small fraction of the supermarkets actually comply with this provision. Canners will demand that a notorious Associated Supermarket on 48th St. and 2nd Ave. accepts up to 240 of their cans and bottles and will demand a meeting with an official at Associated Supermarkets with the authority to bring the store redemption policies in accordance with the NYS Bottle Law.


When a handful of canners brought in recyclable containers to an Associated Supermarket on 2nd Avenue, the store refused to accept them. When the cops showed up, instead of ticketing the Supermarket for violating state law, they attempted to pen in the protesters and told the canners they had no jurisdiction to enforce the bottle law. One officer expressed doubt that such a law existed—when a canner presented him with a copy of the law, he still refused to enforce it.

"When we break the law, the cops bust us," said Eugene Gadsen, a member of Picture the Homeless and an organizer of the protest. "When supermarkets do it, the cops back them up.

• Issued a report on the violations of canners rights under New York State Bottle Law

• Held a major action to educate the public about canners rights, mobilizing canners and resulting in gaining institutional support for our campaign from the Office of the Attorney General

• Won the support of the Office of the Attorney General to prosecute supermarkets violating the bottle law

The Canners Committee has identified the following goals:

• Enforce New York State law where violated.
• Expand the current law to increase the types of recyclables and fund redemption centers
• Create awareness of the work of Canners and its environmental contribution.

Enforcement of the existing NYS law. Quality of Life laws are used to harass canners but not enforced to protect their interests as workers. We are documenting violations of the NYS Bottle Law through surveys developed by the Canners Committee in order to provide a detailed complaint list of stores that violate the law. Through this process we are also educating Canners about their rights.

Push for legislative improvements of the current Bottle Bill. We engage with new allies: organizations, coalitions and public officials, to ensure that any changes in current law benefit Canners.

Create awareness of the work of Canners and its environmental contribution. We estimate that Canners account for at least 10% of total containers redeemed in NYS. A survey of the Public Policy Associates in 2004 found that in NYS, 57.5% of New Yorkers redeem their cans and bottles. The redemption rate in NYS, however, is at 70.2%, a gap of 12,7%, which is for the most part to be explained by the work of Canners. Observing the supermarkets and redemption centers in NYC, one could estimate that Canners actually redeem the biggest share of empty beverage containers. It is clear that Canners contribute significantly to the success of the redemption system, thereby providing an important service to society. Canning saves the taxpayers money by diverting large amounts from the landfills and helps recycle valuable material resources and energy.

The issues of the Canners' Committee impacts immigrant and "native born" New Yorkers, primarily African American, Latino and Asian subsistence workers. Although the majority of canners are men, there is a significant number of women canners, especially the among Latino and Asian communities. Canners range in age from children that help their parents to seniors in their '70's.

It is estimated that a minimum of 1,000 New Yorkers depend on collecting cans, bottles and plastics as a means of economic survival. This number fluctuates upward based on season, weather, and during sporting, political or cultural events. For many, canning is the only source of income. Common reasons cited for "picking up cans" are difficulties in accessing the formal job market, such as immigration status, incarceration history, age, lack of marketable skills, language, problems with welfare, and in some cases a preference for independence from the welfare system. The income of most homeless canners' however, does not suffice to afford housing although historically many older canners report being able to rent rooms on income generated by canning.

A major reason for the low earnings from canning is that the vast majority of stores violate the existing NYS Bottle Bill. Stores that sell recyclable beverages usually accept only a fraction of the amount of containers than the 240 that NYS law requires them to accept, $12 worth of cans, bottles or plastics. Store managers arbitrarily decide how much to allow them to redeem, (offering to give take 20 cans for $1.00 for example) a clear violation of NYS law. Many supermarkets make Canners wait for hours outside of the store or verbally abuse them. The redemption of the recyclables at supermarkets is an unnecessarily time-consuming process for Canners that violates their rights while significantly decreases their possibilities of making a living wage.

The Canners' Committee builds upon our organizing campaigns and is informed by leaders of PTH who are themselves Canners and who have built their leadership skills through participation in other campaigns. The Canners Committee addresses a root cause of homelessness - the economic obstacles to generate a living-wage income, it targets the stigmatization of these subsistence workers, fights to ensure that the law protecting these workers is enforced, works to end the criminalization of Canners, and highlights the disparities between what the poorest workers earn and the cost of housing.

We are organizing to build power as a workforce. This includes engaging in direct action, educating ourselves and the public, getting involved in legislative issues, building relationship with allies

We have meetings in our office every Friday from 3 to 5pm that are open to every canner and person that is willing to support our cause. In these meetings decisions are being made that affect the committee as a whole.

For those members, who can’t make it to these meetings, but want to be informed about the meeting and to have input:

• We are having extensive outreach done by those who attend the meetings in several areas of Manhattan. They will bring your issues to the attention in the committee meetings
• We are distributing our newsletter “Canners News”
• You can call us at Picture The Homeless 212 427 2499 (Mondays through Fridays). Ask for Jean or Markus
• For the time being, we are planning to have also an area specific meeting downtown on the west side at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen (on 9th Ave @ 28th St.) every first Thursday of the month from 12.30 until about 2pm.


Organizing as Canners means organizing as poor workers. Organizing as Canners is an example how environmental and poverty issues go hand in hand. Organized canners embody the idea of sustainable development and reveal that recycling is not only an issue of environmental policy but also of income for poor workers.

Canning is a hardship, but it is one of our few opportunities for income, and it is the issue around which we build collective strength to demand recognition and a living-wage income for us and everyone. Canners in other communities face the same challenges and what our struggles achieve in NYC is replicable in other places both specific to this campaign as well as our model of organizing homeless people.

We are homeless because our income is too low to afford housing. Welfare is a joke. Sometimes, we are left with no jobs at all! They call us lazy – yet we are among the hardest working people!

Our Canners' Committee, led by workers who collect and redeem recyclables for the deposit, won significant victories that impact every canner in New York City. This campaign organized canners to build power as a workforce, to assure that the legal rights of canners are enforced and expanded, to improve working conditions and to increase respect for the environmental contributions of our work. At this time, our Canners Committee does not meet regularly, but if you want any further information about our Canners work, please call us at 646-314-6423 - ask for Jean Rice.


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Somos desamparados porque nuestro ingreso es demasiado bajo para pagar la renta. Asistencia publica es una broma. A veces, no nos quedan ni trabajos para ganarse dinero. Nos llaman araganes - !pero somos entre l@s obrer@s que hacen los trabajos mas duros!

Para contactarnos, pueda llamar 646-314-6423(pregunte por Jean)