Nate Smith

January 24, 2009

The 2 million attendees were not the only record breaking aspect of Barack Obama's Presidential inauguration. Following the conclusion of the ceremony, cleaning crews picked up a record amount of trash from inaugural attendees and street vendors.

After the crowds dispersed, National Park Service, Washington D.C. municipal crews, and private contractors began their effort to clean up the National Mall and parade route. The crews did not finish until 5:30 AM the following morning as officials were determined to get the Nation's Capitol back to normal as soon as possible. The clean up effort utilized 300 workers, 20 street sweepers, and 12 trash compacters. In the end, 130 tons of trash was picked up including bottles, handwarmers, gloves, newspapers, memorabilia, and even a few sleeping bags. Though, officials believe a large amount of the garbage was left behind by street vendors, who contributed to the mess by leaving the tables and souvenirs. No information was released regarding the amount of recyclables crews collected from the ceremonies recycling bins.

The ceremony contributed to more waste than any celebration ever held at the National Mall including the annual Fourth of July event which usually creates about 20 tons of waste. Similarly, the 2009 New Years Eve celebration at Times Square attracted 1 million attendees and generated 40 tons of waste; a large amount, but one that pales in comparison to the inauguration's 130 tons of waste.

The unprecedented mess was, in part, blamed on the lack of trash receptacles throughout the National Mall and parade route. Washington D.C. sanitation officials were not allowed to put out many trash cans due to security reasons. The clean up effort was planned in December when Washington, D.C. officials and private contractors began to work with the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Sources:

Cristina Corbin, One Hundred Tons of Garbage Collected After Obama Inauguration, Fox News, Jan. 23, 2009, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/22/washington-undertakes-massive-trash-cleanup-left-inaugural-revelers/.

Dave Clark, Inaugural Trash Challenge, ABC 2 News, Jan. 20, 2008, http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story/Inaugural-Trash-Challenge/DQ6b-0HX0kaSL0GxwJ7wcw.cspx?rss=702.

Petula Dvorak, The Trash was Historic, Too, The Washington Post, Jan. 22, 2009, available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/21/ST2009012102519.html?sid=ST2009012102519&s_pos=list.

Republic cleans up 50 tons of inaugural trash, MSN Money, Jan. 23, 2009, http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=ACBJ&date=20090123&id=9542054.