It's hard to turn heads in New York City.
So much so that it has become a kind of mantra that, no matter what you're doing or wearing, you're unlikely to be the weirdest thing anyone in the city has seen that day.
But even after I had lived here for a decade, that idea never landed as forcefully as when I found myself opening garbage bags and filming their contents on the Upper West Side at 9 p.m. on a weeknight.
When I pointed all this out to Anna Sacks, known as the "Trash Walker," she seemed unfazed.
I was tagging along on one of her routine trash walks, which she has regularly been taking throughout the city since 2018. We met on a street corner at 8:30 p.m., 30 minutes after buildings were required to set out bagged trash for pickup; Sacks arrived armed with padded gloves (to protect her hands from anything sharp), reusable bags, and a foldable shopping cart.
I came with a small purse, convinced that I would not take home any garbage. I was quickly proven wrong.
Sacks built an online audience of hundreds of thousands of followers who watch as she reveals the surprising items she uncovers in garbage bags outside stores and in residential areas. One of her most viral videos, clocking in at over 5 million views, shows her opening up garbage bags outside a CVS filled with unopened M&M packets, Twix bars, Snickers bars, and Lindt chocolate boxes.
@thetrashwalker M&ms deja vu #donatedontdump #nyc #free #haul #dumpsterdiving #climatechange #eco #donate #snacks #ecofriendly #cvs #candy #chocolate #foodie #yum ♬ More More More - Andrea True
Sacks told The Cool Down she never knows what she's going to find on her walks — but over the years, she's become more selective.
During the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, Sacks said she was going on a lot of trash walks, mostly out of boredom, and finding a lot of things she felt pressure to keep.
She's since adjusted and cut back, prioritizing only necessary items that won't fill up her apartment, especially now that she has a nine-month-old baby.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 Instead, when she finds something usable that doesn't suit her, she takes a photo and posts it in a neighborhood "Buy Nothing" Facebook group, noting the exact address so anyone who wants it can pick it up. These posts are dubbed #curbalerts.
On our trash walk, Sacks posted photos of two mirrors, a stroller, yoga mats, a fondue kit, and a walker in about an hour. Group members don't publicly claim items on Facebook, so there's no way to know whether anyone picked them up — but these groups tend to be pretty active, especially in areas with high population density, like New York City.
Photo Credit: The Cool Down
Sacks inspects every item she finds before posting about it because, as she emphasizes in her videos, her goal isn't to eliminate all trash, but to prevent the unnecessary waste of perfectly good items.
Photo Credit: The Cool Down
We combed through dozens of bags together, finding unopened and unexpired baby formula, unbroken plates that had been donated to a thrift store, an abundance of perfectly good pots and pans, and sealed loaves of bread set to expire in a few days.
Sacks insists on opening all trash bags from the top so she can retie them, rather than simply ripping them apart and leaving a mess behind.
Photo Credit: The Cool Down
During our escapade, I pocketed a small sewing kit and an unopened pack of Swiffer wet cloths that appeared to have been tossed because it was missing its plastic lid. Sacks collected a couple of pieces of children's sandbox toys.
"You let what is there come to you," Sacks said. "My son went to the sandbox for the first time today, and [my husband and I] were saying we need to get sandbox toys. And then I got one of them."
Why 'Trash Walks' started
Environmental impact has not always been at the front of Sacks' mind.
She grew up in New York City, and after working at an investment bank, she was craving an experience entirely different from the life she had known.
In 2016, she found a program that allowed her to work on a regenerative farm for over a year, and, despite having never composted before, she decided to try it. The decision changed her life.
"I became very interested in composting, and more interested in waste issues from compost," she told The Cool Down.
When Sacks returned to the city in 2017, she began paying more attention to waste.
She began to open public garbage bags on her walks, never searching for anything in particular, but curious to see if there was anything she could salvage.
She noticed patterns: People who were moving threw out a lot of functional items, and businesses struggled with leftover products that weren't expired but were maybe tailored to specific holidays that had passed. Thrift stores, in particular, seemed to get rid of a lot of donated products that were in good shape, but maybe didn't fit the store's vibe.
Over time, more and more commenters have expressed astonishment at her finds, as well as frustration with the companies and individuals who contribute to this waste every day. For anyone looking to get involved in their own communities, check local laws and ordinances to see if there are any guidelines.
"I very much wanted to have people seeing this stuff," she said, which is why she started her social media accounts. "I am grateful that people see it and care about it."
@thetrashwalker Starbucks store closing #nyc #donate #donatedontdump #dumpsterdiving #haul #food #shopping #recycle #climatechange #reuse #foodie #starbucks #free #zerowaste #eco #sustainable #ecofriendly #coffee ♬ Healing, sleep and meditation-Reiki - Red Blue Studio
Out of trash bags, into the government
Sacks isn't sure how much longer she'll continue her trash walks.
"I'm in this transition period of what is next for me," she told The Cool Down.
While she's gotten attention for her videos and knows #curbalerts are helpful for some people, she said she would love to explore ways to implement change on a larger scale.
"This is way more than what one person can do — it needs systemic intervention, and the government to really step in for support," she said. "How can I turn these things that I have seen over the past almost 10 years into actual change? Otherwise, I'm just going to keep seeing the same thing every year."
Sacks worked with the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management in 2023, when it sought to amend New York City's administrative code to require large chain stores to donate unsellable personal beauty products instead of throwing them away.
The effort didn't pass, but it sparked within her a new sense of how she might drive change across the city.
"What's revolutionary is eliminating single-use items, creating these circular systems, getting things that are usable out of the trash," Sacks said. "Why aren't we focused on reduction and diversion?"
Sacks' ultimate vision includes bringing about an "Office of Circularity" within the New York City Mayor's office to focus on moving the city toward zero waste.
"I want to change the culture, change the mentality," she said. "This could seriously make people rethink, 'OK, should I throw that out or should this be saved for something?'"
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