Challenge

California has mandated that no human-sourced debris will be discharged into California state waterways through storm drain systems. A research project backed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was launched to assess the likelihood of success of the California Trash Amendment Mandate established by Senate Bill 1383.

Process

• Aggregate transcripts stored by previous research from the Project for Sanitation Justice
• Develop new codes which identifies data within the transcripts relevant to the project
• Read and listen to transcripts while coding important data points.

Outcome

19 transcripts were analyzed and coded which guided a statewide report on best practices on providing Water, Sanitation, and Hygeive (WaSH) services to underserved Californians.

Challenge Goes Here

• Forming relevant codes which meets the criteria of the project was difficult because of the complex relationship between shelterless individuals and city/state policy.
• Coding excerpts required learning about the nature of human-sourced debris within complex weather and human systems.

Impact

• The study was not acted upon by the state of California.
• Future steps include placing the study on the Project for Sanitation Justice website for public view.
• The document will be used as a foundation for grassroot efforts to provide sanitation and dignity to everyone.