Trash Me

Tonight, Mayor John F. Street and Managing Director Loree Jones will join the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee to announce the winners of the Clean Block Awards. Top blocks will take top prizes at this banquet event on South Columbus Boulevard, and in addition to the group efforts three Community Spirit Awards will be given to the most deserving of individuals. Among the honors, Junior Block Captain of the Year, PMBC Transformation Award and Neighbors Helping Neighbors will be community highlights.

Expect a red carpet of who’s who in trash collection and civic pride. For more information, visit The Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee.

Clean Block Awards – Tonight
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
1301 S. Columbus Blvd.

And it only took 16 days. 16! Special thanks to Cristy. Now it's up to the decal to do its stuff. I can't wait.

And neither should you. If you haven't applied: L&I Applications Online. See the October 16th post below for instructions.

300 Durfor Street (cue the wild applause).

Clean Block Contest winners were announced Friday Night at the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee Annual Awards Banquet, with the Mayor, Managing Director, and dozens of block captains in attendance. Other prize-winning blocks include 5900 Webster Street, 2400 North 16th Street, and 6400 Sprague Street. Special recognition was also given to the Mayor’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, and individual captains received awards for helping neighbors, beautification projects and Junior Block Captain of the Year.

A successful evening among block captains and City departments, I’d like to see a little more press coverage of the event next year. With so many different communities participating, I’m surprised most of the TV networks and a few of the larger papers missed out. Since news headlines are littered with the negative, this would be a nice "pick-me-up" in reporting.

If you thought Melissa and I were happy to take on the trash epidemic, you should have seen Pat Croce’s face as he urged citizens to report illegal dumping. Croce teams up with Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, launching an anti-dumping campaign to promote civic responsibility and beautify the city.

From Keep Philadelphia Beautiful:

“ ‘Mr. Philadelphia’, Pat Croce recently lent his support to a new public service campaign geared towards reporting illegal dumping in the City of Philadelphia. Croce shot a public service announcement and sat for photos to be used on a tip card that will accompany the public service announcement with more information.”

‘Illegal dumping is a citywide issue,’ says [Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Executive Director Phoebe] Coles. ‘The thoughtless people that participate in illegal dumping are breaking the law and should think twice about it.’ ”

Fines will be enforced, so, like Pat Croce, be encouraged to curb the dumping problem by reporting it to the local authorities. Look for illegal dumping, and Croce’s commercial, and be sure to visit Keep Philadelphia Beautiful for more information on the campaign.

For Pat Croce’s smile and how you can help, click here.

Recycle in Mt. Airy

Weavers Way Community Programs, in conjunction with the Mt. Airy Community Services Corporation continues its monthly recycling at the Lutheran Home (6959 Germantown Avenue). Collecting recyclables from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday, all proceeds benefit beautification programs within the Mt. Airy neighborhood.

The list of recyclables accepted includes plastics, (No. 1 and No. 2, rinsed, crushed, and without lids), mixed paper, cardboard boxes, newspapers, magazines, junk mail, catalogs, office paper and cereal boxes. Note, take-out containers, plant pots, buckets, or plastics that contained automotive products are unable to be processed (so please, save for future recycling.)

Society Hill Clean Up Day

In Society Hill, look for street sweepers early Saturday morning. The Society Hill Civic Association has organized the street cleaning, and asks residents to follow parking instructions for best results. Watch for street sweepers between Front and 8th Streets and Walnut and Lombard Streets, from 8 a.m. until noon.

Scott, my friend and Marine Corps Lance Corporal, was in town for the weekend. Throughout his stay I picked up on a peculiar habit: after finishing each cigarette, he scraped the ash off with the bottom of his shoe and stashed the cigarette butt in his pocket. A few minutes later when passing a trash can, he emptied his pocket and tossed the butts.

While I do not condone his smoking, I do condone his consideration. He said he doesn’t like to litter or see others be disrespectful with their laziness; he didn’t risk his life for nine months to come home to a mess, certainly not a mess he’ll contribute to. It’s a small effort, but an effort nonetheless, especially for a man who has been part of a larger, more dangerous one overseas.

At first, I was going to post pieces of this letter voicing frustration with the often-under-fire Streets Department. But so well written, I've posted it below in its entirety. Thanks for venting, Stephanie, and you're right, this is a great insight to the short dumping issue.

"A little insight into why short dumping is such a problem in Philadelphia: Yesterday my household trash was not picked up as scheduled. Everyone else on our block puts out several plastic bags, which typically spill trash all over the sidewalk. My husband and I put our trash in a sturdy trash can with a lid that we bought at the local big box home store. We thought we were doing the right thing by neatly containing our trash.

A phone call to the Streets Department revealed that our trash can is too big and that the sanitation department will not pick up “construction debris.” We are remodeling our powder room, and our trash can contained a few dry wall remnants, all contained in trash bags.

In our house, we create one bag, maybe two, in a one week period. All of our other neighbors create 4 or more bags of trash, with the exception of our neighbor next door. There is clearly excess capacity because the sanitation department will, according to their literature, pick up six 32-gallon containers or twelve 26-to-32 gallon leak-proof bags at each address.

If you call for a special bulk pick up, the city will take it. They will take up to 2 tires. You can even drop off the bulk items at free Convenience Centers. But in no case will they take small bits of wood and drywall. And oh, by the way, "you can be fined for that," the lady at the Streets Department says about putting out drywall on your collection day.

So, what is the legal solution, you ask? You have to take the construction debris to a private dump that charges a minimum of $70 for up to one ton of trash. If you are paying cash, you must give them a $100 deposit from which they will deduct your charge when you leave. And the dump is only open until 6pm on weekdays. And only one dump in the south side of the city is open on the weekend- Saturday from 6am -12noon. If you do not have a pick up truck or a van, then you have to rent one of those too. The system clearly is not set up for the home or small business owner, who probably create the majority of waste that is short-dumped.

In the end it probably all goes to the same dump. It's just that the legal way to dispose of small debris will cost you $100-150, including the value of your time. Or the illegal way is free.

This is why short dumping is such a problem in this city."