Trash Me

Keeping litter under control will take a change of mindset, and Keep Philadelphia Beautiful promotes that change through Philadelphia’s 5th graders with its Litter-Free School Zone Program.

“An introductory pathway to environmental awareness,” KPB boosts litter education in schools with litter prevention exercises and school service tasks. Students become “litter ambassadors,” receiving a degree in litter education to pass along to the entire school population. Students benefit with new responsibilities and exposure to solving real-world problems, while each school receives a community-conscientious corps eager to make a positive impact.

In addition to the education criteria, KPB provides cleaning supplies and assistance, not to mention a camera for that inevitable photo op. Field trips, community projects and an award ceremony are all part of the program, too.

This effort is a big step for little feet, and the progress made within each Litter-Free School Zone will be seen for years. Registration for this school year ends in February, so if you want your children to participate encourage their class to enroll today. For details, contact Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, 215-477-0235, or visit KPB online.

Talk (well, blog) about attention to detail: the Schuylkill River Development Corporation doesn’t miss a beat or blade of grass when maintaining the Schuylkill River Trail, the green strip east of the river connecting Center City to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Its crew is everywhere, and trash doesn’t have time to collect. Broken bench? A swarm of staff was there. Unsightly piles of dirt? In a wagon and out of sight. On a day when I wasn’t even thinking garbage, I saw each possible nuisance addressed, and missed a great photo-op when Josh Nims, Operations Manager, chased down a floating piece of paper and stuffed it in a trash bin. I would have asked him to do it again, but litter on the trail is scarce – due to the hustle of Nims and the SRDC staff – the opportunity never again presented itself.

Because of SRDC’s dedication, the Trail is an inviting river highlight (particularly on the rare, warm January afternoon); spend a lunch break or Saturday there and admire both the green space and the great effort by the SRDC team.

I do what I can to be a good neighbor, but the truth is I clean my street about every other weekend for selfish purposes - I like living on a clean street. I have a few neighbors who assist in those efforts, but the task of cleaning up potato chip bags, Starbucks cups, and take-out menus that never made it past the front door usually falls on me. I don't mind. I like being outside and the sense of gratification that comes with seeing a block go from filthy to clean in 45 minutes with a broom, dustpan and garbage bag.

This past weekend I undertook my familiar routine of starting down the block closest to my house, ending up at the far end, and finding myself being sucked around the corner by the constant stream of garbage. One more bottle, a broken kitchen counter, how about a wet phone book? What people decide to toss on the ground never ceases to amaze me. I am short on time, so I end my efforts with a sigh and a construction-grade bag just light enough for me to slowly drag back to my house. I go home, complain to my wife about the variety of trash and head to the shower.

While throwing on my clothes, I take a glance out of our second floor window to derive some personal satisfaction from a clean street I made possible. Directly across the street sits another bleeping potato chip bag and a plastic soda bottle. I get dressed, walk outside and go down the street. Unbelievably, the unoccupied corner where I just spent additional effort to clean somebody's week's worth of unbagged garbage sat a stained mattress. In the fifteen minutes it took me to take a shower and get dressed my block had reverted back to a dumping ground. What am I doing wrong and why are people deliberately destroying my attempt at creating self worth?

-Will, Fairmount

Noticing a few late curbside Christmas trees, I thought it would be helpful to offer a little advice for those unsure of how to properly dispose.

Do leave your tree on the curb as you would any other non-recyclable trash.

Do not chop it to pieces and dump in a Southwest Philly spillway.

I am the owner of 418 N. 41st Street. Upon recently clearing away some brush from behind the building, I learned that the lot immediately behind mine is an open dump.
The dump is hidden behind two garage doors that have no roof. Their address is 427-425 N. Holly Street. Holly Street is between 41st Street and 42nd Street, four blocks north of Market Street, in University City.
I have asked neighbors nearby if they know who owns the site but nobody seems to know. There are cats and rats there at all hours. It’s not particularly large, but it is particularly nasty.
Repeated calls to my city council representative have produced no results, yet I have been issued four citations from the city for trash on my property that has blown there from the open dump.
Since the dump is not visible from Holly Street due to the white barn doors facing in that direction, the photo (see below) was taken from the back yard of my property, which is on 41st Street between Baring and Spring Garden.

Note the ironically placed stack of recycling bins atop the mound... This lovely mess is less than four blocks from Market Street and three blocks from Presbyterian Hospital. Much of the dump is in an old, open stable to the left of this photo. But, since it is dark under that roof, I couldn't get it to show up on my camera. That part of it is filled with discarded white durables, like washers and dryers.

It's so amusing to me that "academics" claim that Philly is no less dirty than other cities. Though I make my home in Rittenhouse Square, I work primarily in New York and travel domestically 400K miles a year to NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, Orlando, Seattle - all these other cities. No place is anywhere near as dirty as Philly is. It's not even close.

What always surprises me is how clean New York is - there really is no litter problem there. It has nothing to do with deposits on containers.
Most of the litter I see in Philly is paper.

Mark Naples

Heard in the Hall beat me to it. Mayor Nutter's city-wide clean-up effort will be postponed until warmer weather arrives.

Until then, volunteer opportunities are available through Keep Philadelphia Beautiful.