Litter in the Ghetto
Fatback
6,746 Posts
This is like every other house. I just got appointed to the Richmond Clean City Commission because I've been riding my City Councilman about the oceans of litter in my neighborhood. Step up or shut up?
What can be done?
What can be done?
Comments
And tell your neighbors, rich or poor, it doesn't cost a penny to keep your place clean.
you sound white!!!
naa,jusplaying. are there trash cans on the street? regular trash pick ups?
can you spring for a couple handsome trash receptacles, not just the standard ugly metal grated joints, but a pretty one with mosaic on it? put 2-3 in on a couple blocks and see if it makes a difference? Incentivize beautification somehow? (i mean, i know dc is probably as cash strapped as phily)...
If your neighbors are drinking that much 211 you've got an uphill battle to fight.
Yeah, that will work
my parents block in philly is by no means the ghetto and we have monthly block cleanups, cause shit gets trashy.
maybe try to find block captains/community associations and tell them your responisbility, what resources you can offer, and what they would like to do? if you just go in there telling them to clean up, you will get the gas face
the mean approach is you could start fining property owners. if they are renters, the landlords will take notice. people wont be too pleased , getting twenty dollar fines, but theyll take notice, for better or for worse
They run a street sweeper about once every three months, but it goes back to shit in a matter of days. Next to Philly Richmond is like Zurich.
I am far more disturbed by the bands of roving unattended dogs that I see all the time.
And then there's the homeless folks???not only is the city their dumpster, it's their bathroom as well.
Richmond is grimy, son.
Steel Reserve, baby!
Damn Southern Californians!
As I said above, I have never lived anywhere as filthy as philly. The streets in the summer reek like Sodom and Ghmora.
The City of Richmond does street sweeping (with trucks) every 90 days, but just cut back to twice per year because of their budget deficit. However, even the 90 days cleaning were not enough.
I'm thinking about trying to push the enforcement route. We obviously have other issues like drug dealers and thefts. The police have responded by some increases in these activities by stepping up their game and keeping a good amount of officers walking the beat. I see alot of poeple littering all the time. So I'd like to see some people who choose to litter with fines or trash pick up duty. It's really sad. I see people standing right next to trashcans and throwing shit on the ground. There seems to be a prevailing mentality is that litter is OK. Or what is it? I just don't get it.
Yeah, I sound white. 90% of what I pick up are stereotypical black products: Newports, chicken dinners, grape soda, malt liquor and fruit flavored blunts. One day I picked up a watermelon flavored blunt package. I swear, the limits of my tolerance are being tested. Fortunately, I've also lived in the country and seen rednecks doing the same bullshit. So I know it's matter of ignorance.
My neighborhood in DC comes and goes, luckily there are actual public trash cans every block or so on the main drag, but yes, Gary, people do indeed throw trash out their car windows, and if I had a dollar for every time I saw a kid throw some trash on the ground while walking down the street I would be filthy rich now.
Parents, PLEASE tell your kids that littering causes cancer or something. Or maybe just be a good example, that might help too.
Fr**k, I feel your pain.
frank, when you see people litter, right next to a trashcan, what do you do? confront or seethe? i'm not clowning...this is a tough call.
I guess I seethe, but I like to call it making observations. I'm trying to work on a strategy that will actually solve this problem. I'm under the (perhaps naive) assumption that most, if not all, people prefer to live without being surrounded by trash.
Actually this is what could work. But not chain gangs. Just making people who choose to litter understand the consequences of their behavior. But because it has so many negative historical implications, there would need to be 100% buy-in from black leaders in the community.
creativity and consensus are the key.
reach out to community leaders, block caps, church congregations, cops on that beat, council people and solicit ideas. then convene a short forum and present ideas and see what willingness people have to participate.include soe of your creative ideas.
bring a gun in your briefcase and tell them at the end that the only other alternative is vigilantism
I actually have a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Virginia. When I moved to Richmond 3 years ago I became very concerned about a recent spate of robberies and shared my concern with my Dad. He came up to visit and brought me a pistol. I decided to keep it, but wanted to make sure it was safe. So I enrolled in a handgun safety course. That somehow made me eligible and I received the application in the mail and so on. I doesn't matter though because I have a long barrel 357 hand cannon and can't seem to conceal it.
Anyways, back to litter. I would not say that giving summons for littering that allow you to pay a fine or do X hours of litter pick up is draconian. Just not trying remind people of...
I heard Zurich was stained.
Tis, but the streets are clean.
b/w Richmond isn't stained?
I confront -- but this is not a problem I see on a regular basis in my community, so the costs of confrontation are lower.
Here's the scene of the last confrontation.
I'm driving the wife's Toyota Highlander on a Saturday morning and we're at the dry cleaners picking up clothes. Dude gets dropped off by his friends because he left his car in the parking lot of the dry cleaners the night before. He gets in his car, opens the door up again and sets two bottles of beer on the ground.
JRoot: "Hey! There's a garbage can right over there on the corner." (probably 10 feet away from his parking spot -- I'm not even going to get into how dude should recycle these bottles)
Dude: "What?"
JRoot: "There is a garbage can RIGHT THERE (pointing). Don't put your trash on the ground, man."
Dude: "What? Oh...do you want me to get an open container violation?" (apparently there was beer in them thar bottles)
JRoot: "No, I want you to pick up your trash and put it in the trash can. It's not hard. Right over there."
Dude then shakes his head, picks up the bottles, puts them back in his car and drives away.
Back to the neighborhood trash problem, you need receptacles, signs (don't litter), and a public education/community involvement campaign. For the problem to be solved, it has to come from within, so the public education/community involvement is probably the most important.
Not easy. Until it succeeds, you'll be picking up a lot of trash. Try not to get too hostile when you're picking up the trash -- use it as a public education/community involvement moment. Talk to people in a friendly way about how you live in the neighborhood and you are just tired of seeing all this trash around, so you're picking it up.
Good luck.
JRoot
That's challenging right there. I've had people actually throw garbage down right in front of me while I'm out there picking up. I used to get really mad, until I realized that this was not deliberate as much as it is unconscious. What actually pisses me off these days is people who come out of their houses--able bodied people--and thank me for picking up in front of their house. You're welcome, but why don't YOU do this?
We have a city ordinance in Richmond that states residents are responsible for their property up to the middle of the street. I need a way to remind people of this fact that motivates them to keep their area clean--even if it's not their litter. That would knock out most of the litter immediately, but I am encountering a lot of apathy and disengagement community life.
A much smaller number of residents are the ones who litter around their own homes. I think that is a different challenge.
Im no neat freak and shit, but people dont give a F*ck, yet they bitch when the economy fucks them in the ass.
This shit is a deep rooted mindset that has to be changed at the base level.
A couple of days ago my neighbor was waiting for the elevator w/ his friends. I look thru the peep-hole to see what the noise was. One chick w/ the crew throws her empty Orbit package on the floor. So I yell threw the hole - "DONT LITTER!" They didnt hear me.
I go over to his moms house to complain and hang out.
Apparently the same girl had her feet on the coffee table and was called out for it.
F*ck it. Keeping your shit clean should start at home, but I wouldnt be against makin it an Elementary level school course like gym and shit, or Home Economics.
Muthafuckas can just consume and consume w/out understanding the effects on the enviorment.
You dont wipe your ass and throw the paper on your bathroom floor.
Back in the day/70's there was a steady stream of Anti-Litter Media. Woodsy Owl let me know what time it is.
The Cartoons w/ the different colored containers was cool for a minute.