I just got home from participating in the Friends of Midtown Fall Cleanup- a seasonal event which is comprised of a team of neighborhood volunteers who traverse the streets of Midtown and parts of Uptown cleaning up other peoples litter.
The route that my team was assigned was both sides of Second street between Harris and Maclay; my team members were a nice older couple named Ralph and Barbara. (I actually have a friend from Long Island named Ralph Barba. Odd.)
ANYWAY- as we were, literally, on our hands and knees picking up chip bags, beer cans, cigarette butts, random household trash that must have trickled out of curbside trash cans because what other reason would there be to find chicken bones and empty shredded cheese bags while picking up trash on Second street, I had a few thoughts and observations cross my mind.
And like it or not, I’m going to share the aforementioned thoughts with you now:
- It’s great that so many people participated in the cleanup and was a fun way to interact with the neighborhood while “doing our part”, but sad, at the same time, that it was even necessary.
I say “sad” because, ultimately, I’d think that people- regardless of income bracket or living situation- would want to live in a clean, cared-for enviornment. Perhaps it’s just the way that I was raised, but I do believe that we can manifest our own idea of utopia- but I don’t know anyone who would want crack baggies and Newport boxes lining the streets of their utopia. But this is our utopia and, darn it- we’ll pick up those crack baggies and Newport boxes for ya. No, really…go ahead. We’ll get it.
- Perhaps these clean ups would be a great way to both punish AND teach juvenile offenders.
A fifteen year old kid from the city gets caught breaking into a car. Or starting a fight in school. Or maybe even littering. He or she appears in front of a judge who decides their punishment for their crime. And maybe instead of financially punishing a juvinile offender who probably doesn’t have a job or any money, we make him go out and pick up trash for a couple of days. And maybe next time he goes to break into a car, instead of throwing that empty chip bag on the street, he’ll deposit it into a trash can so he doesn’t have to pick it up again the next time he gets caught. Maybe the courts already do this kind of thing- but judging by the amount of trash the group picked up, they’re probably not doing it in Midtown.
- Where were our local politicians this go-round?
I know that various council members and administration employees have participated in these clean ups in the past- and perhaps I just didn’t recognize some of the people in the group who MAY be city employees- but what ever happened to “leading by example”? This took two hours. And the last half hour was time spent BS-ing with my fellow litter removers. But not a single city council member was able to make it today? I’m not singling anyone out on this- just observing.
I had a surpisingly enjoyable time participating in this neighborhood clean up. I had to literally force myself out of bed at 8:30 on a Saturday morning-but once we got into it, it was very fulfilling.
Sure, one neighborhood cleanup isn’t going to make our part of the city all sparkley and shiny- and as one the participants, Ben, remarked- it’s almost more symbolic than anything. Symbolic of the fact that the citizens of Midtown are taking matters into their own hands. Symbolic that people of varied backgrounds can work together for the good of the neighborhood. And symbolic that there is power in numbers. And working together, we will make this City a better place.
Great work, Friends of Midtown. I’ll certainly be participating in more of these in the future.
whole hearted agreement on having juvenile offenders do this kind of work. Or ANY offenders for that matter. I remember childhood trips to Florida where we would pass “chain gangs” or groups of inmates in jumpsuits, working along I95 or Route 1, picking up trash….weeding…etc. Don’t see those anymore. Not sure why.
But it seems to me, that someone could very easily be made to do some cleaning up as part of their debt to society. Why can’t our legislators make this happen?
It’s a no-brainer. Completely logical. Oh wait…NOW I understand why it doesn’t happen…
As far as I know there is a program where adult offenders help pick up trash, but it is run in South Allison Hill. The South Allison Hill Homeowners and Residents Association has been trying to work on the trash issue by not only having cleanups of litter, but also advocating for better trash collection (in SAH, there have been a good number of consistency problems), enforcement of codes already on the books (ie putting trash in cans so animals don’t tear the bags open, requiring landlords to provide their tenants with trash cans), and trying to pressure the city into having some sort of bulk trash pickup.
As for the comments about people wanting to live in clean environments, I think some people honestly don’t care, because they have always seen people litter or they just have very little concern whatsoever for others around them. Is it really shocking that crackheads and street corner drunks don’t always look for the nearest trashcan?
Also, I have been on clean ups with juveniles who had to complete community service hours and I really don’t think it affected their feelings about littering. In general, juvenile offenders are not the best at logically thinking through the consequences of their actions. That’s why they’re juvenile offenders and not juvenile contemplators.
If anything I have become increasingly frustrated by the fact that some people seem to litter and dump trash knowing that someone else will clean it up for them. But clean it up we must!
Mike, great to see you at the cleanup and thanks for participating. Seeing you there was a pleasant surprise.
While Friends of Midtown sponsors a spring and fall cleanup event, a lot of the organization of yesterday’s cleanup was handled by Shawn Westhafer representing Harrisburg Clean Streets Project and Widener Environmental Law & Policy Society. Shawn is also a FoM Beautification Committee member. I want to thank Shawn for another well organized event and also thank Widener Environmental Law & Policy Society. It was Widener Law & Policy Society and Hbg Clean Streets project that organized the uptown cleanup in early April.
While agreeing with most of your post, I want to respond to a few points:
* In past FoM cleanups juveniles from Dauphin County Juvenile Probation program have participated. Unfortunately they were not able to participate this fall although invited. However, several other juveniles did participate.
* Councilwoman Patty Kim participated in yesterday’s cleanup just as she did in FoM’s spring cleanup. Thanks again Patty for your support! Perhaps time proximity to the election with its inherent weekend canvassing had a bearing on other Council members attendance.
* I am aware of one participant from the Adminstration, an employee of the Dept of Building & Housing Development. However, I wish there would have been greater city employee participation.
While some city residents don’t get it, I think the cleanups are more than symoblic. Since moving into the city 4 years ago, I have seen a decrease in the amount of litter in some areas of the Midtown. Small steps indeed but at least some incremental progress.
See you at the next cleanup in the spring.
Don Barnett
Friends of Midtown
@Don-
Thanks for the input- and my apologies- I must have missed Councilwoman Kim-
But I’ll still say that, regardless of the election season- it would have been nice to see Steve Ketterer or Chuck Schulz out there picking up trash with us.
Why weren’t juveniles available for this cleanup? Maybe all of the bad kids have been rehabilitated and there weren’t any left to punish
I can’t understand what there’s not to “get” from city residents. It seems simple enough- people who don’t care about the city litter- people who do clean it up. What’s not to get? Apathy aside, who doesn’t want clean streets?
@nathan- Thanks for the insight on the SAH cleanup program. I agree that it can’t be too complicated to implement that kind of thing city-wide. Again, something that seems simple is just marred in red-tape. What if it became standard that if a city resident is convicted of a crime which occurs within the city, then part of their penance is cleaning up a street or three.
Time will tell.