Every few seconds, they pull more debris from the muck: computer monitors, shards of broken glass, a string of old Christmas lights.
TRASH IT PITTSBURGH SERIES
They’re here as part of the Tireless Project - a series of riverfront cleanups organized by Allegheny CleanWays. Just off the Carson‘s bow, about 30 volunteers comb the shore for garbage. (“Welcome to the big city, children!” he says, shaking his head at the memory.) A self-described “river rat,” Clark has seen his share of waterborne detritus: downed weather balloons, a live caiman, two dead bodies, and once - while leading a cleanup with a Mennonite church group - a bag of discarded sex toys. On a rainy morning in Duck Hollow - a tiny neighborhood along the Monongahela River - Captain Evan Clark idles aboard the 28-foot Rachel Carson. They’re aiming to prove that Pittsburgh doesn’t have to be covered in trash - and that hopefully, by cleaning up our act, we can start solving the bigger, more serious issues that threaten the city’s future. That’s why with gloves, bags, and even a boat, anti-litter advocates are fighting back. Think about what that does to a community over time - to people’s sense of being able to do something about the problems around them.” It has a deeply depressing psychological effect. But on a much more personal level, it alters people’s psyche. “That has real economic effects - businesses don’t move in and property values go down. “The biggest issue is the sense of neglect it conveys,” says Myrna Newman, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Allegheny CleanWays. There’s growing evidence that it affects our quality of life: Litter fouls our waterways, drives away investment and erodes the city’s spirit.
TRASH IT PITTSBURGH FULL
From the Hilltop to Lawrenceville, Glen Hazel to Duck Hollow, litter season is once again in full force - a fact that becomes immediately, painfully obvious as soon as the snow melts.Īll this rogue garbage, activists say, is more than just unsightly. We are blessed with abundance here, thanks to garbage blown from lidless receptacles, food wrappers thoughtfully tossed from cars and to those generous souls who, by cover of night, share their soiled mattresses and busted TVs with the rest of us. Springtime has wrought yet another spectacular bloom: the flaming reds of torn-open Cheetos bags, the metallic radiance of leftover beer cans, the yellow effervescence of whatever’s in those water bottles. Welcome to the enchanted city of Pittsburgh, where grocery bags grow on trees and wild water bottles sprout from the hills.
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