It is critical to increase Active Transportation within our neighborhoods and to increase the cleanliness of our public spaces. Walkers, bikers, and other non-drivers are particularly impacted by trash and debris in public pathways. Residents and Businesses are left to deal with trash dumps on their public access ways, and it can be a financial and emotional burden to deal with it alone.
Our goal is to provide a higher level of service when compared to the baseline currently implemented by the City of Eugene. With only 4 FTE on trash cleanup, we can't rely on the city to clean small trash dumps or litter collection. We need to seek a decentralized approach that offers the clean streets Eugene citizens deserve. We need to set the example of cleanness we wish to see in our neighborhoods.
Currently there is only 1 Citizen Cleaner on the team, but if you live and work near N. Polk, then you have already seen an impact.
While the only equipment we have currently is a grabber arm and 5 gallon bucket, we hope to expand to mechanical street sweeping and leaf collection in the fall.
Even with those limitations, in 2024 we have spent 41 hours collecting 774 gallons of street trash. That's enough trash to fill this Mega-Brute 6 times!
Often street trash is plastic wrappers, bottles, tin foil, and bags, but once a week your street will be impacted by someone dumping trash. While this may be considered a low priority to the City of Eugene, this has a major impact on your neighborhood.
We were able to clean up this trash dump the same day it occurred. Users of this path will not be impacted by unsanitary conditions for days/weeks.
Eliot moved to the Whiteaker Neighborhood in June 2023 and was happy to be so close to restaurants, grocery stores, and other amenities. Walking and biking around Eugene was a great alternative to driving, but due to the trash and debris on the pathways, he often found himself thinking "I should have just drove" as he walked or biked in the Whiteaker.
With the goal of making public pathways more comfortable to exist in, he spends his free time picking up trash and making sure navigating the neighborhood is comfortable and accessible for residents, businesses, and guests.
We highly recommend getting started with Adopt One Block. This Portland Non Profit ships free trash collection supplies and will restock materials if something breaks or you need more consumables. Becoming a Block Ambassador is a good way of knowing if this is something you actually enjoy doing and will consistently participate in.
If you don't end up sticking with it, that's okay. It is just picking up trash after all. But if you do enjoy it, Citizen Cleaners hopes to pool funds to procure professional equipment and offer shared access to fellow Citizen Cleaners to make them more efficient.