Community in Action Strategies: Trash Clean-up
Safe & Sound utilizes a variety of strategies that involve residents, youth and volunteers in cleaning up blighted areas and improving community safety. Many of these strategies are based on CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) principles and work towards making neighborhoods safer and bringing residents together to develop relationships and a sense of community. The goal of Community in Action strategies is to develop projects that can be run simultaneously which are scalable depending on the number of volunteers, community need and material resources available.
Trash Clean-up
Trash clean-up is a great activity for youth and adults to get involved in. It is easily scalable and tools and supplies are available through Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful. Trash clean-up can be combined with other alley or street activities such as brush cutting, positioning of garbage cans on the alley line and raking of garbage pick-up points.
A neighborhood clean-up begins with volunteers equipping themselves with gloves or garbage pickers and 2-3 bags. A good clean-up crew also has one or two shovels and rakes for really dirty areas. Keeping together on the same block or alley and crossing streets together helps keep everyone safe. Following a set route helps ensure the volunteers are fully utilized and the area is clean when done. A brief introduction on what not to pick up is necessary, especially broken glass or other sharp objects.
Blight Reduction Trash Clean-up Team:
- 20 volunteers per team
Supplies
- Garbage bags (KGMB)
- Hand pickers (KGMB)
Supplies provided by volunteers
- Garden rakes
- Leaf rakes
- Wide grain or snow type shovels
- Reusable work gloves or vinyl gloves
Trash Clean-up Volunteer Job Description
