Woodland Heights Neighborhood Association piloted a week-long, unattended cleanup in July It was an interesting venture, that’s for sure. We thought it would work to let the dumpsters sit there unattended and participants would read the signs and dispose of their trash and brush accordingly. Well, we found out that didn’t work so well.
Thankfully, our neighbor across the street from the cleanup location, Mona Pieron, took the initiative to help neighbors read the signs and put their trash and brush in the right places.
This venture ended up being a huge success in that we filled 23 trash dumpsters (63 tons) and eight brush dumpsters. The opportunity did attract folks from outside the footprint of Woodland Heights, but that was OK.
My favorite part was meeting neighbors. With this setup, there was more time to visit and talk about cleaning up the neighborhood and working together. This time, it wasn’t our usual hurried drive-up cleanup with 150 cars in line waiting to empty their vehicles and trailers. Mostly, neighbors who brought their trash emptied it themselves. But when our awesome cleanup team was present, they gladly helped stack the dumpsters and consolidate the items.
We had disabled neighbors driving their items to the dumpsters, and we gratefully emptied their vehicles for them. Cleanup day is always prime recycling time, and sometimes trash becomes someone else’s treasure!
I met a neighbor who later did some (much needed) yard work for me. Enthusiastic neighbors came by with ideas for keeping our neighborhood clean and helping our elderly and disabled get rid of things they no longer needed.
Visions of service to our neighbors were discussed and plans were made to implement them. It was an impromptu neighborhood mini-meeting, and our cleanup team grew! This opportunity brought our neighborhood together like only a dumpster day can! People worked hard and were very grateful for the opportunity. We heard it over and over … resounding THANK YOUs!! Republic Services drivers kept busy getting us empty dumpsters.
New friends were made there as well. It truly was a community effort, by and for the community