Litter Search and Solutions

#English 9

#You and the World

In my previous blog post, I looked at how over the past five years, Taney and Bainbridge streets have gone from beautiful and healthy to litter filled and unclean. Why is this? The construction of CHOP towers and new neighbors who don’t seem to care about the neighborhood are the cause. There are multiple organizations that clean up the streets like the Philadelphia Streets Department’s garbage trucks and the Litter Cabinet. These would be helpful clean up plans, but the garbage trucks only pick up people’s trash on Monday and only take the trash in the garbage cans and I have never heard of or seen the Litter Cabinet in my neighborhood. Though there is an organization that is currently in full swing and is effective at picking up litter, called Not in Philly. Not in Philly is a non-profit organization about cleaning various neighborhoods in Philadelphia. It started in Walnut Hill and Spruce Hill but has spread throughout the city over the years. You can sign up on http://notinphilly.org/ to join the organization and clean your own neighborhood with Not In Philly.

On May 6th, I went outside, equipped with a notebook and a camera to make observations on what I saw on Bainbridge and Taney streets. As I walked around, I expected to find the people who were littering so I could write it down for my observations. To my disappointment, I found no one doing such, I was out alone. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I found a lot of leftover trash on the curb and the sidewalk. I found objects such as discarded children’s clay under a family car, plastic bags of dog waste, and used batteries, old newspapers, and cigarettes, both recently discarded and ones that had been there a long time. From my research I have come to the conclusion that Bainbridge street is much dirtier than Taney street. Again, this is because Bainbridge is where the majority of the new neighbors live and at the end of the street is the construction site for the new CHOP towers.

I did help to pick up the litter.  I was not just making observations.  Most of this litter can go in regular trash bins or in recycling bins.  However, the batteries presented a problem: what does a person do with old, slightly crushed batteries? I have heard off different programs that take in used batteries and recycle them. One of these programs is at the University of Pennsylvania upenn battery-recycling. Also, there is a used battery drop box at the information desk in Houston Hall.  Another program is from the PhiladelphiaStreets.com: ¨E-cycling¨. The website says the city has events for collecting ¨...household hazardous waste (HHW)...¨. philadelphiastreets.com/recycling/home-base-residential  This includes electronics (old TVs, computers, etc.), paints, household cleaners, and batteries.  You can find a detailed list of what can and can’t be recycled here. So the next time I see a used battery lying on the streets or on the sidewalk I know I can drop it off at Houston Hall to help the environment and my community. As a way of helping my community I am planning to sign up with ¨Not In Philly¨ and help my neighbors recycle used batteries.

https://sustainability.upenn.edu/news/battery-recycling-expands-sas-buildings

http://www.philadelphiastreets.com/recycling/how-to-recycle

http://www.philadelphiastreets.com/recycling/home-base-residential

http://notinphilly.org/

Damaged battery on Bainbridge St.

Old Play Dough under a car.