South Philly Review

Residents asked for cleaner streets and now they're getting it.

The Passyunk Square Civic Association launched a pilot program last month that wraps up this week to remove trash from the main streets of the area it covers. Numbered streets from Sixth to Broad streets, as well as main arterials from Washington Avenue to Tasker Street, were cleaned Aug. 25 and 26 with the second round to take place today and tomorrow.

"I always say litter begets litter," Christine Knapp, the association's trash and recycling chairwoman, said. "If people come to our neighborhood and see litter, they think it's OK."

The Street Cleaning Pilot Program has been three years in the making. After hundreds of surveys were filled out at previous meetings and on the group's Web site, www.passyunksquare.org, litter- and trash-related concerns topped the list, Knapp said, adding others were also quality-of-life issues, such as graffiti and the need for waste baskets on the streets.

The association raised $15,000 from residents, local businesses and politicians -- including a $2,500 Department of Community and Economic Development grant courtesy of state Rep. Babette Josephs in March -- but the association doesn't want to blow the money in one shot and not be able to sustain the program.

"I'm onboard," Jennifer Baker, of 12th and Tasker streets, said, citing trash as a major problem in the neighborhood.

"Especially when you have kids because they are so [short] it becomes an activity," Merryl Gladstone added about the potential for children to touch what is on the ground.

While many assume litter is from someone carelessly tossing an empty bottle or food wrapper to the ground, according to studies, that is not the case, Knapp, who resides at Eighth and Wharton streets, said. One of the main causes of trashy streets is residents putting their weekly rubbish on the curb for collection, which could include being in flimsy bags that break or unsecured trash blowing around.

"There's all those types of incidents that lead to more litter on the ground," Knapp said. "That's why we asked Ready Willing & Able to come out on those days that follow our trash collection days."

With cans, dustpans and brooms in hand, workers from Ready Willing & Able, a transitional work program based at 12th and Bainbridge streets that is geared toward homeless and formerly incarcerated men, hit the streets at 7 a.m. and will continue until 3 p.m. both days. In August, a crew of 10 workers, plus a supervisor, started on Broad and moved west to pickup litter following trash collection day, which are Wednesdays for Broad to 11th and Thursdays for 11th to Sixth.

The workers leave the bags at three locations -- Columbus Square, 12th and Reed streets; Capitolo Playground, Ninth and Federal streets; and Gold Star Park, Sixth and Wharton streets -- where sanitation workers pick them up for disposal. Aside from a few lingering bags in the community the sanitation department later picked up, everything went without a hitch, according to Knapp and Ray Damm, business analyst for Ready Willing & Able.

"We did a lot of homework beforehand to make sure everything went smoothly," Damm said.

"Even some streets -- now -- still look good," Knapp said.

At least 250 bags were filled amounting to about 3,750 pounds of litter, according to Ready Willing & Able, whose workers received a warm welcome from residents.

"There was beautiful feedback from the people: 'Thank you maintaining my street. I really appreciate what you're doing in my neighborhood,'" Enrique Dejesus, who resides at the Ready Willing & Able facility, said.

Cleaner streets also will help alleviate clogged sewers that cause a major headache for the community: flooding.

"People seem to think that's the place where [trash] belongs when it ends up in their drinking water," Knapp said. "When grates gets clogged and water can't get into them, you end up with flooding on the streets and -- even worse -- in people's basements."

To prevent these problems, Damm and the workers at Ready Willing & Able are standing by, if needed.