In January, the City of Seattle’s new Clean City Initiative ramped up efforts and collected over 1 million pounds of garbage and properly disposed of over 26,000 needles through trash pick-up or enhanced maintenance at over 60 locations across the city.
“The pandemic has taken a toll on our community in many unseen ways, one is the growing graffiti, trash and garbage in parks and on streets. The Clean City Initiative has increased our focus on removing trash to begin to set Seattle up for clear road to recovery—for our businesses, schools, neighborhoods, and residents. We have much more work ahead to deliver for our residents and businesses” said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. “Thank you to the many hard-working City employees who are getting our city cleaned up in partnership with our neighborhood businesses and residents.”
The Clean City Initiative is a program that invests $3 million into new and existing programs to clean up litter and garbage across the city. The Clean City Initiative pulls together and expands efforts from Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR), and Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to address the backlog in maintenance. This work includes additional litter routes, weekly park and neighborhood focuses, increased trash pickup from encampments and RVs, and additional needle collection efforts.
“We cherish our parks and so I’m pleased to see our Clean City Initiative boosting removal of graffiti, garbage, and needles,” said Councilmember Alex Pedersen. “Litter and illegal dumping have increased in our beautiful city during the pandemic and we all want to see a cleaner Seattle. To see the benefits of the Clean City Initiative firsthand, I joined a crew to pick up trash in the heart of our district a few weeks ago. The challenge is enormous, but having multiple departments working together to clean up our city is the kind of back-to-basics approach Seattle desperately needs to emerge stronger than ever.”
In the month of January, through the Clean City Initiative, the city, collected 1,152, 571 pounds of trash, properly disposed of 26,570 needles, made 293 visits to encampment locations to collect trash and garbage, cleaned graffiti from over 200 structures, worked in over 60 parks and neighborhoods, and added 1 new needle box (3 additional needle boxes were added in December).
The Clean City Initiative combines a suite of enhanced and expanded cleaning efforts, including:
• Intensive Park Maintenance. SPR chooses two parks each week that undergo intensive cleaning efforts (trash pick up, needle pick up, pressure washing, shrub bed maintenance).
• Encampment trash clean up. SPR and SPU visit encampments and RVs throughout the city to collect trash and litter.
• Additional litter routes. SPU works with contractors to cover weekly routes picking up trash and illegally dumped items.
• Clean City Teams bring together staff from SDOT and SPR to do litter pick up, street cleaning, graffiti removal, and enhanced maintenance from streets and parks throughout the city.
• Business District Cleaning efforts. Funding is being provided towards cleaning efforts in business districts throughout the city.
• Needle Drop Boxes. With Clean City funds, SPU will add 10 new needle boxes in parks and neighborhoods.
“Like in most areas, this past year has seen unprecedented levels of litter and graffiti. We are in week two of our expanded cleaning in the University District made possible by the City’s investment our neighborhood through the Clean City Initiative. Already we are seeing a huge change in our urban landscape. There is far less litter and graffiti tags in our neighborhood. Having a neighborhood with less graffiti and litter makes for a more welcoming and vibrant community for those who work, live, or visit our neighborhood and patronize our incredible businesses,” said Marcus Johnson, Clean and Safe Program Manager for U-District Partnership.
If there is litter, trash, needles, or illegal dumped materials near you, you can always report via the City’s Find It, Fix It app, or call (206) 684-CITY (2489).
